Watch: Dan McDonnell, Louisville Players Discuss 2026 Preseason

The Cardinals return to the diamond next month.

Louisville's Dan McDonnell coaches his team against Vanderbilt Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium. May 6, 2025 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We might be in the midst of basketball season and football season still has the national championship to be played, we're not that far away from baseball season.

In just under a month, Louisville will make their triumphant return to the diamond. They're set to officially kick off their 2026 season with a three-game series against Michigan State on Feb. 13-15 from Jim Patterson Stadium. On Friday, the Cardinals officially kicked off their preseason, holding their first scrimmage ahead of the new season.

"Once January hits, it's on," head coach Dan McDonnell said. "So far, so good. Classes and the first official day was the 12th, so in our first week, we've been outside four days in a row. It's been great. We'll get our first scrimmage in today, and it's like anything else. Baseball is a long season. I keep reminding everybody, this is not a sprint, this is a marathon. We want to be smart, smart with the body, smart with the arms. But it is exciting."

The Cardinals have a lot of expectations this upcoming season. For starters, they're coming off of a their sixth College World Series appearance in program history, and there's reason to believe they could make it for a seventh time this year.

UofL returns four extremely talented position players in All-American outfielder Lucas Moore, First-Team All-ACC outfielder Zion Rose, Freshman All-American first baseman Tague Davis and leadoff hitter Alex Alicea. The've also added some good depth in the field via the portal in outfielder Ben Slanker, catcher Jimmy Nugent and infielder Jax Hisle.

Additionally, they have a good core of pitchers to back them up. Returning left-hander Ethan Eberle, transfer right-hander Jake Bean and returning righty Peter Michael has potential to be a good starting rotation, not to mention that bullpen arms like lefties Wyatt Danilowicz, T.J. Schlageter plus righty Jake Schweitzer also return.

With the 2026 season on the horizon, McDonnell, right-handed pitcher Peter Michael and first baseman Tague Davis took time to meet with the media. They discussed the previous season, previewed their upcoming 2026 campaign, and more.

Below are the videos from there press conference:

Head Coach Dan McDonnell

Right-Handed Pitcher Peter Michael

First Baseman Tague Davis

(Photo of Dan McDonnell: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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