Cardinals Head to No. 18 Clemson for Three

Friday, May 5

Clemson, S.C.

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

Clemson

The Cardinals huddle before playing Boston College.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

May 04, 2023 | Baseball

The series starts on Friday night at 6 p.m. ET.

By: Stephen Williams

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team heads to No. 18 Clemson for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Game two is set for 2 p.m. ET on Saturday with the finale on Sunday at noon ET. Television coverage for all three games on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville plated a season-high 18 runs in a win over Bellarmine on Tuesday at Louisville Slugger Field. Ryan McCoy and Isaac Humphrey each homered and drove in four runs in the win, while Logan Beard added three hits and two RBIs.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Clemson have met 31 times previously with the Tigers holding a 17-14 edge in the series. However, Louisville leads the series 14-11 since joining the ACC in 2015 and has won four straight overall.

The Cardinals tallied a three-game sweep of Clemson last season at Jim Patterson Stadium, scoring 35 runs in the series. Logan Beard went 6-for-10 at the plate with a double, triple, home run and eight RBIs for the weekend.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville owns 154 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 79 ACC series (53-22-2 - one series ended 1-1, one ended 1-1-1) since joining the league and is 58-18-1 in its series finales during that span, including a 21-9-1 record in rubber games.
Louisville had just 12 stolen bases through the first 14 games, but has stolen 60 in the last 30.
Fifteen different Cardinals have stolen a base this season.
The Cardinals rank top 12 nationally in earned run average (3.92) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.73).
Louisville has recorded four shutouts this spring (Eastern Kentucky, Michigan, Kentucky, Miami). The Cardinals had four shutouts in the three previous seasons combined.
The Cardinals have held the opposition to two runs or fewer 18 times this spring. Louisville limited opponents to two or less 14 times in 2022.
Louisville has been excellent early in games this spring, doubling up opponents 122-61 in the first three innings.
The Cardinals are 17-1 this season when they do not allow a home run and 22-6 when they hit at least one long ball.
Through 44 games, the Cardinals have started 41 different batting orders and 35 different defensive alignments.

PLAYER NOTES

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 16 games and has been excellent when he's been in the starting lineup this season, hitting .372 (35-for-94) with 22 RBIs in his 26 starts. Anderson has tallied multiple hits in five consecutive games entering the weekend.
Isaac Humphrey struggled mightily over a month stretch that saw his average dip from .333 down to .213. However, the junior has rebounded over the last three weeks, recording at least one hit in nine of his last 11 games. Humphrey is hitting .389 (14-for-36) during that span with five extra-base hits, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored to boost his season average to .267.
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 entering the weekend. He recorded his first multi-homer game at Cincinnati, homering in the each of the first two innings, and currently leads the Cards with 17 multi-hit games including six with three hits.
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 and RBIs and is second in walks. McCoy was 6-for-12 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the series at Duke, including a multi-homer game in the series opener. The first baseman also launched a 480-foot game-tying two-run home run at Duke, the longest Louisville homer measured on Trackman since it became available in 2019. In his last eight games, McCoy is hitting .375 (12-for-32) with four homers, 15 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Christian Knapczyk is the catalyst at the top of the Louisville lineup and currently ranks fourth in the ACC with 16 stolen bases and third with 13 HBPs. The junior has a hit in 31 of the 36 games he's played this season and has reached base in all but three 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 Tuesday, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Gavin Kilen was selected in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox but elected to come to Louisville. The freshman infielder has transitioned smoothly into the college game. Kilen enters the weekend on a six-game hitting streak with multiple hits in each of the last four. He currently ranks as the toughest hitter to strike out in the ACC, going down on strikes just once every 12.0 at-bats.
Carson Liggett earned the Sunday starting role to open the season and has been terrific this season. The sophomore is 7-0 and ranks fourth in the ACC with a 2.31 ERA. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 11 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.
Ryan Hawks drew the Opening Day start for the Cardinals, just the second start of his collegiate career. The senior has been the workhorse at the front of the Louisville rotation, ranking third in the ACC in innings pitched and sixth in strikeouts. Hawks became the first Louisville pitcher to win all four starts through the first four weekends since Brendan McKay in 2016, and his eight innings against Boston College marked the longest outing by a Louisville pitcher this season.