Cardinals Open ACC Play with Georgia Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team starts Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend with Georgia Tech coming to Jim Patterson Stadium. The series gets underway at 6 p.m. ET on Friday with the Saturday and Sunday games scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra and radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville extended its winning streak to 10 straight with a 6-4 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday. The winning streak is the longest for the Cardinals since they opened the 2018 season with 14 straight victories.

The Cardinals begin their ninth season as members of the ACC this weekend. Louisville has captured the ACC Atlantic Division in five of the seven completed seasons and was voted as the favorite in the Atlantic again this year.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 10-7, although the Yellow Jackets have won the last four meetings. The last two matchups have come in the pool play round of the ACC Championship, with Georgia Tech winning both games.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville is 8-0 all-time in ACC openers, including a 16-11 victory over No. 1 Notre Dame last season, and has won the opening conference series in seven of its eight seasons in the ACC.
Louisville owns 145 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
UofL has won 51 of its 72 ACC series (51-19-2 - one series ended 1-1, one ended 1-1-1) since joining the league and is 53-16-1 in its series finales during that span, including a 20-8-1 record in rubber games.
The Cardinals have won 29 of their 35 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
The Cardinals have recorded at least 10 hits in 11 of the first 16 games. Louisville tallied double-digit hits 41 times during the 2022 season.
Louisville's offense has put together an inning of four runs or more in 11 of the first 16 games.
Louisville had just 12 stolen bases through the first 14 games, but has stolen 13 in the last two.
The Cardinals rank third nationally in hits allowed per nine innings at 5.96, 11th with a 2.79 team ERA, and 14th with a 1.16 WHIP.
The Cardinals have held the opposition to two runs or fewer 10 times through 16 games. Louisville limited opponents to two or less 14 times in 2022.
Louisville has been excellent early in games this spring, outscoring opponents 56-16 in the first three innings.

PLAYER NOTES

Jack Payton finished with an ACC-best 23 doubles in 2022, but homered just four times. The junior is still racking up the doubles with six already this season. However, Payton has shown more power this spring and matched his sophomore season total just 10 games into 2023. He had a 23-game on-base streak end on Tuesday but enters the weekend with multiple hits in seven of the last nine games.
JT Benson hit cleanup in the 2022 Opening Day lineup in his first collegiate game. However, a pair of fluke injuries derailed his sophomore campaign and limited him to just 14 starts. A fully healthy Benson has surged out of the gate in 2023, hitting .412 through his first 11 games played. Benson is 9-for-17 over the last six games with six extra-base hits (2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs), nine runs scored and nine RBIs.
Christian Knapczyk picked up right where he left off last spring hitting .333 to start the season, reaching base 38 times and scoring 17 runs. The junior has been hit by a pitch 11 times this season, which ranks fourth nationally. Knapczyk was the sparkplug at the top of the order in 2022 with the Cardinals averaging 9.1 runs in the 53 games he started versus just 6.2 in the 11 games he did not start.
Ryan Hawks drew the Opening Day start for the Cardinals, just the second start of his collegiate career. The senior is tied for the ACC lead with 25 innings pitched through four starts and has allowed just six earned runs. Hawks is the first Louisville pitcher to win all four starts through the first four weekends since Brendan McKay in 2016.
Greg Farone dominated junior college hitters in 2022, striking out 139 in just 60 innings on the mound. He has had similar success early in his time with the Cards, taking the mound five times and punching out 26 batters in 17 innings. Farone made his first start as a Cardinal against No. 10 TCU in Houston and was stellar, tossing seven shutout innings before a leadoff single came around to score after he left the game in the eighth.
Carson Liggett earned the Sunday starting role to open the season and has been terrific to start the season. The sophomore is 3-0 and turned in the best start of his college career against Michigan in the finale at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Liggett gave up just one hit over seven shutout innings in what turned out to be a complete-game effort as the Cards run-ruled Michigan.

CARDS SOARING THROUGH FIRST 16 GAMES
Louisville has been on a tear to start the season, winning 15 of its first 16 games in 2023.

The 15-1 record marks the third time the Cardinals have won at least 15 of the first 16 under Dan McDonnell. The Cards started 17-1 in 2010, while they won the first 19 games of the 2017 season.

Louisville is one of four teams (South Carolina, LSU, Virginia) remaining with just one loss on the season.

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Players Mentioned

JT Benson

Greg Farone

Ryan Hawks

Christian Knapczyk

Carson Liggett

Jack Payton

University of Louisville Athletics