7th Inning Stretch: Keep On Rolling (Week 3)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It might not have been a full week for the Louisville baseball program, but it was still a perfect one.

Making their season debut at Jim Patterson Stadium, the Cardinals went a perfect 3-0 this past weekend, pulling off a series sweep against Western Michigan. Louisville was originally set to also play Xavier, but inclement weather postponed the contest to a to-be-determined date.

Louisville got a balanced mix of consistent power hitting and dominant pitching in their series against the Broncos. The Cardinals picked up 19 extra base hits in the three-game set, with guys like Alex Alicea, Matt Klein, Jake Munroe, Garret Pike and Zion Rose really shining. Starting pitchers Patrick Forbes and Parker Detmers combined for 18 strikeouts over 11 innings of scoreless baseball, while the bullpen allowed just five runs in 11 combined innings as well.

Of course, the level of competition has to be taken into account here, as WMU entered their series with Louisville winless on the season. That being said, the Cardinals looked just as good in two of their three games against ranked opponents during opening weekend. Seeing UofL keep that momentum going and not play down to their competition is a great sign.

With a midweek tilt against Butler and a weekend series against St. John's coming up as part of an 18-game home stand, Louisville has a great opportunity to keep this high-end momentum rolling.

News & Notes

Louisville remains unranked in of all of the five major collegiate baseball polls.
Outfielder Eddie King Jr. suffered a short-term lower body injury in the series against Western Michigan.
Right-Handed Pitcher Patrick Forbes ranks No. 9 nationally in strikeouts with 20.
Catcher Matt Klein ranks 40th nationally in batting average at .500.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 3:00 p.m. EST vs. Butler (ACCNX/970 WGTK)
Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. EST vs St. John's (ACCNX/970 WGTK)
Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs St. John's (ACCNX/970 WGTK)
Sunday, Mar. 2 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs St. John's (ACCNX/970 WGTK)

Know The Foe

Butler Bulldogs

Head Coach (school record): Blake Beemer (35-81)
2025 Record (conference record): 3-3 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 14-3

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF Jack Moroknek (6 GP, 6 GS): 13-27, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 4 2B 4 BB, 1 SB
OF/1B Tommy Townsend (6 GP, 6 GS): 10-23, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 7 BB
LHP/OF Jack Bello (5 GP, 4 GS): 9-20, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers):

RHP Marcus Goodpaster (2 APP, 2 GS): 3.00 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, .333 B/AVG
RHP Corbin Snyder (2 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 2.1 IP, 4 K, 1 BB, .250 B/AVG
RHP Nate Rosser (1 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 3.1 IP, 3 K, 2 BB, .182 B/AVG

St. John's Red Storm

Head Coach (school record): Mike Hampton (112-110-2)
2025 Record (conference record): 0-6 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: St. John's Leads 15-13

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Jared Beebe (6 GP, 6 GS): 6-21, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB
INF Jayder Raifstanger (6 GP, 6 GS): 6-23, 1 3B, 2 BB
INF Shaun McMillan (4 GP, 2 GS): 2-8, 1 HR, 3 RB

Top Performers (Pitchers):

RHP David Rodriguez (2 APP, 2 GS): 7.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 3 K, 8 BB, .250 B/AVG
RHP Sam Mettert (2 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 3 K, 0 BB, .111 B/AVG
RHP Dylan Johnson (2 APP, 0 GS): 3.60 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 5.0 IP, 4 K, 0 BB, .238 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	BU	SJU	UofL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR	NR
RPI	257th	250th	146th
SOS	292nd	141st	237th
Home Record	0-0	0-0	3-0
Away Record	3-3	0-6	0-0
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	2-1

Hitting:

	BU	SJU	UofL
Base on Balls	121st (32)	258th (17)	258th (17)
Batting Avg.	50th (.311)	281st (.185)	13th (.349)
Home Runs	12th (13)	269th (1)	236th (2)
OBP	83rd (.408)	285th (.274)	60th (.419)
Runs/Game	46th (8.8)	291st (1.8)	62nd (8.2)
SLG	9th (.594)	291st (.217)	55th (.488)

Pitching:

	BU	SJU	UofL
ERA	267th (9.55)	254th (8.81)	88th (4.07)
Hits/9 Innings	273rd (13.22)	190th (10.13)	97th (7.93)
K/9 Innings	196th (8.1)	246th (7.1)	14th (12.4)
K/BB Ratio	255th (1.07)	271st (0.95)	15th (3.87)
WHIP	278th (2.31)	241st (1.96)	54th (1.24)
BB/9 Innings	271st (7.53)	267th (7.50)	36th (3.21)

(Photo via Chris Jones - Imagn Images)

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