Louisville Falls to Michigan State on Opening Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - College baseball made its triumphant return on Friday, but the Louisville baseball program didn’t get their 2026 season started on the right foot.

Kicking off the new season with a home series against Michigan State, the Cardinals came up short in game one of the three-game tilt, falling 4-3 on Friday at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Louisville falls to 14-6 in season-opening games under head coach Dan McDonnell, as well as 16-4 in home openers. It’s their first time dropping their home opener since a 9-1 decision against Xavier back on Feb. 21, 2024.

Ben Slanker (2-4, 2 RBI, 2 2B) and Tague Davis (2-4, 2B) led the way offensively for No. 8 Louisville (0-1), with each Card having a two-hit day as part of an eight-hit effort. Slanker and Lucas Moore (1-5, RBI) both drove in runs as well, but the team as a while struck out 11 times and went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Cardinals' pitchers had a bit of trouble keeping the Spartans (1-0) off of the base paths at times. While they gave up just five MSU hits, UofL allowed five hit-by-pitches and two walks - as well as two homers.

Louisville struck first in the contest, with their first run of the season being generated by a pair of newcomers. Kade Elam (1-4, 2B) collected the Cardinals' first base hit of the year with a double in the second, then Slanker followed that up with a double for the first RBI of the season.

Earning the first start of the 2026 season on the mound, Ethan Eberle (4.1 IP, 6 K, 1 BB, 2 H, 3 HBP, 1 ER) turned in a solid performance on Opening Day. The left-hander did allow some traffic on the bases, but was able to post zeroes in the first four innings of his start.

Jack Brown (1.2 IP, 1 K, 1 H, 2 HBP, 1 ER) came in to replace Eberle after he led off the fifth with a single, but gave up a two-out, two-run double to put Michigan State in front. The right-hander was able to bounce back with a scoreless sixth, but then left-hander Casen Murphy (2.0 IP, 4 K, 2 H, 2 ER) gave up a leadoff homer after being inserted in the seventh.

After collecting just three base hits and generating only four base in the first six innings, the Cards' offense finally woke up.

Five innings removed from driving in Louisville's first run of the season, Slanker delivered their first home run with a 390-foot leadoff shot in the seventh. Then with two outs, Moore was able to tie game on an RBI single.

The game was then promptly untied in the eighth, with Murphy giving up another leadoff homer - although he was able to bounce back by striking out the side afterwards. Righty Jake Schweitzer (1.0 IP) put up a scoreless ninth to give Louisville a chance to bounce back again, but they could not scratch across a run in the final two frame.

Next up for Louisville, they'll continue their season-opening series against Michigan State with game two. First pitch is slated for Saturday, Feb. 14 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.

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