7th Inning Stretch: The First Road Trip (Week 6)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We're just over a month into the 2026 college baseball season, and Louisville is starting to round into form - at least in one area.

The Cardinals (14-6, 2-1 ACC) are coming off of a five-game week, and were victorious in four of their games. They run-ruled Marshall in both games of a two-game midweek set, then took two of three for Notre Dame during the weekend to win their opening series in conference play.

Offensively, Louisville had by far their best week of the season. In five games, they plated a whopping 74 runs, and blasted 13 home runs. Part of this coincided with Zion Rose's return to action, but guys like Tague Davis, Griffin Crain, Ben Slanker and several others are operating at a blistering pace at the plate.

There's just one issue. Louisville's pitching staff, which was already shaky entering this week, put together an abysmal showing against Notre Dame. In their three-game series against the Irish, the Cardinals gave up 32 earned runs, thanks in part to 25 walked batters. Had UofL not put up insane numbers at the plate, they very easily could have been swept by ND.

They'll have to find a way to shore up those efforts, and in a hurry. This week, Louisville will cap off their 14-game home stand with a midweek game against Northern Kentucky, and then travel to North Carolina for their first true road games of the season.

News & Notes

Louisville remains out of the top-25 in all five major collegiate baseball polls.
DH/OF Zion Rose (ankle) made his season debut this past week. He hit .571 with two home runs, 12 RBI, three doubles and four walks against Marshall and Notre Dame.
First baseman Tague Davis ranks first nationally in runs batted in with 45, third in total bases with 76, 6th in home runs with 11, 11th in total hits with 34 and 12th in slugging percentage at 0.894.
Outfielder Griffin Crain ranks seventh nationally in both batting average and on base percentage at 0.474 and 0.595, respectively.
Outfielder Lucas Moore ranks sixth nationally in triples with three and 10th in stolen bases with 16.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Tuesday, Mar. 17 at 6:00 p.m. EST vs Northern Kentucky (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)

Away (Boshamer Stadium - Chapel Hill, N.C.)

Friday, Mar. 20 at 8:00 p.m. EST vs North Carolina (ACC Network/970 WGTK)
Saturday, Mar. 21 at 2:00 p.m. EST vs North Carolina (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)
Sunday, Mar. 22 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs North Carolina (ACC Network Extra/970 WGTK)

Know The Foe

Northern Kentucky Norse

Head Coach (school record): Dizzy Peyton (123-121)
2026 Record (conference record): 8-10 (1-2 Horizon)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 18-7

Top Hitters:

INF Marcus Harrison (16 GP, 16 GS): .404/.514/.526, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 4 2B, 11 BB, 4 SB
C Jake Paulick (16 GP, 16 GS): .291/.474/.564, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 3 2B, 15 BB
OF Josh Williams (18 GP, 18 GS): .235/.338/.544, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 2 SB

Top Pitchers:

LHP E.J. Miramontes (5 APP, 5 GS): 4.63 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 23.1 IP, 20 K, 5 BB, .261 B/AVG
RHP Gannon Wentz (7 APP, 0 GS): 3.24 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 8.1 IP, 10 K, 4 BB, .235 B/AVG
RHP Logan Wilson (6 APP, 3 GS): 6.61 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 12 K, 12 BB, .303 B/AVG

North Carolina Tar Heels

Head Coach (school record): Scott Forbes (217-107-1)
2026 Record (conference record): 17-3-1 (4-2 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: North Carolina Leads 13-9

Top Hitters:

INF Jake Schaffner (20 GP, 20 GS): .347/.451/.640, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 5 2B, 4 3B, 9 BB, 7 SB
INF Erik Paulsen (21 GP, 21 GS): .357/.511/.671, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 4 2B, 17 BB
C Colin Hynek (21 GP, 21 GS): .309/.422/.574, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, 13 BB, 1 SB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Ryan Lynch (5 APP, 5 GS): 3.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 30 K, 6 BB, .250 B/AVG
RHP Caden Glauber (7 APP, 1 GS): 1.83 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 19.2 IP, 24 K, 10 BB, .176 B/AVG
RHP Jason DeCaro (5 APP, 5 GS): 1.67 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 23 K, 9 BB, .265 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	NKU	UNC	UofL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	14th	NR
RPI	165th	17th	80th
SOS	150th	70th	103rd
Home Record	5-3	13-2-1	13-4
Away Record	1-7	4-0	0-0
Neutral Record	2-0	0-1	1-2

Hitting:

	NKU	UNC	UofL
Base on Balls	101st (92)	23rd (119)	48th (107)
Batting Average	209th (.256)	89th (.289)	3rd (.358)
Home Runs	139th (17)	55th (26)	29th (31)
OBP	149th (.378)	46th (.419)	8th (.458)
Runs/Game	78th (7.5)	33rd (8.7)	8th (10.3)
SLG	182nd (.401)	57th (.488)	8th (.585)

Pitching:

	NKU	UNC	UofL
ERA	275th (8.63)	19th (3.23)	206th (6.72)
Hits/9 Innings	259th (11.15)	43rd (7.80)	173rd (9.95)
K/9 Innings	272nd (7.0)	97th (9.3)	66th (9.8)
K/BB Ratio	276th (1.10)	64th (9.3)	178th (1.67)
WHIP	271st (1.94)	41st (1.29)	215th (1.76)
BB/9 Innings	262nd (6.34)	63rd (3.85)	238th (5.88)