Cardinals Open ACC Play with Notre Dame

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team opens up Atlantic Coast Conference play with a three-game set against Notre Dame at Jim Patterson Stadium. The series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. ET with game two on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET and game three Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The Saturday game will be televised on the ACC Network while the other two will be on ACC Network Extra. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville and/or 970 WGTK.

BATS ERUPT IN THE MIDWEEK
The Louisville offense was on fire in a pair of midweek wins over Marshall. The Cardinals scored 34 runs on 36 hits in just 12 innings at the plate. Louisville tallied 17 extra-base hits, including eight homers, in the two games.

STREAKING INTO THE WEEKEND
Louisville enters the weekend on a five-game winning streak, four of which have been by the mercy rule. The Cards have scored 69 runs in the five games and launched 14 home runs.

NOTRE DAME SERIES HISTORY
Louisville owns a 41-13 edge in the all-time series against Notre Dame. The Cardinals are 21-5 at home against the Irish, including 15 straight wins at Jim Patterson Stadium.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has been one of the best defensive teams in the country this season, leading the ACC with a .982 fielding percentage.
The Cardinals rank top 20 nationally in batting average, hits, runs, runs per game, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and triples.
Louisville had just one home run with multiple runners on base in the first 15 games of the season. The Cardinals hit six such homers in two games against Marshall – four three-run, two grand slams.
The Cards had nine offensive innings with at least seven runs scored last season. Louisville already has seven this spring in just 17 games.

PLAYER NOTES

Tague Davis set the Louisville freshman home run record with 18 long balls in his first season. The first baseman tied for the ACC regular season lead in home runs and was the first Louisville freshman to hit double-digit homers since Alex Binelas in 2019. Davis is on a heater heading into conference play, having homered in all five games of Louisville's winning streak. During that stretch, Davis is 9-for-21 with six homers and 21 RBIs. The sophomore is the national leader with 39 RBIs, ranks third and leads the ACC with 11 homers, and is also third in the country in total bases. The 39 RBIs are 14 more than any other Cardinal has had through 17 games since at least 2000. Davis is also just the second Card with a five-game homer streak since at least 2000, joining Mark Jurich who homered in five straight from April 28 to May 5, 2004.
Kade Elam came to Louisville with big expectations, ranked as a top 100 player nationally in the 2025 class. The freshman got off to a slow start, sitting with a .195 average through the first 13 games. Elam has found his groove recently though, tallying multiple hits in each of the last four games, going 11-for-15 (.733) with two doubles, his first career homer and six runs scored.
Zion Rose led the Cardinals last season with 67 RBIs and ranked fourth in the ACC in stolen bases, fifth in RBIs, fifth in triples, seventh in runs, 11th in hits and 12th in total bases. The Chicago native was one of just three players in 2025 to have 10 homers, 15 doubles, 30 stolen bases and 60 RBIs. However, Rose missed the first 15 games of this season with an injury. He returned on Tuesday against Marshall and went 5-for-7 with two doubles, a homer, six RBIs and five runs scored in two games.
Griffin Crain missed the 2025 season due to injury, but is making the most of the start to his career on the field this spring. Through the first 17 games, Crain is leading the team with a .422 average and is second with 19 RBIs. The sophomore has been clutch as well, delivering a go-ahead double that proved to be the game-winner against Nebraska as well as a walk-off single in game two against Central Michigan.
Bayram Hot split time at second base in 2025 in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Marist, hitting .326 with three doubles and three homers in 92 at-bats. The senior has started all 17 games this spring at third base and has been excellent at the plate. Hot has already surpassed his 2025 totals for doubles, walks and stolen bases, and is just one shy of his run and home run total from a year ago.
Ethan Eberle worked his way from middle innings reliever to a high leverage bullpen spot, to ultimately starting on the weekends for the Cards as a freshman. The southpaw finished with a 6-2 overall record in 20 appearances, making 10 starts. Eberle started the clinching games in both the regional and super regional rounds, combining to allow just two runs over 11.1 innings in wins over Wright State and Miami. Eberle has made 11 starts since the start of May 2025, going 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA over that stretch.
Aaron England made just five appearances in 2025, recording just 4.1 innings on the mound. He's been thrust into a major role in the bullpen this spring, however, having been called upon to close out Louisville's victories over Nebraska, Eastern Kentucky and the series finale against Central Michigan. England has not given up a hit in those outings, recording his first three career saves.

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Players Mentioned

Griffin Crain

Tague Davis

Ethan Eberle

Kade Elam

Aaron England

Bayram Hot

Zion Rose

University of Louisville Athletics