Cards Headed to Western Kentucky Tuesday

Tuesday, March 24

Bowling Green, Ky.

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

Western Kentucky

The Cardinals huddle before playing Notre Dame.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

March 23, 2026 | Baseball

By: Stephen Williams

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team heads south to take on Western Kentucky in Bowling Green on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN+. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.

THE SEASON'S FIRST ROAD SERIES
Louisville played its first true road games of the year over the weekend, losing 2-of-3 at North Carolina. The Cardinals lost on Friday before bouncing back for a shutout victory Saturday. However, the Cards let a late lead slip away in Sunday's loss.

OFFENSE IN THE MIDWEEK
The Cardinals have played six midweek games this season, posting a 5-1 record. Louisville's offense has scored 84 runs in those six games (14.0 per game), tallying 21 doubles, five triples and 14 home runs.

WESTERN KENTUCKY SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 79-70 all-time against Western Kentucky. The Cardinals are just 31-35 in Bowling Green and lost their most recent trip there in 2024. UofL allowed just four hits in a 5-2 victory over WKU last season.

TEAM NOTES

The Cardinals are 105-25 (.808) under Dan McDonnell against teams from the state of Kentucky (Bellarmine, EKU, Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, NKU and WKU).
Louisville has an .815 winning percentage (202-46) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016.
Entering the midweek, the Cardinals rank top 15 nationally in batting average, hits, runs, runs per game, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles and triples.

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
homered in five consecutive games from March 6-11, joining Mark Jurich in 2004 as the only Cards to homer in five straight since 2000. Davis heads into Tuesday as the national leader in RBIs at 50. The sophomore is also third nationally in total bases, sixth in home runs and ninth in hits, leading the ACC in all four categories.
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. Crain is leading the team with a .426 average and is second with 29 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.
Ben Slanker turned in an All-MAC season at Ohio in 2025, hitting .302 with 21 homers and 69 RBIs. He homered in each of the first two games of the season, but struggled to the tune of 1-for-16 from Feb. 15 through March 8. He found his form again recently however, going 8-for-19 (.421) in eight games with four homers and 17 RBIs.
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, going 19-for-43 (.442) with five doubles, his first career homer and 11 runs scored.
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 24 games this spring at third base and has been excellent at the plate. Hot has already surpassed his 2025 totals for runs, hits, doubles, total bases, walks and stolen bases, and matched his home run total.