7th Inning Stretch: Treading Water (Week 8)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All of a sudden, the Louisville baseball program finds themselves in a bit of a precarious position.

The Cardinals (17-11, 4-5 ACC) just put together their worst week of the 2026 season up to this point, inexplicably losing at Western Kentucky in the midweek before losing their weekend series against Pitt at home.

Not too long ago, Louisville went through a stretch where they had won 12 of 14, coinciding with their lengthy home stand. However, the Cards have now lost five of their last seven games, and are threatening to add to this given their recent play.

It's no secret that pitching continues to be what holds this team back, and this past week was no different. Louisville gave up 32 runs this past week, and were in position to maybe claim their series against Pitt had it not been for untimely collapses on the mound. Even worse, Dan McDonnell and Roger Williams seemed to cycle through their rolodex of pitchers even quicker than normal this past week, and still can't seem to find answers on the mound.

There's still plenty of baseball left to be played, but if Louisville has aspirations of making the NCAA Tournament, they need to turn things around in a hurry. Their next chance to do that will come against Eastern Kentucky in a neutral field midweek game, as well as a road ACC series at Duke.

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 55, second in total bases with 103, second in home runs with 16, seventh in slugging percentage at 0.896 and 12 in total hits with 45.
Outfielder Griffin Crain ranks 23rd nationally in on-base percentage at 0.534.
Outfielder Lucas Moore ranks 18th nationally in triples with three and 14th in stolen bases with 19.

The Week Ahead

Neutral (Legends Field - Lexington, Ky.)

Tuesday, Mar. 31 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs Eastern Kentucky (970 WGTK)

Away (Jack Coombs Field - Durham, N.C.)

Thursday, Apr. 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST vs Duke (ACC Network/93.9 The Ville)
Friday, Apr. 3 at 6:00 p.m. EST vs Duke (ACC Network/93.9 The Ville)
Saturday, Apr. 4 at 12:00 p.m. EST vs Duke (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)

Know The Foe

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Head Coach (school record): Jan Weisberg (8-20)
2026 Record (conference record): 8-20 (3-6 ASUN)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 75-49-1

Top Hitters:

INF Pedro Moreno (28 GP, 28 GS): .296/.442/.519, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 10 2B, 4 3B, 23 BB, 8 SB
OF Dylan Littlefield (28 GP, 28 GS): .261/.341/.514, 8 HR, 27 RBI, 4 2B, 9 BB, 3 SB
OF David Alvarez (27 GP, 27 GS): .309/.353/.445, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, 6 BB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Jacob Price (8 APP, 7 GS): 4.10 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 31 K, 8 BB, .277 B/AVG
RHP Hayden Collins (10 APP, 0 GS): 6.56 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 23.1 IP, 18 K, 6 BB, .333 B/AVG
RHP Griffin Howell (12 APP, 0 GS): 3.78 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 14 K, 8 BB, .220 B/AVG

Duke Blue Devils

Head Coach (school record): Corey Muscara (18-12)
2026 Record (conference record): 18-12 (5-7 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville Leads 10-6

Top Hitters:

INF Jake Lambdin (28 GP, 28 GS): .248/.374/.515, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 12 2B, 16 BB, 16 SB
C Matthew Strand (18 GP, 18 GS): .348/.430/.754, 7 HR, 22 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B, 9 BB, 6 SB
C/OF Cider Canon (14 GP, 14 GS): .452/.574/.952, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 13 BB, 9 SB

Top Pitchers:

RHP Ben Dean (9 APP, 3 GS): 3.68 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 22.0 IP, 40 K, 13 BB, .195 B/AVG
RHP Aidan Weaver (6 APP, 6 GS): 4.02 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 31.3 IP, 38 K, 10 BB, .214 B/AVG
RHP Andy Leon (2 APP, 1 GS): 4.34 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 32 K, 12 BB, .213 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

	EKU	Duke	UofL
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR	NR
RPI	230th	116th	67th
SOS	222nd	144th	38th
Home Record	5-4	15-6	15-6
Away Record	3-16	3-6	1-3
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	1-2

Hitting:

	EKU	Duke	UofL
Base on Balls	92nd (134)	33rd (158)	51st
Batting Average	224th (.257)	132nd (.276)	5th (.333)
Home Runs	188th (20)	36th (40)	39th (39)
OBP	161st (.381)	103rd (.392)	14th (.439)
Runs/Game	187th (6.0)	94th (7.3)	16th (9.1)
SLG	215th (.386)	56th (.478)	14th (.540)

Pitching:

	EKU	Duke	UofL
ERA	254th (7.60)	83rd (4.98)	206th (6.67)
Hits/9 Innings	246th (10.78)	42nd (8.00)	186th (10.11)
K/9 Innings	261st (7.2)	67th (9.5)	60th (9.6)
K/BB Ratio	254th (1.27)	138th (1.85)	208th (1.53)
WHIP	247th (1.83)	74th (1.46)	245th (1.82)
BB/9 Innings	228th	188th (5.12)	269th (6.29)

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