Cards Return Home to Take on Northern Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team begins the final week of the regular season on Tuesday against Northern Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage available on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville lost all three games over the weekend at No. 10 Virginia, extending its losing streak to seven. It marks the Cards' longest losing stretch since dropping eight straight late in the 2011 season.

Tuesday marks the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Cardinals, who are 20-4 against non-ACC opponents this season. Louisville is hitting .327 as a team and averaging 9.2 runs in those games.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 15-7 all-time against Northern Kentucky in a series that resumed in 2017 after having not played since 1985. The Cardinals are 4-0 since the resumption, including a 12-8 win last March. Jack Payton led the Cards with a 3-for-5 day, while Christian Knapczyk and Isaac Humphrey each homered and had two hits.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .844 winning percentage (152-28) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 121-15 (.890) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
Louisville had just 12 stolen bases through the first 14 games, but has stolen 71 in the last 37.
Fifteen different Cardinals have stolen a base this season.
The Cardinals rank top 30 nationally in earned run average (4.30).
Louisville has been excellent early in games this spring, outscoring opponents 129-77 in the first three innings.
The Cardinals are 17-3 this season when they do not allow a home run and 12-2 when they hit multiple homers.
Through 51 games, the Cardinals have started 47 different batting orders and 40 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 nine this season. However, Payton has shown more power this spring, matching his total from last year just 10 games into 2023 and sitting with more than double that number as the end of the regular season approaches. He recorded his first multi-homer game at Cincinnati, homering in the each of the first two innings, and currently leads the Cards with 20 multi-hit games including six with three hits. Payton did not start seven games in late April and early May due to injury and the Cardinals were 1-6 in those contests.
Ryan McCoy has provided a power presence in the middle of the Louisville lineup in his first season with the Cards. The junior leads the team in runs, home runs, RBIs and walks. In his last 15 games, McCoy has tallied five homers, 19 RBIs and 13 runs scored. With the injuries to Louisville's catchers, McCoy moved behind the plate and caught five games.
Christian Knapczyk is the catalyst at the top of the Louisville lineup and currently ranks second in the ACC with 17 HBPs and fourth with 19 stolen bases. The junior has a hit in 35 of the 42 games he's played this season and has reached base in all but four contests. Knapczyk missed seven games due to injury before pinch-hitting in the eighth inning of the finale against Miami, doubling off the wall to drive in a run. He returned to the starting lineup on May 2, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

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Players Mentioned

Isaac Humphrey

Christian Knapczyk

Ryan McCoy

Jack Payton

University of Louisville Athletics