7th Inning Stretch: Back on the Road (Week 10)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Yet again, the Louisville baseball program had a week full of highs and lows.

The Cardinals (26-9, 8-7 ACC) kicked off the week with arguably their best and most complete performance of the season, thrashing crosstown foe Bellarmine to the tune of 14-2 in the midweek. Then in a weekend matchup with No. 2 Wake Forest, Louisville was able to avoid getting swept, but suffered their first home series loss in ACC play since 2021.

Against the Demon Deacons, hitting and pitching fluctuated for the Cardinals. Pitching failed them in game one, hitting did so in game two, and then both were able to get back on track in the finale.

After starting the season at 16-1 with an 11-game win streak, Louisville is 10-8 over their last 18 games. Hitting woes have been mainly to blame during this stretch, but pitching at times struggled as well, with head coach Dan McDonnell even having to shake up the weekend rotation.

This is still very much an NCAA Tournament team, barring a 2021 type of collapse. But with their inconsistencies as of late, they threaten to fall off the top-16 line and not host a regional.

The next week will be a crucial one in terms of building up their tournament resume. Louisville will have to go back on the road to face Indiana and Duke, and both are very good despite being unranked. Securing road wins against these two will be huge both in terms of confidence and momentum, as well as building their statistical resume.

Last Week's Recaps:

News & Notes

Out of the six major collegiate baseball polls, four of them rank Louisville as high as the No. 10 team in the nation.
RHP Carson Liggett ranks sixth in the nation in in earned run average at 1.66 and third in victories with seven.
Shortstop Christian Knapczyk ranks 25th in the nation in hit by pitches with 13, and 56th in stolen bases with 16.

The Week Ahead

Away (Bart Kaufman Stadium - Bloomington, Ind.)

Tuesday, Apr. 18 at 6:00 p.m. at Indiana

ESPNU
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Away (Durham Bulls Athletic Park - Durham, N.C.)

Friday, Apr. 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Duke

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Saturday, Apr. 22 at 7:00 p.m. at Duke

ACC Network
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Sunday, Apr. 23 at 1:00 p.m. at Duke

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Indiana University
Nickname: Hoosiers
Location: Bloomington, Ind.
Total Enrollment: 34,253
Head Coach (school record): Jeff Mercer (124-90)
2023 Record (conference record): 25-11 (9-3)
All-Time Series Record: Indiana leads 28-25

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF Devin Taylor (28 GP, 24 GS): .376/.500/.763, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 8 2B, 2 3B, 20 BB
IF Phillip Glasser (36 GP, 36 GS): .374/.466/.565, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 14 2B, 22 BB, 10 SB
C Brock Tibbitts (36 GP, 36 GS): .370/.476/.615, 6 HR, 41 RBI, 11 2B, 2 3B, 21 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

LHP/OF Ryan Kraft (14 APP, 0 GS): 0.75 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 31 K, 14 BB, .208 B/AVG, 5 SV
RHP Luke Sinnard (9 APP, 9 GS): 4.21 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 47.0 IP, 66 K, 12 BB, .243 B/AVG
RHP Craig Yoho (11 APP, 0 GS): 2.53 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 37 K, 11 BB, .210 B/AVG

Weekend

School: Duke University
Nickname: Blue Devils
Location: Durham, N.C.
Total Enrollment: 6,883
Head Coach (school record): Chris Pollard (323-243)
2023 Record (conference record): 23-12 (9-8)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 10-3

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Jay Beshears (33 GP, 33 GS): .328/.455/.656, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 14 2B, 20 BB
INF Andrew Fischer (33 GP, 31 GS): .314/.427/.669, 9 HR, 29 RBI, 9 2B, 20 BB
INF M.J. Metz (31 GP, 25 GS): .315/.479/.528, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 4 2B, 26 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Fran Oschell III (11 APP, 0 GS): 0.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 37 K, 10 BB, .160 B/AVG
LHP James Tallon (13 APP, 0 GS): 0.49 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 18.1 IP, 29 K, 4 BB, .131 B/AVG, 8 SV
LHP Andrew Healy (12 APP, 4 GS): 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 24 K, 1 BB, .253 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings:

Indiana	Duke	Louisville
D1Baseball Ranking	NR	NR	12th
RPI	20th	37th	26th
SOS	43rd	25th	52nd
Home Record	18-1	16-8	20-5
Away Record	6-9	6-4	3-4
Neutral Record	1-1	1-0	3-0

Hitting:

Indiana	Duke	Louisville
Base on Balls	80th (175)	43rd (188)	156th (154)
Batting Average	56th (.298)	110th (.285)	64th (.294)
Hits	37th (371)	87th (346)	94th (343)
Home Runs	144th (36)	31st (58)	138th (37)
On Base Percentage	58th (.399)	43rd (.406)	57th (.399)
Runs Per Game	73rd (7.5)	17th (8.7)	87th (7.3)
Slugging Percentage	95th (.462)	44th (.502)	96th (.462)

Pitching:

Indiana	Duke	Louisville
Earned Run Average	53rd (4.67)	7th (3.43)	22nd (3.87)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	53rd (8.48)	13th (7.59)	16th (7.61)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings	60th (9.6)	3rd (11.8)	55th (9.6)
Strikeout-to-Walk-Ratio	91st (2.12)	21st (2.83)	83rd (2.15)
WHIP	72nd (1.44)	27th (1.31)	32nd (1.34)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	132nd (4.52)	84th (4.18)	126th (4.48)

(Photo via Patrick Forbes: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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