Photo by: Caleb Jones | Louisville Athletics
Cardinals Travel to Lexington for Battle of the Bluegrass
April 01, 2024 | Baseball
First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team takes the field at Kentucky on Tuesday night in the first of two Battle of the Bluegrass games this spring. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on the SEC Network. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville dropped two of three on the road at Florida State last weekend in Tallahassee. Evan Webster and Tucker Biven combined to pitch the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory in the middle game of the series.
BATTLE OF THE BLUEGRASS HISTORY
Tuesday will be the 115th Battle of the Bluegrass contest. Kentucky leads the all-time series 64-49-1 and holds a 35-19 edge in Lexington. The in-state rivals have met in all but two seasons since 1985. The two teams did not meeting in 2020 because of the cancellation of the season due to COVID and had both matchups rained out in 2002.
Louisville blanked Kentucky 7-0 in Lexington in the only meeting between the two programs in 2023. Evan Webster, Kade Grundy, Kaleb Corbett, Patrick Forbes, Kayden Campbell and Tate Kuehner combined to allow just four hits in the shutout effort.
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 961 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 62 bases through their first 28 games. Louisville currently leads the ACC and is 12th nationally. JT Benson and Lucas Moore rank first and fourth in the ACC, respectively, and have combined for more stolen bases than seven ACC teams.
Louisville has stolen at least 100 bases in eight of the past 10 full seasons.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville dropped two of three on the road at Florida State last weekend in Tallahassee. Evan Webster and Tucker Biven combined to pitch the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory in the middle game of the series.
BATTLE OF THE BLUEGRASS HISTORY
Tuesday will be the 115th Battle of the Bluegrass contest. Kentucky leads the all-time series 64-49-1 and holds a 35-19 edge in Lexington. The in-state rivals have met in all but two seasons since 1985. The two teams did not meeting in 2020 because of the cancellation of the season due to COVID and had both matchups rained out in 2002.
Louisville blanked Kentucky 7-0 in Lexington in the only meeting between the two programs in 2023. Evan Webster, Kade Grundy, Kaleb Corbett, Patrick Forbes, Kayden Campbell and Tate Kuehner combined to allow just four hits in the shutout effort.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville has an .828 winning percentage (168-35) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 139-18 (.885) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
- The Cardinals are 96-20 (.828) under Dan McDonnell against teams from the state of Kentucky (Bellarmine, EKU, Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, NKU and WKU).
- The Louisville offense currently ranks top 25 nationally in batting average, doubles, hits, runs, sacrifice flies, slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples.
- The Cardinals have been hit by a pitch 39 times this season, the third-most in the ACC.
- Louisville hit just one home run over the first six games, but homered at least once in each of the next 14 contests and 20 of 22. The 14 straight games with a home run was 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 half of the season with 14 different position players drawing at least nine starts. No Louisville player has started all 28 games this season.
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 26 games, Kilen is hitting .343 with 21 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 second in the ACC in triples, second in doubles, and ranks top 20 in total bases.
- 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, as he's hitting .389 with 21 RBIs, five doubles and a team-leading seven 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.
- Evan Webster had made just three starts in his career prior to this season. The southpaw has been outstanding in seven weekend starts this spring, ranking second in the ACC with a 2.31 ERA, sixth in walks allowed per nine innings, seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio and ninth in WHIP. Webster owns 75 career appearances, three shy of cracking Louisville's top 10 list all-time.
- Tucker Biven has been rock solid out of the Louisville bullpen this spring, leading the team with a 1.26 ERA in nine relief appearances. The sophomore has surrendered just two earned runs in 14.1 innings with 17 strikeouts. Biven's last two outings have been 3.1 and 3.0 innings to lock down wins at Wake Forest and Florida State.
- Ty Starke has made an immediate impact on the Louisville pitching staff as a freshman. The southpaw has started his collegiate career with just two earned runs allowed over 11.1 innings in eight appearances.
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 961 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 62 bases through their first 28 games. Louisville currently leads the ACC and is 12th nationally. JT Benson and Lucas Moore rank first and fourth in the ACC, respectively, and have combined for more stolen bases than seven ACC teams.
Louisville has stolen at least 100 bases in eight of the past 10 full seasons.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
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