Cardinals Travel for Three Games at Duke

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team travels to Duke for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Saturday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET with Sunday's finale set for 1 p.m. ET. The Friday and Sunday games will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while the Saturday game can be seen on ACC Network. Radio coverage is available all weekend on 970 WGTK, with the final two games also on 93.9 The Ville.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville suffered just its second midweek loss of the season on Tuesday, dropping a 7-3 decision at No. 20 Indiana. Evan Webster made his first career start, allowing two earned over 2.1 innings, while Will Vierling hit his first collegiate home run.

The Cardinals played on Tuesday night without juniors Christian Knapczyk and Jack Payton. It marked the first Louisville game without at least one of them in the starting lineup since March 2, 2021.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville holds a 10-3 edge in the all-time series against Duke, a series that began when the Cards joined the ACC in 2015. Louisville has won eight of the last nine against the Blue Devils, including a three-game sweep in its last trip to Durham.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville owns 153 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
UofL has won 53 of its 77 ACC series (53-21-2 - one series ended 1-1, one ended 1-1-1) since joining the league and is 58-16-1 in its series finales during that span, including a 21-8-1 record in rubber games.
Louisville had just 12 stolen bases through the first 14 games, but has stolen 47 in the last 22.
The Cardinals rank top 25 nationally in earned run average (3.91) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.68).
The Cardinals have held the opposition to two runs or fewer 16 times through 36 games. Louisville limited opponents to two or less 14 times in 2022.
Louisville has been excellent early in games this spring, outscoring opponents 104-54 in the first three innings.
Through 36 games, the Cardinals have started 34 different batting orders and 30 different defensive alignments.

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 eight this season. However, Payton has shown more power this spring, matching his total from last year just 10 games into 2023 and sitting with double that number entering Tuesday. He recorded his first multi-homer game at Cincinnati, homering in the each of the first two innings, and currently leads the Cards with 15 multi-hit games including six with three hits.
Christian Knapczyk is the catalyst at the top of the Louisville lineup and currently ranks second in the ACC with 16 stolen bases and third with 13 HBPs. The junior has a hit in 29 of the 34 games he's played this season and has reached base in all but three contests. Knapczyk enters Tuesday on a nine-game hitting streak.
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 been excellent in 2023, hitting .309 with 12 extra-base hits and 22 RBI. Benson has also been good on the bases, swiping nine bags in 10 tries.
Brandon Anderson made just seven starts during his freshman season, posting a .316 average with all 12 of his hits going for singles. Anderson was Louisville's Opening Day starter at third base but started only sporadically through the first month of the season. The sophomore has started each of the last eight games and has been excellent when he's been in the starting lineup this season, hitting .387 (24-for-62) with 15 RBIs in his 18 starts.
Carson Liggett earned the Sunday starting role to open the season and has been terrific through the first half of the season. The sophomore is 7-0, one win shy of the national lead, and is second in the ACC with a 1.66 ERA. The right-hander has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine starts, and is the first Louisville pitcher to win his first seven decisions in a season since Kade McClure finished the 2016 season 12-0.
Greg Farone dominated junior college hitters in 2022, striking out 139 in just 60 innings on the mound. Farone opened the year in the bullpen before earning a spot in the weekend rotation. The southpaw has since returned to the bullpen where he has been dominant this season. In six relief appearances, Farone has allowed just one earned run over 11.2 innings with 18 strikeouts.

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University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brandon Anderson

JT Benson

Greg Farone

Christian Knapczyk

Carson Liggett

Jack Payton

Will Vierling

Evan Webster

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