Louisville not going to look past the Tigers

DURHAM, N.C.-- The head coach of the No. 1-seeded Louisville Cardinals is not looking past the No. 8 seed Clemson Tigers in what will be both teams final game of the ACC Tournament Thursday (11 a.m.).

The Cardinals were eliminated Wednesday morning by Boston College, who finished pool play with a 2-0 record after they defeated the Tigers 7-5 Tuesday and Louisville by a final score of 5-1.

While many see tomorrow's matchup between two teams that have been eliminated from the tournament as a waste--for both teams there is still a lot on the line, as Louisville will try to secure one of the coveted top eight national seeds for the NCAA Tournament and Clemson will try to make one final statement that they belong in the field of 64.

"It's not something I addressed with the team," Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell said after their loss. "I cautioned them about the noise that's out there on social media. I'm sure they like reading the headlines and all the projections. I know what these guys do. It's a lot of fun for the fans and the players. But I can't, me personally, I can't get caught up in that stuff. I really try to avoid it because it will change the way I coach or the pressure and all that stuff.

"So I don't know what they're saying, but whatever they're saying don't say it, Aaron, because I didn't think my guys, I didn't think we were good on Monday at practice. I'm sure we were okay yesterday. But I just didn't see it today. That's disappointing."

However difficult it may be, the Cardinals need to find a way to play their best baseball of the season tomorrow against a Tiger team that will be fighting for their postseason lives.

"So for me, I'm so competitive and respect our opponent that, I mean, we did everything I thought to be prepared to play good baseball today. And obviously we didn't. So Clemson's got a lot of pride in their program. I tell our guys this. I do tell them everybody's playing for something at this time of the year. Everybody's playing for something like the last three weeks of the season.

"So don't ever act like what we're playing for is more important than what someone else is playing for. It might be something different. But it's not more important. It's just everyone's playing for something, a little bit different, but with the ultimate goal of getting in the postseason and playing well in the postseason."

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