7th Inning Stretch: Kicking Off The Home Stand (Week 3)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We're just two weeks into the new college baseball season, and some red flags are already starting to emerge for Louisville.

This past week, the Cardinals (3-4) went just 2-2 after blasting Xavier in a midweek tilt, then going 1-2 in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas. Louisville beat Nebraska at Globe Life Field, but then dropped gams to both Michigan and Auburn.

It's just the third time in Dan McDonnell's 20 years as the head coach that Louisville is under .500 through the first seven games of a season, with the two other times being 2007 and 2024. What makes this start so frustrating is that there's not been one singular issue as to why Louisville has gotten off to a rough start.

The Cardinals' pitching staff has allowed eight or more runs in four games, while their hitters have plated six or less runs in five games. Not to mention that UofL is already dealing with some injuries, most notably to star outfielder Zion Rose - whose timetable to return is still up in the air.

Fortunately, it is still incredibly early in the season, and Louisville still has plenty of time to turn things around. Additionally, they kick off a 14-game home stand this week, and have a good opportunity to build a win streak with Eastern Kentucky and Central Michigan coming to town.

News & Notes

Louisville has fallen out of the top-25 in all five major collegiate baseball polls.
Outfielder Zion Rose (ankle) remains day-to-day.
Lucas Moore ranks third nationally in triples with two, and 22nd nationally in stolen bases with six.
Kade Elam ranks 11th nationally in sacrifice flies with two
Jake Brown ranks 19th nationally in hit batters with four.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. EST vs Eastern Kentucky (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)
Friday, Feb. 27 at 3:00 p.m. EST vs Central Michigan (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs Central Michigan (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)
Sunday, Mar. 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs Central Michigan (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)

Know The Foe

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Head Coach (school record): Jan Weisberg (2-5)
2026 Record (conference record): 2-5 (0-0 ASUN)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 75-49-1

Top Hitters:

OF Dylan Littlefield (7 GP, 7 GS): .414/.452/.897, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB
INF Pedro Moreno (7 GP, 7 GS): .345/.441/.483, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 3 SB
OF David Alvarez (7 GP, 7 GS): .267/.313/.500, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Jacob Price (3 APP, 2 GS): 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, .250 B/AVG
LHP Bradley Gagen (3 APP, 2 GS): 5.40 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 6.2 IP, 10 K, 4 BB, .333 B/AVG
RHP Carson van Haaren (2 APP, 2 GS): 11.74 ERA, 2.35 WHIP, 7.2 IP, 7 K, 3 BB, .385 B/AVG

Central Michigan Chippewas

Head Coach (school record): Jake Sabol (42-75)
2026 Record (conference record): 5-2 (0-0 MAC)
All-Time Series Record: First Meeting

Top Hitters:

OF Harrison Bowman (7 GP, 7 GS): .310/.364/.690, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 1 SB
OF Cole Prout (7 GP, 7 GS): .400/.727/.667, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 2B, 12 BB, 4 SB
INF Brady Krzciok (7 GP, 7 GS): .290/.353/.452, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 2 BB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Luke Neiswonger (2 APP, 2 GS): 2.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 12 K, 3 BB, .222 B/AVG
RHP Gavin Moczydlowsky (2 APP, 0 GS): 1.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 6.0 IP, 9 K, 5 BB, .150 B/AVG
RHP Tyson Potts (2 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 8 K, 2 BB, .143 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	EKU	CMU	UL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR	NR
RPI	170th	246th	239th
SOS	141st	302nd	211st
Home Record	1-0	0-0	2-2
Away Record	1-5	5-2	0-0
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	1-2

Hitting:

	EKU	CMU	UL
Base on Balls	192nd (27)	82nd (38th)	141st (31)
Batting Average	122nd (.273)	58th (.304)	38th (.318)
Home Runs	112th (6)	58th (9)	85th (7)
OBP	157th (.369)	53rd (.429)	79th (.406)
Runs/Game	97th (7.1)	51st (8.4)	76th (7.7)
SLG	119th (.417)	70th (.467)	61st (.482)

Pitching:

	EKU	CMU	UL
ERA	236th (7.76)	137th (5.19)	218th (7.11)
Hits/9 Innings	262nd (12.29)	209th (10.22)	207th (10.16)
K/9 Innings	182nd (8.6)	55th (10.8)	109th (9.6)
K/BB Ratio	232nd (1.39)	84th (2.45)	97th (2.28)
WHIP	265th (2.05)	180th (1.63)	169th (1.60)
BB/9 Innings	237th (6.14)	125th (4.42)	106th (4.21)