Friday, April 8
Louisville, Ky.
6:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
North Carolina
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Cardinals Return Home for Three Against North Carolina
April 07, 2022 | Baseball
The series gets underway on Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team returns home after more than two weeks away for a three-game series against North Carolina. The series gets underway on Friday at 6 p.m. ET with the Saturday and Sunday games set for 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra and can be heard on 93.9 The Ville.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville had its Tuesday contest at Kentucky postponed, wrapping up its extended road trip at 5-2. The Cardinals will play four straight and 12 of their next 15 at home.
The Cardinals are in their fourth weekend of ACC play, which has proven to be one of the top offensive leagues in the country this season. The ACC features five of the top eight team batting averages nationally and four of the top eight scoring offenses. The ACC also has seven teams ranked in the top 20 in home runs.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and North Carolina have 13 previous meetings with the Tar Heels holding an 8-5 advantage in the series behind four consecutive wins. UNC is making its first trip to Louisville since March of 2018, when the Cardinals won the first two games to claim the series.
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
KNAPCZYK, METZINGER PROVIDING LETHAL 1-2 COMBINATION
The Louisville offense has beat opponents in a variety of ways in 2022, but the combination of Christian Knapczyk and Ben Metzinger at the top of the Cardinals' lineup has been at the center of it all. Both players were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List earlier this week.
Knapczyk is hitting .355 heading into the weekend and has been an on-base machine in the leadoff spot, ranking eighth in the ACC with a .496 on-base percentage. The shortstop has scored 42 runs through 28 games, the second-most in the country.
Metzinger has taken advantage of having his fellow infielder on base in front of him, hitting .348 with a team-best 39 RBIs that ranks top 15 nationally. The senior has 12 home runs on the season, nine of which have come with Knapczyk on base.
The duo has scored 76 runs and been active on the basepaths as well, combining for 22 stolen bases on the season in just 24 attempts.
LOUISVILLE SHOWING OFF RARE COMBO OF SPEED AND POWER
Louisville's offense has showed off its versatility this season, beating teams with power at the plate and speed on the basepaths.
The Cardinals have tallied 57 stolen bases and 46 home runs through the first half of the season, making them the only team in the country to rank in the top 20 nationally in both categories.
All nine of Louisville's regular starters have at least one home run, while eight of the nine have a stolen base.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville had its Tuesday contest at Kentucky postponed, wrapping up its extended road trip at 5-2. The Cardinals will play four straight and 12 of their next 15 at home.
The Cardinals are in their fourth weekend of ACC play, which has proven to be one of the top offensive leagues in the country this season. The ACC features five of the top eight team batting averages nationally and four of the top eight scoring offenses. The ACC also has seven teams ranked in the top 20 in home runs.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and North Carolina have 13 previous meetings with the Tar Heels holding an 8-5 advantage in the series behind four consecutive wins. UNC is making its first trip to Louisville since March of 2018, when the Cardinals won the first two games to claim the series.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville owns 134 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
- UofL has won 47 of its 65 ACC series (one series ended 1-1) since joining the league and is 49-14 in its series finales during that span, including a 17-7 record in rubber games.
- The Cardinals have won 25 of their 31 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
- UofL is 19-1 this season when it tallies more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell's 16 seasons at Louisville, the Cardinals are 536-61 (.898) when they record more hits.
PLAYER NOTES
- Jack Payton played sparingly as a freshman, appearing in 13 games with seven starts. Payton tallied just six hits and two RBIs in his first season. He currently leads the Cardinals with 14 multi-hit games on the season, including seven with three hits. Payton is 27-for-62 (.435) over his last 15 games. The sophomore ranks top 10 in the ACC in doubles (5th), batting average (5th) and hits (7th).
- Ben Metzinger returned fully healthy in 2022 and has been one of the pillars of the Louisville lineup. The senior ranks 10th nationally with 12 home runs and his 39 RBIs are 11th-best in the country. Metzinger is top 10 in the ACC in home runs (2nd), walks (3rd), RBIs (4th), slugging percentage (4th), total bases (5th), triples (8th) and runs (10th). He earned ACC Player of the Week honors after tallying four straight multi-hit games against Lipscomb and Boston College. 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.
- Cameron Masterman has solidified his spot in the middle of Louisville's lineup with a strong start to the 2021 season. Masterman has already set career highs in runs (30), hits (39), doubles (8), homers (9) and RBIs (32). The fifth-year senior has tallied multiple hits in nine of the last 14 games, hitting .404 (23-for-57) with five home runs and 18 RBIs over that stretch. Masterman currently ranks eighth in the ACC in total bases, ninth in home runs and 12th in RBIs.
- Christian Knapczyk has hit in the leadoff spot every game this season after hitting ninth in 42 of his 43 starts in 2021. Knapczyk owns 12 multi-hit games and is second nationally with 43 runs scored. The Louisville shortstop has scored at least one run in 24 of 28 games this season, including two or more in 13. Knapczyk picked up his first career home run in the second game of the Akron series and hit a leadoff homer against Northern Kentucky. Knapczyk ranks top 10 in the ACC in runs (1st), stolen bases (3rd), hit by pitch (4th), triples (4th) and on-base percentage (8th).
- Levi Usher has been a terror on the basepaths for opponents since arriving at Louisville for the 2020 season. The centerfielder led the ACC with 26 stolen bases in 2021 and is a perfect 17-for-17 this season. Usher has moved into ninth place on Louisville's career stolen base list with 54 in 57 attempts.
- Michael Prosecky has taken over as the Louisville closer for the 2022 season after pitching in a variety of roles during his first two years. The southpaw recorded the final six outs in each of Louisville's first two victories, earning his first two career saves. Prosecky has continued his strong work out of the bullpen and has not allowed a run in his last 13 innings. The junior is second in the ACC with six saves.
KNAPCZYK, METZINGER PROVIDING LETHAL 1-2 COMBINATION
The Louisville offense has beat opponents in a variety of ways in 2022, but the combination of Christian Knapczyk and Ben Metzinger at the top of the Cardinals' lineup has been at the center of it all. Both players were named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List earlier this week.
Knapczyk is hitting .355 heading into the weekend and has been an on-base machine in the leadoff spot, ranking eighth in the ACC with a .496 on-base percentage. The shortstop has scored 42 runs through 28 games, the second-most in the country.
Metzinger has taken advantage of having his fellow infielder on base in front of him, hitting .348 with a team-best 39 RBIs that ranks top 15 nationally. The senior has 12 home runs on the season, nine of which have come with Knapczyk on base.
The duo has scored 76 runs and been active on the basepaths as well, combining for 22 stolen bases on the season in just 24 attempts.
LOUISVILLE SHOWING OFF RARE COMBO OF SPEED AND POWER
Louisville's offense has showed off its versatility this season, beating teams with power at the plate and speed on the basepaths.
The Cardinals have tallied 57 stolen bases and 46 home runs through the first half of the season, making them the only team in the country to rank in the top 20 nationally in both categories.
All nine of Louisville's regular starters have at least one home run, while eight of the nine have a stolen base.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
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