Cardinals Host No. 15 TCU for Midweek Contest

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team welcomes TCU to Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday for a noon ET first pitch. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage available on 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville will take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday's contest after sweeping a three-game series against Akron over the weekend. The Cardinals picked up a 9-2 victory on Friday before having an offensive explosion in Saturday's doubleheader with 20-6 and 29-2 wins.

The Cardinals scored 51 runs in the three-game series with Akron, the most in a single weekend since scoring 61 against Alabama A&M in 2019. Louisville recorded 48 hits in the three games, tallying nine doubles, three triples and 10 home runs.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and TCU will play for the 18th time on Tuesday, but just the second during Dan McDonnell's tenure. TCU leads the all-time series 12-5 between the two programs that were both members of Conference USA from 2001-05. Louisville's only meeting with the Horned Frogs under McDonnell came in the 2017 College World Series, with TCU hanging on for a 4-3 victory in an elimination game.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .845 winning percentage (120-22) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 97-10 (.907) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
The Cardinals plated 51 runs in the weekend series against Akron, their most in a single series since scoring 61 runs in a sweep of Alabama A&M April 26-28, 2019. The 22 runs scored in the series finale were the most since scoring 32 in the opening game of the Alabama A&M series.
Louisville had a historic offensive day on Saturday against Akron, scoring 20 and 22 runs in a doubleheader sweep. The 42 runs were a school record for a doubleheader, breaking the previous mark of 41 in a pair of wins over Chicago State on March 30, 1977. It marked the third time the Cardinals have scored at least 20 runs in consecutive games and the first time since 1991.
The Cardinals blasted 10 home runs in the three-game sweep of Akron, the most home runs in a single series for UofL since at least 2000.
UofL is 7-0 this season when it tallies more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell's 16 seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals are 524-60 (.897) when they record more hits.
Louisville has already used 21 different pitchers through the first 11 games after Luke Seed and Ben Wiegman made his first appearances of the season during the Akron series.

PLAYER NOTES

Ben Metzinger returned fully healthy in 2022 and has been one of the pillars of the Louisville lineup. The senior ranks top 20 nationally with five home runs and his 20 RBIs are eighth-best in the country. Metzinger has homered in four of the last five games, and his five home runs are tied for the most through 11 games of any Cardinal under Dan McDonnell (Chris Dominguez - 2009, Corey Ray - 2016). Metzinger hit a three-run walk-off homer against Morehead State, the first walk-off blast for the Cardinals since Nick Solak's home run beat Notre Dame on March 11, 2016.
Christian Knapczyk has hit in the leadoff spot in all eight games this season after hitting ninth in 42 of his 43 starts in 2021. Knapczyk leads the Cardinals with seven multi-hit games and ranks third nationally with 20 runs scored, two shy of the national lead. The Louisville shortstop has scored at least one run in all 11 games this season, including two or more in five straight. Knapczyk picked up his first career home run in the second game of the Akron series, hitting a two-run shot in the fifth that sparked Louisville's 11-run frame.
Ben Bianco has already turned in a career season despite 2022 being just 11 games old. Bianco has set career highs in runs (12), hits (14), triples (2) and RBIs (17), while matching his career best with three home runs. Bianco currently ranks seventh nationally in slugging percentage and his .500 batting average is 12th-best in the country. The fifth-year senior had five hits in the finale against Dartmouth, becoming the first Cardinal with five hits in a game since Alex Binelas did so against Alabama A&M on April 26, 2019.
Cameron Masterman is off to a hot start for the second consecutive season. Masterman is hitting .333 with four home runs and 11 RBIs while collecting at least one hit in 10 of 11 games. Masterman homered in each of Louisville's first three home games, the second consecutive year he has done so.
Tate Kuehner moved into the Friday starter role this season and has allowed just two earned runs through his first three starts. Kuehner has 14 strikeouts in 14.2 innings and is holding opponents to a .182 batting average.

CARDINALS OFF TO FAST START AT THE PLATE
The 2022 Louisville offense has been arguably the most potent in Dan McDonnell's 16-year tenure. The Cardinals have more runs (118), triples (9), home runs (18) and total bases (226) through 11 games than any other Louisville team under McDonnell.

Louisville currently ranks sixth nationally averaging 10.7 runs per game. The Cardinals are also third in triples, sixth in slugging percentage, ninth in total runs, and rank top 20 in batting average, home runs and on-base percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Ben Bianco

Alex Binelas

Christian Knapczyk

Tate Kuehner

Cameron Masterman

Ben Metzinger

Luke Seed

Ben Wiegman

University of Louisville Athletics