Louisville Set for Three with Youngstown State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team continues its long homestand with three games this weekend against Youngstown State at Jim Patterson Stadium. The series gets underway Friday at 3 p.m. ET with Saturday and Sunday scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage available on 970 WGTK Friday and Sunday and 93.9 The Ville on Saturday.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals tallied their fourth consecutive victory with a 12-3 win over Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday. Brandon Anderson and JT Benson each homered and combined to drive in seven in the win. Lucas Moore reached base four times and scored four runs for the second straight game.

Louisville has reached double figures in four straight games for the first time since 2022. Louisville has not reached double digits in five consecutive games since 2019 and last did it in six straight in 1980.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Youngstown State played a three-game series in 2018, the only three meetings between the two programs. The Cardinals won all three games, outscoring the Penguins 31-3 on the weekend.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .823 winning percentage (158-34) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 129-17 (.884) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
The Louisville offense currently ranks top five in the ACC in batting average, hit by pitch, on-base percentage, stolen bases and triples.
Louisville has scored double-digit runs in four straight games for the first time since April 22-26, 2022. The Cardinals reached double figures in four straight games twice during the 2022 season.
The Cardinals scored 54 runs over the final three games of the series against St. Bonaventure, including at least 15 in all three. It was the first time the Cardinals have scored 15 or more runs in three consecutive games under Dan McDonnell, having last done it April 8-11, 1995.

PLAYER NOTES

JT Benson has been an offensive force for the Cards to start the season. He currently leads the ACC and ranks eighth nationally with a .677 on-base percentage, and extended his on-base streak to 20 games on Tuesday against EKU. Benson also ranks third in the ACC in batting average (.550) and stolen bases (5), and seventh in walks (9).
Lucas Moore drew the Opening Day start in left field against Indiana State, becoming the first Louisville true freshman to start on Opening Day since Tyler Fitzgerald in 2017. The freshman ranks second in the ACC in stolen bases, fourth in runs, fifth in HBPs and is also top 20 in batting average and on-base percentage.
Brandon Anderson has played in just four of the first eight games while working his way back from injury, but he has been a force when in the lineup. Anderson is hitting .538 and has a team-leading 11 RBIs, despite having just 13 at-bats. The junior drove in a career high five against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 24.
Evan Webster kicked off his fifth season in a Louisville uniform with just the fourth start of his career. The southpaw has worked four innings in each of his first two starts, allowing just one run overall. Webster owns 70 career appearances, eight 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.
Matt Klein had his freshman season cut short in 2023 due to injury, but has been strong in his return in 2024. The sophomore is hitting .381 through his first seven games with a .500 on-base percentage.
Luke Napleton led all of Division II in home runs (29) and RBIs (87) in 2023 at Quincy University. His offensive production has come with him to Louisville through his first six games, as he's hitting .409 with five extra-base hits and seven RBIs.
Alex Alicea has started each of the last five games at second base. The switch-hitter showed offensive prowess from both sides of the plate in the series, going 3-for-7 with a double and four RBIs from the right side and 4-for-11 with two doubles and three RBIs from the left. Alicea is Louisville's first switch hitter since Sutton Whiting (2015).

LOUISVILLE FRESHMEN MAKING OFFENSIVE IMPACT
The Louisville roster features 11 seniors and seven juniors, but it has been members of its freshmen class that have been leading the way offensively.
Alex Alicea, Lucas Moore and Zion Rose have combined to start 15 games so far this season.

The freshmen trio is hitting .393 (22-for-56) with five doubles, a home run, 23 runs scored and 17 RBIs. They have five walks and five HBPs while striking out just six times.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Alicea

Brandon Anderson

JT Benson

Matt Klein

Lucas Moore

Luke Napleton

Zion Rose

Evan Webster

University of Louisville Athletics