7th Inning Stretch: Battle of the Bluegrass (Week 11)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Louisville baseball program that has experienced a lot of highs and lows over the last month-plus experienced nothing but lows this past week.

The Cardinals (26-13, 8-10 ACC) were unable to capture a single win last week, dropping their midweek contest at Indiana and getting swept at Duke. The series against the Blue Devils was particularly egregious, giving up late rallies in all three games including two walk-offs.

All of a sudden, things are trending in a very bad direction for Louisville. A program that opened up the year at 16-1 and ranked as high as the No. 2 team in the country has now dropped 12 of their last 22 since, and only won two of their six ACC series.

The Cardinals' inconsistencies at the plate has been the main cause to this problem as of late, but now the bullpen seems to be struggling mightily at times. This was once a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team that was in the thick of potential super regional hosting rights. Now? It's not inconceivable that, if things continue on this trend, they might not make the Big Dance at all for the second time in three years.

Things don't get any easier, either. This next week has no days off, with Louisville set to travel to Lexington for the road leg of their annual home-and-home series against Kentucky, then will return home to host Miami. Both are top-20 squads, and wins against them would do wonders in terms of getting their season back on track.

They just have to win.

Last Week's Recaps:

News & Notes

Out of the six major collegiate baseball polls, Louisville ranks as high as the No. 19 team in the nation, courtesy of the USA Today Coaches Poll.
RHP Carson Liggett ranks fifth in the nation in in earned run average at 1.64 and seventh in victories with seven.

The Week Ahead

Away (Kentucky Proud Park - Lexington, Ky.)

Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Kentucky

SEC Network
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Thursday, Apr. 27 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Miami

ACC Network
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Friday, Apr. 28 at 6:00 p.m. vs. Miami

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Saturday, Apr. 29 at 1:00 p.m. vs. Miami

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: University of Kentucky
Nickname: Wildcats
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Total Enrollment: 21,900
Head Coach (school record): Nick Mingione (208-138)
2023 Record (conference record): 30-9 (11-7)
All-Time Series Record: Kentucky leads 64-48-1

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Emilien Pitre (39 GP, 39 GS): .376/.520/.504, 1 HR, 38 RBI, 12 2B, 1 3B, 35 BB, 14 SB
INF Hunter Gilliam (38 GP, 38 GS): .361/.436/.604, 8 HR, 53 RBI, 9 2B, 1 3B, 17 BB
OF Jackson Gray (38 GP, 38 GS): .355/.508/.558, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 11 2B, 4 3B, 27 BB, 16 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Ryan Hagenow (13 APP, 0 GS): 1.10 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 24 K, 6 BB, .123 B/AVG, 5 SV
RHP Darren Williams (9 APP, 3 GS): 3.76 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 38.1 IP, 34 K, 11 BB, .196 B/AVG
RHP Zack Lee (10 APP, 9 GS): 3.89 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 40 K, 22 BB, .247 B/AVG

Weekend

School: University of Miami
Nickname: Hurricanes
Location: Coral Gables, Fla.
Total Enrollment: 12,089
Head Coach (school record): Gino DiMare (148-80)
2023 Record (conference record): 25-15 (12-9)
All-Time Series Record: Series tied 8-8

Top Performers (Hitters):

Yohandy Morales (40 GP, 40 GS): .359/.430/.595, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 12 2B, 20 BB, 7 SB
C.J. Kayfus (39 GP, 39 GS): .315/.439/.534, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 9 2B, 1 3B, 30 BB, 6 SB
Blake Cyr (37 GP, 36 GS): .306/.401/.640, 11 HR, 39 RBI, 5 2B, 14 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

Andrew Walters (16 APP, 0 GS): 1.48 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 24.1 IP, 44 K, 4 BB, .170 B/AVG, 5 SV
Alejandro Torres (20 APP, 5 GS): 3.71 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 34.0 IP, 43 K, 7 BB, .197 B/AVG, 2 SV
Chris Scinta (21 APP, 0 GS): 3.96 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 33 K, 12 BB, .258 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings:

Kentucky	Miami	Louisville
D1Baseball Ranking	15th	16th	21st
RPI	2nd	28th	32nd
SOS	1st	18th	32nd
Home Record	20-3	21-4	20-5
Away Record	10-6	4-11	3-8
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	3-0

Hitting:

Kentucky	Miami	Louisville
Base on Balls	34th (217)	85th (192)	153rd (172)
Batting Average	45th (.300)	78th (.290)	103rd (.287)
Hits	111st (377)	57th (397)	126th (371)
Home Runs	238th (27)	9th (76)	134th (42)
On Base Percentage	10th (.430)	91st (.390)	75th (.393)
Runs Per Game	41st (8.0)	95th (7.2)	106th (7.1)
Slugging Percentage	139th (.443)	25th (.522)	115th (.454)

Pitching:

Kentucky	Miami	Louisville
Earned Run Average	15th (3.84)	99th (5.30)	22nd (4.07)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	3rd (7.06)	102nd (9.27)	14th (7.67)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings	101st (8.9)	31st (10.2)	47th (9.8)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	114th (1.98)	15th (2.82)	95th (2.07)
WHIP	14th (1.29)	64th (1.43)	42nd (1.38)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	123rd (4.51)	28th (3.60)	154th (4.71)

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter

Add us as a preferred source on Google