Cardinals Set for Battle of the Barrel in Nashville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team heads to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Vanderbilt on Tuesday in the annual Battle of the Barrel. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN2. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.

RETURNING TO THE SITE OF FOND MEMORIES
Louisville returns to Nashville on Tuesday night, back in the place where its run to the College World Series began last year. The Cardinals defeated East Tennessee State, No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt and Wright State to capture the NCAA Nashville Regional.

BATTLE OF THE BARREL HISTORY
The Battle of the Barrel between Louisville and Vanderbilt began in 2012 and has been played every year since with the exception of 2020. Tuesday will be the 14th Battle of the Barrel game, with the Cards holding a 7-6 edge in the series.

VANDERBILT SERIES HISTORY
Louisville is 14-29 all-time against Vanderbilt. The Cardinals defeated the Commodores twice in 2025, picking up a 5-4 victory in the regular season meeting in Louisville and a 3-2 win in Nashville during the NCAA Regional.

PLAYER NOTES

Tague Davis set the Louisville freshman home run record with 18 long balls in his first season. He has blown past that total as a sophomore with 30 through 48 games, breaking Louisville's single-season record and just one shy of tying J.D. Drew and Brock Wilken for the all-time ACC mark. Davis enters Tuesday as the national leader in homers and RBIs. He also ranks second in slugging percentage and total bases, leading the ACC both.
Lucas Moore led the country with 53 stolen bases as a sophomore, the second-highest total in program history. He heads into Tuesday 32-for-38 this season, leading the ACC and ranking 10th nationally. Moore now has 102 career stolen bases, second on Louisville's career chart. He is currently 10 behind Boomer Whiting for the top spot. Moore has also moved into sixth place all-time among ACC players.
Jimmy Nugent transferred to Louisville after tallying 22 doubles, 18 home runs and 74 RBIs in two seasons at Lincoln Trail. The junior had just two homers through his first 29 games in a Louisville uniform. However, Nugent has been on a home run binge over the last 10 games, launching seven during that stretch, including six in the last six games.
Zion Rose has missed time at two different points this season due to injury. However, that hasn't stopped the junior from putting up big numbers this season. Rose leads the Cardinals with a .416 average and has multiple hits in seven of the last nine games. He also leads the team with a .504 on-base percentage, ranks second with a .673 slugging percentage and has 17 stolen bases.

DAVIS PUTTING TOGETHER RECORD-SETTING SOPHOMORE SEASON
Tague Davis was special as a freshman in 2025, setting Louisville's freshman home run record with 18 and earning Freshman All-America honors. However, his game has gone to another level this spring.

Davis enters Tuesday with 30 home runs and 84 RBIs, the national leader in both categories.

His 84 RBIs are the most by a Louisville player in more than three decades and just four shy of the single-season mark with eight games remaining in the regular season.

CARDINALS PITCHERS, CATCHER CONTROLLING OPPONENT RUNNING GAME
While the Louisville offense has been running wild on the bases, the Louisville pitchers and catchers have stifled the opposition in that department.

Opponents are just 27-for-54 stealing against the Cards, including a 6-for-17 mark in conference play. Louisville's 50 percent caught stealing rate ranks second nationally, while the 27 runners caught is third in the country.

Louisville has also picked off 17 runners this season, the third-most in the country.

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Players Mentioned

Tague Davis

Lucas Moore

Jimmy Nugent

Zion Rose

University of Louisville Athletics