7th Inning Stretch: West Coast Trip (Week 10)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program continues to be trending in the wrong direction.

The Cardinals (20-16, 6-9 ACC) went just 1-3 this past week, dropping their first midweek matchup against Kentucky in Lexington, then dropping a series at home to Stanford.

Not too long ago, Louisville was sitting at 15-6 on the season, and was looking like they were about to do damage in the ACC. But since then, they have lost 10 of their last 15 games, and are currently tied for 10th in the ACC standings - and would get the No. 12 seed in the ACC Tournament if it started today.

At this point in time, you can't simply point to pitching as being Louisville's only problem. Sure, giving up 12 runs in game one against Stanford and then giving up a ninth inning home run in game three is on the pitching. But in those two games, the Cardinals produced six combined runs. Not to mention they only produced two in the midweek game at UK.

There's no doubt that not having shortstop Alex Alicea right now, as well as Zion Rose being in and out of the lineup, has impacted the offense. But there's still plenty of talent outside of those two that UofL should not be struggling to produce runs. Combine that with a pitching staff that has floundered all year, and Louisville is very much at risk of not making the NCAA Tournament.

The ninth inning Stanford homer certainly feels like a potential back-breaking moment, but there is still plenty of baseball left to be played. In fact, this week, Louisville very much has the chance to go 4-0 on a week for the first time since week three. They'll be hosting a midweek rematch against Western Kentucky, then travel out to Cal - who is dead last in the ACC standings - for a weekend series.

News & Notes

Louisville remains out of the top-25 in all five major collegiate baseball polls.
First baseman Tague Davis ranks first nationally in runs batted in with 66, second in slugging percentage at 0.858, third in total bases with 121 and fourth in home runs with 19.
Left-handed pitcher Wyatt Danilowicz ranks ninth national in starts with nine.
Third baseman Bayram Hot ranks 26th nationally in batting average at .400.
Outfielder Lucas Moore ranks 14th nationally in stolen bases with 24.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Tuesday, Apr. 14 at 6:00 p.m. EST vs. Western Kentucky (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)

Away (Evans Diamond - Berkeley, Calif.)

Friday, Apr. 17 at 9:00 p.m. EST vs Cal (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)
Saturday, Apr. 18 at 5:00 p.m. EST vs Cal (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)
Sunday, Apr. 19 at 4:00 p.m. EST vs Cal (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)

Know The Foe

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Head Coach (school record): Marc Rardin (134-79)
2026 Record (conference record): 19-17 (6-9 Sun Belt)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 78-71

Top Hitters:

INF Lane Arroyos (34 GP, 33 GS): .354/.462/.631, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 16 2B, 1 3B, 25 BB, 3 SB
C/INF Kyle Hayes (33 GP, 31 GS): .298/.401/.596, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 10 2B, 15 BB, 1 SB
INF Austin Haller (35 GP, 33 GS): .322/.464/.432, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 4 2B, 3 3B, 26 BB, 14 SB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Gavin Perry (9 APP, 9 GS): 4.53 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 47.2 IP, 52 K, 14 BB, .264 B/AVG
RHP Mick Uebelhor (10 APP, 1 GS): 1.42 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 41 K, 7 BB, .183 B/AVG
LHP Aaron Robertson (8 APP, 8 GS): 4.01 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 28 K, 6 BB, .272 B/AVG

Cal Golden Bears

Head Coach (school record): Mike Neu (229-200)
2026 Record (conference record): 18-16 (4-11 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 3-1

Top Hitters:

C Hideki Prather (31 GP, 31 GS): .364/.455/.678, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 13 2B, 17 BB, 3 SB
INF Jett Kenady (34 GP, 34 GS): .346/.384/.581, 6 HR, 20 RBI, 12 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 1 SB
INF Daniel Murillo (34 GP, 34 GS): .310/.351/.514, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 7 2B, 2 3B, 7 BB, 6 SB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Gavin Eddy (9 APP, 9 GS): 3.26 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 49.2 IP, 51 K, 12 BB, .251 B/AVG
RHP Oliver de la Torre (9 APP, 9 GS): 3.42 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 47.1 IP, 50 K, 15 BB, .208 B/AVG
RHP Otto Espinoza (11 APP, 3 GS): 2.84 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 36 K, 16 BB, .219 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	WKU	Cal	UofL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR	NR
RPI	131st	64th	109th
SOS	84th	35th	95th
Home Record	17-11	9-8	16-8
Away Record	2-6	9-8	2-6
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	2-2

Hitting:

	WKU	Cal	UofL
Base on Balls	96th (172)	298th (104th)	38th (195)
Batting Average	123rd (.278)	82nd (.288)	15th (.317)
Home Runs	197th (26)	51st (47)	39th (51)
OBP	124th (.387)	253rd (.358)	13th (.430)
Runs/Game	176th (6.2)	215th (5.8)	21st (8.6)
SLG	138th (.427)	52nd (.479)	24th (.518)

Pitching:

	WKU	Cal	UofL
ERA	99th (5.22)	36th (4.29)	201st (6.55)
Hits/9 Innings	141st (9.49)	57th (8.45)	213th (10.38)
K/9 Innings	93rd (9.0)	102nd (8.9)	57th (9.6)
K/BB Ratio	39th (2.48)	120th (1.91)	186th (1.61)
WHIP	75th (1.46)	74th (1.46)	247th (1.81)
BB/9 Innings	33rd (3.62)	139th (4.66)	259th (5.95)

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