Cardinals Welcome No. 9 Virginia for Three-Game Set

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team returns to conference play with three games against Virginia this weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium. The series gets underway at 6 p.m. ET on Friday with the Saturday and Sunday games scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage on 93.9 The Ville.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville suffered a 3-2 walk-off defeat in 10 innings at Western Kentucky on Tuesday night. Louisville relief pitchers combined for six scoreless innings before allowing the game-winning run in the 10th.

Virginia enters the weekend ranked ninth nationally. All five of Louisville's conference series this season have been against teams either currently ranked or ranked at the time they played.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville leads the all-time series against Virginia 13-12 with the two programs having met every season since the Cards joined the ACC in 2015, with the exception of the shortened 2020 season. Louisville took two of three from the Cavaliers in UVA's last trip to Patterson Stadium.

TEAM NOTES

UofL is 54-30-2 in its 86 all-time ACC series (one series ended 1-1, one ended 1-1-1) since joining the league and is 60-23-1 in its series finales during that span, including a 21-12-1 record in rubber games.
The Cardinals have won 32 of their 42 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
The Louisville offense currently ranks top 30 nationally in batting average, doubles, hits, on-base percentage, runs, slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples.
The Cardinals have been hit by a pitch 48 times this season, the second-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 23 of 26. 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 11 starts. No Louisville player has started all 32 games this season.

PLAYER NOTES

Zion Rose has been a catalyst in Louisville's lineup as a freshman, especially in ACC play. Rose is hitting .372 against conference foes, the second-best average on the team. He also leads the team in ACC games in hits, triples and on-base percentage and is tied for the team lead in runs and RBIs. Rose enters the weekend with a 13-game reached base streak.
Tucker Biven has been rock solid out of the Louisville bullpen this spring, leading the team with a 1.08 ERA in 12 relief appearances. The sophomore has surrendered just two earned runs in 16.2 innings with 20 strikeouts. Biven has closed out four of Louisville's last five wins in ACC play.
Logan Beard hit four home runs in 2022 and seven more in 2023. The senior has already surpassed his home run total from last year just 32 games into the season. Beard has seen a power surge recently, hitting five in his last seven games played, including two in the weekend sweep against NC State.
Gavin Kilen has taken his offensive production to another level during his sophomore season. Through 30 games, Kilen is hitting .356 with 22 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 third in the ACC in doubles, third in triples, and ranks top 25 in batting average, slugging percentage and 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 .333 with 23 RBIs, six 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.
Jared Lessman joined the Cardinals after a pair of seasons at Iowa Western CC. He allowed three runs while recording just three outs in his first two appearances in a Louisville uniform. However, he locked it down over his next eight trips to the mound, giving up just one earned run over 14.1 innings. Lessman pitched scoreless relief outings of three innings each against Virginia Tech and NC State.

GONGORA NAMED ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sebastian Gongora was named ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week after his dominant performance in Louisville's series opening 11-1 victory over No. 19 NC State on April 5.

Gongora turned in a seven-inning complete game effort, striking out a career high 11 batters in the process. The Dayton, Ohio, native surrendered just one run on a solo home run while allowing three hits.

Gongora dominated the middle innings, recording strikeouts for eight of his nine outs in the third through fifth frames.

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Players Mentioned

Logan Beard

Tucker Biven

Sebastian Gongora

Gavin Kilen

Jared Lessman

Luke Napleton

Zion Rose

University of Louisville Athletics