Tuesday, May 21
Charlotte, N.C.
11:00 AM
University of Louisville
vs
Miami
Photo by: Chris Carter | Louisville Athletics
Cardinals Open ACC Championship Play Tuesday
May 20, 2024 | Baseball
The championship gets started on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET for the Cardinals.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team heads to Charlotte, N.C., for the 2024 ACC Baseball Championship. The Cardinals will get started with pool play on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET against Pitt before playing Clemson at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with the final on Sunday. All games will be televised on ACC Network except the final, which will be shown on ESPN2. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the ACC Championship coming off a three-game sweep of Notre Dame to close out the regular season. The Cardinals pounded out nine home runs in the series and its three starting pitchers combined to allow just three earned runs in 16.2 innings.
The Cardinals are seeking their first ACC Championship title this week. Louisville is 7-11 all-time in the tournament, with its best finish coming as the runner-up in 2018.
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP OPPONENTS
Louisville faces familiar foes in the pool play round. The Cardinals open with Miami, who they took two of three from in Coral Gables last month. Louisville hosted Clemson the following week and lost two of three.
Tuesday will be the first ACC Championship meeting for the Cards with Miami, while Friday's contest will be the fifth time Clemson and Louisville have played in the event.
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
THREE CARDINALS EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
Louisville had three players recognized in the yearly ACC awards. Evan Webster was a second team All-ACC selection, while Gavin Kilen was voted to the third team and Zion Rose was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Webster moved into a starting role for his fifth season at Louisville and has been excellent as the Saturday starter this spring. The southpaw is 5-2 on the season with a 3.54 ERA starting all 14 weekends. Webster set career highs with 68.2 innings and 60 strikeouts and was one of the top strike throwers in the ACC. He finished the regular season fourth in the ACC in walks per nine innings and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Kilen has had a special sophomore season for the Cardinals. He finished the regular season with a .333 average, leading Louisville in hits (69), doubles (22) and total bases (124). His 22 two-baggers led the ACC and are tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history. After not homering as a freshman, Kilen tallied nine in 52 games to give him 34 extra-base hits.
Rose was a highly-ranked prospect when he enrolled at Louisville and he came in and made an immediate impact. The freshman led the Cardinals with a .382 batting average during the regular season, racking up eight doubles, five triples and four home runs. Rose also notched 10 stolen bases and finished with more walks (19) than strikeouts (18).
KING BLASTS WAY TO ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Eddie King Jr. had a weekend most only dream of in the series sweep of Notre Dame, leading to an ACC Player of the Week honor.
King went 6-for-10, homering five times and driving in eight. The junior launched a pair of home runs in the series opener before adding another in game two and two more in the finale.
The five homers continued a month-long power surge for King, who tallied 12 home runs in a 19-game span dating from April 14 through the end of the regular season.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the ACC Championship coming off a three-game sweep of Notre Dame to close out the regular season. The Cardinals pounded out nine home runs in the series and its three starting pitchers combined to allow just three earned runs in 16.2 innings.
The Cardinals are seeking their first ACC Championship title this week. Louisville is 7-11 all-time in the tournament, with its best finish coming as the runner-up in 2018.
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP OPPONENTS
Louisville faces familiar foes in the pool play round. The Cardinals open with Miami, who they took two of three from in Coral Gables last month. Louisville hosted Clemson the following week and lost two of three.
Tuesday will be the first ACC Championship meeting for the Cards with Miami, while Friday's contest will be the fifth time Clemson and Louisville have played in the event.
TEAM NOTES
- The Louisville offense currently ranks top 25 nationally in batting average, doubles, hits, slugging percentage, stolen bases and triples.
- Louisville has notched double digit hits 28 times this season and is 28-4 when it records more hits than the opposition.
- The Cardinals have been hit by a pitch 82 times this season, the most in the ACC.
PLAYER NOTES
- Zion Rose has been a catalyst in Louisville's lineup as a freshman, especially in ACC play. Rose ranked second among ACC hitters with a .396 batting average in conference play and sixth with a .479 on-base percentage. He led the Cardinals in average, hits, runs, triples and on-base percentage in ACC play.
- Eddie King Jr. has turned in a breakout junior season in his second season on the field as a Cardinal. He finished the regular season as Louisville's home run and RBI leader after launching five homers in three-game series against Notre Dame. Over the final month of the regular season, King hit 12 home runs in 19 games.
- Isaac Humphrey has very quietly had a strong senior campaign at the plate. Humphrey hit just .250 through his first 10 games of the season with just one home run and four RBIs. In the 42 games since, he's hitting .340 with 10 doubles, nine homers and 35 RBIs. Humphrey had Louisville's third-best batting average in ACC action at .324.
- JT Benson continues to lead Louisville' charge on the basepaths, leading the ACC and ranking seventh nationally with 34 stolen bases. The senior swiped a career-high four bases in the win over Virginia on April 13 and was 18-for-19 in conference play. Benson is the 10th player in program history to swipe 30 bags in a season and is tied for 10th on Louisville's all-time list for career steals.
- Gavin Kilen has taken his offensive production to another level during his sophomore season. Kilen is hitting .333 with 34 extra-base hits, leading the Cardinals in hits, doubles and total bases. 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 leads the ACC in doubles, is sixth in triples, and ranks top 25 in total bases.
- Tucker Biven has been rock solid out of the Louisville bullpen this spring, leading the team with a 2.73 ERA in 22 relief appearances. Biven closed out eight of Louisville's 16 wins in ACC play and has recorded more than three outs in 12 of his appearances.
- Evan Webster had made just three starts in his career prior to this season. The southpaw started every weekend during the regular season for the Cardinals, ranking second on the team in innings pitched and strikeouts. Webster has been especially strong in six starts away from home this season, allowing one run or fewer in five of those, including starts at Wake Forest, Florida State and Miami. Webster owns 82 career appearances, seventh most in program history.
THREE CARDINALS EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
Louisville had three players recognized in the yearly ACC awards. Evan Webster was a second team All-ACC selection, while Gavin Kilen was voted to the third team and Zion Rose was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Webster moved into a starting role for his fifth season at Louisville and has been excellent as the Saturday starter this spring. The southpaw is 5-2 on the season with a 3.54 ERA starting all 14 weekends. Webster set career highs with 68.2 innings and 60 strikeouts and was one of the top strike throwers in the ACC. He finished the regular season fourth in the ACC in walks per nine innings and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Kilen has had a special sophomore season for the Cardinals. He finished the regular season with a .333 average, leading Louisville in hits (69), doubles (22) and total bases (124). His 22 two-baggers led the ACC and are tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history. After not homering as a freshman, Kilen tallied nine in 52 games to give him 34 extra-base hits.
Rose was a highly-ranked prospect when he enrolled at Louisville and he came in and made an immediate impact. The freshman led the Cardinals with a .382 batting average during the regular season, racking up eight doubles, five triples and four home runs. Rose also notched 10 stolen bases and finished with more walks (19) than strikeouts (18).
KING BLASTS WAY TO ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Eddie King Jr. had a weekend most only dream of in the series sweep of Notre Dame, leading to an ACC Player of the Week honor.
King went 6-for-10, homering five times and driving in eight. The junior launched a pair of home runs in the series opener before adding another in game two and two more in the finale.
The five homers continued a month-long power surge for King, who tallied 12 home runs in a 19-game span dating from April 14 through the end of the regular season.
FOLLOW LOUISVILLE BASEBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB.
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