7th Inning Stretch: One Last Homestand (Week 14)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With as much good as the Louisville baseball program did to help their case for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid a couple weeks ago, all that work was undone this past week.

The Cardinals (29-22, 13-14 ACC) capped off their road trip by going 0-4 last week, dropping a midweek game at Vanderbilt and then getting swept at North Carolina.

This was a golden opportunity for Louisville to not only capture some resume-boosting wins, but to also dramatically increase their RPI, both of which would have done wonders for the NCAA Tournament resume.

Instead, said opportunity was thrown by the wayside. Their series against UNC was particularly brutal, getting out-scored 36-15 in the three-game set. Any hope of securing an at-large bid was almost assuredly dashed.

Now, Louisville returns home for the final week of the regular season, hosting a weekend series vs. Notre Dame. Their scheduled midweek contest against Indiana was rained out.

If the Cardinals have any shot at getting an at-large bid, they have to - at minimum - sweep the Irish, and then get out of pool play in the ACC Tournament. Anything less than than that, and they will most likely have to win the ACC outright to get into the Big Dance.

News & Notes

Louisville remains unranked in of all of the five major collegiate baseball polls.
Gavin Kilen ranks No. 17 nationally in doubles with 20.
J.T. Benson ranks No. 6 nationally in stolen bases with 33, and No. 26 in sacrifice flies with six.
Zion Rose ranks No. 14 nationally in triples with five.
Sebastian Gongora and Evan Webster are tied for No. 16 nationally in pitching starts with 13.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Thursday, May 16 at 6:00pm vs Notre Dame (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)
Friday, May 17 at 6:00pm vs. Notre Dame (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)
Saturday, May 18 at 1:00pm vs. Notre Dame (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)

Know The Foe

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Head Coach (school record): Shawn Stiffler (57-46)
2024 Record (conference record): 27-22 (9-18)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 37-11

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF David Glancy (46 GP, 46 GS): .307/.410/.581, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 8 2B, 1 3B, 23 BB, 4 SB
INF Simon Baumgardt (49 GP, 49 GS): .291/.371/.538, 10 HR, 42 RBI, 13 2B, 1 3B, 22 BB, 2 SB
INF Estevan Moreno (45 GP, 41 GS): .291/.379/.649, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 17 2B, 14 BB, 7 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers):

RHP Matt Bedford (14 APP, 14 GS): 4.63 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 56.1 IP, 36 K, 25 BB, .245 B/AVG
RHP Jack Radel (13 APP, 9 GS): 4.10 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 48.1 IP, 37 K, 18 BB, .266 B/AVG
RHP Bennett Flynn (18 APP, 0 GS): 4.70 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 38.1 IP, 51 K, 27 BB, .234 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	ND	UofL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR
RPI	60th	62nd
SOS	44th	32nd
Home Record	16-8	22-10
Away Record	11-14	7-10
Neutral Record	0-0	0-2

Hitting:

	ND	UofL
Base on Balls	219th (201)	145th (226)
Batting Avg.	186th (.271)	17th (.313)
Home Runs	40th (83)	67th (74)
OBP	205th (.370)	46th (.409)
Runs/Game	93rd (7.3)	40th (8.2)
SLG	58th (.497)	25th (.528)

Pitching:

	ND	UofL
ERA	120th (5.72)	197th (6.63)
Hits/9 Innings	65th (9.12)	191st (10.18)
K/9 Innings	176th (8.1)	60th (9.3)
K/BB Ratio	131st (1.82)	76th (2.09)
WHIP	82nd (1.50)	155th (1.63)
BB/9 Innings	106th (4.42)	111th (4.45)

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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