Tuesday, March 19
Louisville, Ky.
5:00 PM
University of Louisville
vs
Bellarmine
Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Louisville Closes Out Homestand Against Bellarmine Tuesday
March 18, 2024 | Baseball
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team finishes off its long homestand with a Tuesday contest against Bellarmine with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra. Radio coverage will be available on 970 WGTK with 93.9 The Ville joining in progress at 6 p.m. ET.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals lost two of three in their opening ACC series against Virginia Tech last weekend. Louisville won the series opener on Friday night before Virginia Tech took games two and three.
Tuesday night wraps up a 19-game homestand for the Cardinals, who are currently 13-5 at Jim Patterson Stadium. Following Tuesday's game, Louisville will play seven of its next eight games away from home.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday will mark the 76th all-time meeting between the two in-city programs. After not playing for nearly 30 years, the two teams resumed their series in 2021 when the Knights became a Division I program. Louisville has won all six meetings since that time.
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
CARDINALS RUNNING PAST ACC ON BASES
Louisville has been the top base-stealing team in the ACC since joining the league for the 2015 season. The Cardinals have stolen 949 bases during their time in the ACC, more than any other conference team has attempted.
That has continued in 2024, as the Cardinals have swiped 50 bases through their first 20 games. Louisville currently leads the ACC and is seventh nationally. JT Benson and Lucas Moore are tied atop the ACC leaderboard with 14 apiece.
Louisville has stolen at least 100 bases in eight of the past 10 full seasons.
LOUISVILLE FRESHMEN MAKING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
The Louisville roster features 11 seniors and seven juniors, but members of the freshmen class have been contributing on both sides of the diamond.
Alex Alicea, Lucas Moore and Zion Rose have combined to start 37 games so far this season. The freshmen trio is hitting .370 (50-for-135) with 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 44 runs scored and 32 RBIs. They have 20 walks and eight HBPs while striking out just 17 times.
On the mound, Ty Starke and Colton Hartman have been strong out of the bullpen. The two southpaws have combined to allow just one earned run in 13.0 innings of relief work, striking out 15 with just nine hits surrendered.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals lost two of three in their opening ACC series against Virginia Tech last weekend. Louisville won the series opener on Friday night before Virginia Tech took games two and three.
Tuesday night wraps up a 19-game homestand for the Cardinals, who are currently 13-5 at Jim Patterson Stadium. Following Tuesday's game, Louisville will play seven of its next eight games away from home.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday will mark the 76th all-time meeting between the two in-city programs. After not playing for nearly 30 years, the two teams resumed their series in 2021 when the Knights became a Division I program. Louisville has won all six meetings since that time.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville has an .826 winning percentage (166-35) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 137-18 (.884) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
- The Louisville offense currently ranks top 15 nationally in batting average, doubles, hits, on-base percentage, runs, runs per game, slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples.
- The Cardinals have been hit by a pitch in all but three games this season and currently lead the ACC with 33 on the season.
- Louisville hit just one home run over the first six games, but has homered at least once in each of the last 14 contests. The 14 straight games with a home run is the longest streak for the Cardinals since homering in 15 in a row from April 25-May 18, 2017.
- Dan McDonnell has shuffled his lineup through the first 20 games with 14 different position players drawing at least seven starts. Gavin Kilen is the only player to start all 20 games.
PLAYER NOTES
- Gavin Kilen made 38 starts as a freshman in 2023, hitting .265 with 10 extra-base hits. The sophomore has moved into the starting shortstop position and taken his offensive game to another level. Through 20 games, Kilen is hitting .363 with 17 extra-base hits. Kilen did not hit a home run in his first 57 collegiate games before tallying his first against Morehead State and homering five times in a eight-game stretch. He hit for the cycle in the series opener against Virginia Tech, becoming the first Cardinal to do so since Alex Binelas in 2019. Kilen is first in the ACC in triples, fourth in doubles, 10th in total bases, 10th in hits, 16th in slugging and 20th in RBIs. He also ranks as the second toughest hitter in the ACC to strikeout, going down once every 20 at-bats.
- 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 is tied with JT Benson for the ACC lead in stolen bases and is second in on-base percentage, fifth in hit by pitch and sixth in batting average.
- 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 13 games, as he's hitting .375 with 16 RBIs, four doubles and six home runs. Napleton launched three homers in the series opener against Virginia Tech, the first Cardinal to do so since Alex Binelas against Clemson in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
CARDINALS RUNNING PAST ACC ON BASES
Louisville has been the top base-stealing team in the ACC since joining the league for the 2015 season. The Cardinals have stolen 949 bases during their time in the ACC, more than any other conference team has attempted.
That has continued in 2024, as the Cardinals have swiped 50 bases through their first 20 games. Louisville currently leads the ACC and is seventh nationally. JT Benson and Lucas Moore are tied atop the ACC leaderboard with 14 apiece.
Louisville has stolen at least 100 bases in eight of the past 10 full seasons.
LOUISVILLE FRESHMEN MAKING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
The Louisville roster features 11 seniors and seven juniors, but members of the freshmen class have been contributing on both sides of the diamond.
Alex Alicea, Lucas Moore and Zion Rose have combined to start 37 games so far this season. The freshmen trio is hitting .370 (50-for-135) with 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 44 runs scored and 32 RBIs. They have 20 walks and eight HBPs while striking out just 17 times.
On the mound, Ty Starke and Colton Hartman have been strong out of the bullpen. The two southpaws have combined to allow just one earned run in 13.0 innings of relief work, striking out 15 with just nine hits surrendered.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
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