Friday, February 16
Tampa, Fla.
10:00 AM
University of Louisville
vs
Indiana State
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Louisville Baseball Season Begins Friday in Tampa
February 15, 2024 | Baseball
The Cardinals will open up against Indiana State on Friday at noon ET.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team begins the 2024 season with three games on the campus of USF in Tampa, Fla. The Cardinals will play Indiana State on Friday at noon ET, USF Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and UConn Sunday at 9 a.m. ET. Television coverage will be available on ESPN+ for only the Saturday game against USF. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville on Friday and Sunday, and 970 WGTK on Saturday.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Dan McDonnell begins his 18th season at the helm of the Louisville program in 2024. He enters the year third nationally among active coaches in winning percentage (.698).
The Cardinals are opening the season in the state of Florida for the ninth time under Dan McDonnell. Louisville is 14-10 in the eight previous season opening weekends in the Sunshine State.
Louisville played USF and UConn on the opening weekend in Tampa in 2022, losing 8-4 and 9-2, respectively. Friday will mark the Cards first meeting with Indiana State since they hosted the Sycamores for a three-game series in April of 2018.
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
GONGORA NAMED NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Senior left-handed pitcher Sebastian Gongora was recognized as a preseason All-American by the NCBWA. Gongora was voted to the second of three preseason teams.
Gongora was the 2023 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year after going 10-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched. The southpaw led the Horizon League in wins, ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, fewest hits allowed per nine innings and opposing batting average.
His work on the mound helped Wright State to its third consecutive Horizon League championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
CARDINALS FACE CHALLENGING 2024 SLATE
Dan McDonnell's group will once again face a challenging schedule in 2024, with 30 games coming against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. In total, Louisville will square off against 14 NCAA Tournament teams, two of which reached the College World Series, with two others in Super Regionals and four more that reached Regional finals.
The Cardinals will face six teams ranked in the preseason, all of which were ranked inside the top 15 of at least one poll.
LOUISVILLE ROSTER HAS OLDER FLAVOR IN 2024
A program that often loses players to the draft after three years, the 2024 Louisville roster has a much older feel than normal.
Dan McDonnell's group heads into the 2024 season with 11 seniors on its roster and returns seven of its nine position starters from one year ago.
Louisville returns 69 percent of its run total and 68 percent of its home run production from 2023, while also bringing back 60 percent of its innings on the mound.
CARDINALS TAKE FIRST DIP INTO TRANSFER PORTAL
After not having previously taken players from the transfer portal, head coach Dan McDonnell elected to dip into the water following the 2023 season, adding four four-year transfers to the program.
Louisville added two pitchers – Sebastian Gongora, a left-hander from Wright State who was named the 2023 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, and Jake Karaba, a consensus All-American at Division II Lewis University.
The Cardinals also took a pair of hitters – Luke Napleton, a consensus All-American catcher from Division II Lewis University, and Dylan Hoy, a versatile four-year starting infielder at Marist College.
LOUISVILLE PICKED FIFTH IN ATLANTIC DIVISION IN PRESEASON ACC POLL
Following a disappointing 2023 season, the Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC by the league's 14 head coaches.
Wake Forest was selected as the favorite in the Atlantic Division and the conference overall. Clemson, NC State and Florida State were also voted ahead of the Cardinals in the division.
Since joining the conference in 2015, Louisville has won five division titles. No other ACC program has won more than two during that span.
CARDS OPEN 2024 SEASON UNRANKED
For just the third time in Dan McDonnell's 18 seasons, the Cardinals were not ranked in any of the major preseason polls heading into the 2024 season.
Louisville was previously unranked to begin a season in 2007, McDonnell's first season, and again in 2022. The Cardinals made their first College World Series appearance in 2007 and reached a Super Regional in 2022.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Dan McDonnell begins his 18th season at the helm of the Louisville program in 2024. He enters the year third nationally among active coaches in winning percentage (.698).
The Cardinals are opening the season in the state of Florida for the ninth time under Dan McDonnell. Louisville is 14-10 in the eight previous season opening weekends in the Sunshine State.
Louisville played USF and UConn on the opening weekend in Tampa in 2022, losing 8-4 and 9-2, respectively. Friday will mark the Cards first meeting with Indiana State since they hosted the Sycamores for a three-game series in April of 2018.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville is 12-4 in season opening games under Dan McDonnell, including wins in eight of the
- last nine openers.
- Louisville has an .837 winning percentage (154-30) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 125-15 (.893) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
- The Cardinals return seven starters from last year's lineup and 10 pitchers for the 2024 season.
- The Louisville pitching staff ranked top 25 nationally in earned run average (4.39) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.30) last season.
- Louisville is 152-4-1 when leading after eight innings since the start of 2019, including a 28-2 mark in 2023. The Cardinals are 643-19-1 (.971) when taking a lead into the ninth inning during Dan McDonnell's tenure.
- Entering the 2024 season, Louisville leads all ACC teams in total wins, conference wins, runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBIs, total bases, stolen bases, innings pitched, ERA, shutouts, saves and opponents' batting average since it joined the ACC prior to the 2015 season.
- UofL has stolen 899 bases since joining the ACC in 2015, more than any other conference team has attempted.
PLAYER NOTES
- Carson Liggett was a second team All-ACC selection in 2023 after posting a 7-2 record with a 3.42 ERA. The right-hander led the Cardinals in wins as a sophomore and was a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist.
- Evan Webster enters his fifth season with the Cards in 2024. The southpaw has made 68 career appearances, 10 shy of cracking Louisville's top 10 list all-time. Webster has knocked more than a full run off his ERA each of the last two seasons, posting a 3.09 mark in 35 innings last year.
- Ryan McCoy is Louisville's top returner in power production, leading the team with 44 RBIs last season and tying for the team lead with 12 home runs.
- JT Benson, Eddie King Jr. and Isaac Humphrey each return after starting at least 40 games in the outfield in 2023. Benson hit .288 and was second on the team with 16 stolen bases, while King paced the Cards with 11 doubles and was second with 42 driven in, and Humphrey finished third on the team with a .406 on-base percentage.
- Gavin Kilen made 38 starts as a freshman in 2023 and now takes over the starting shortstop position this spring. The sophomore hit .302 for Falmouth during the summer and was named a Cape Cod League All-Star.
- Logan Beard has started 116 of 119 games over the last two seasons after sitting out in 2021. The 2022 Freshman All-American is a career .297 hitter with 11 homers and 88 RBIs.
GONGORA NAMED NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Senior left-handed pitcher Sebastian Gongora was recognized as a preseason All-American by the NCBWA. Gongora was voted to the second of three preseason teams.
Gongora was the 2023 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year after going 10-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched. The southpaw led the Horizon League in wins, ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, fewest hits allowed per nine innings and opposing batting average.
His work on the mound helped Wright State to its third consecutive Horizon League championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
CARDINALS FACE CHALLENGING 2024 SLATE
Dan McDonnell's group will once again face a challenging schedule in 2024, with 30 games coming against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. In total, Louisville will square off against 14 NCAA Tournament teams, two of which reached the College World Series, with two others in Super Regionals and four more that reached Regional finals.
The Cardinals will face six teams ranked in the preseason, all of which were ranked inside the top 15 of at least one poll.
LOUISVILLE ROSTER HAS OLDER FLAVOR IN 2024
A program that often loses players to the draft after three years, the 2024 Louisville roster has a much older feel than normal.
Dan McDonnell's group heads into the 2024 season with 11 seniors on its roster and returns seven of its nine position starters from one year ago.
Louisville returns 69 percent of its run total and 68 percent of its home run production from 2023, while also bringing back 60 percent of its innings on the mound.
CARDINALS TAKE FIRST DIP INTO TRANSFER PORTAL
After not having previously taken players from the transfer portal, head coach Dan McDonnell elected to dip into the water following the 2023 season, adding four four-year transfers to the program.
Louisville added two pitchers – Sebastian Gongora, a left-hander from Wright State who was named the 2023 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, and Jake Karaba, a consensus All-American at Division II Lewis University.
The Cardinals also took a pair of hitters – Luke Napleton, a consensus All-American catcher from Division II Lewis University, and Dylan Hoy, a versatile four-year starting infielder at Marist College.
LOUISVILLE PICKED FIFTH IN ATLANTIC DIVISION IN PRESEASON ACC POLL
Following a disappointing 2023 season, the Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC by the league's 14 head coaches.
Wake Forest was selected as the favorite in the Atlantic Division and the conference overall. Clemson, NC State and Florida State were also voted ahead of the Cardinals in the division.
Since joining the conference in 2015, Louisville has won five division titles. No other ACC program has won more than two during that span.
CARDS OPEN 2024 SEASON UNRANKED
For just the third time in Dan McDonnell's 18 seasons, the Cardinals were not ranked in any of the major preseason polls heading into the 2024 season.
Louisville was previously unranked to begin a season in 2007, McDonnell's first season, and again in 2022. The Cardinals made their first College World Series appearance in 2007 and reached a Super Regional in 2022.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
Players Mentioned
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