7th Inning Stretch: The Final Furlong (Week 14)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program is in a much better place than they were this time last year, but they are experiencing some slight late season hiccups.

The Cardinals (35-15-1, 16-10-1 ACC) were able to capture their midweek matchup vs. Indiana, but dropped a top 10 series at Virginia Tech to go 2-2 on the week.

Louisville is still very much an NCAA Tournament team, there's no need to worry about that. But now there are some concerns that hosting a regional could slip from their grasp.

While the pitching and defense has gotten better, allowing only 4.25 runs per game over the last two weeks, their potent offense has sputtered a bit, putting up just 4.63 runs per game in the same span.

Now, Louisville returns home for the final week of the regular season, and will face Eastern Kentucky in the midweek and Virginia in a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series. If the Cards want to have more games at Jim Patterson Stadium, they'll have to have a strong showing this week heading into the ACC Tournament.

Last Week's Recaps:

Game 48: Louisville Takes Down Indiana in Midweek Showdown
Game 49: Louisville Takes Opener of Top 10 Series at Virginia Tech
Game 50: Louisville Drops Pitcher's Duel at Virginia Tech to Even Series
Game 51: Louisville Falls to Virginia Tech in Rubber Match

News & Notes

Louisville ranks as high as No. 9 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, USA TODAY) among the six major collegiate baseball polls.
With three conference games left, Louisville trails Notre Dame by 1.0 game for first in the Atlantic Division. With a .611 conference winning percentage, they currently hold the No. 4 seed for next week's ACC Tournament.
Christian Knapczyk ranks second in the nation in runs per game with 1.39.
Levi Usher ranks 10th in the nation in stolen bases with 32.
Dalton Rushing ranks 24th in the nation in home runs with 17.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Tuesday, May 17 at 6:00pm vs. Eastern Kentucky

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Thursday, May 19 at 6:00pm vs. Virginia

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Friday, May 20 at 4:00pm vs. Virginia

ACC Network
93.9 The Ville

Saturday, May 21 at 1:00pm vs. Virginia

ACC Network
93.9 The Ville

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Eastern Kentucky University
Nickname: Colonels
Location: Richmond, Ky.
Total Enrollment: 12,554
Head Coach (school record): Chris Prothro (54-49)
2022 Record (conference record): 33-17, 18-9 ASUN)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 71-49-1

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF Kendal Ewell (49 GP, 49 GS): .400/.511/.692, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 10 2B, 3B, 32 BB
SS Logan Thomason (48 GP, 48 GS): .301/.413/.446, 5 HR, 37 RBI, 10 2B, 3B, 35 BB
C Will King (48 GP, 48 GS): .281/.376/.519, 10 HR, 53 RBI, 14 2B, 23 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

LHP Will Brian (25 APP, 0 GS): 1.89 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 33.1 IP, 42 K, 11 BB, .094 B/AVG
LHP Jordan Fox (22 APP, 0 GS): 3.47 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 23.1 IP, 10 K, 13 BB, .330 B/AVG
RHP Rese Brown (12 APP, 12 GS): 3.78 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 64.1 IP, 71 K, 25 BB, .221 B/AVG

Weekend

School: University of Virginia
Nickname: Cavaliers
Location: Charlottesville, Va.
Total Enrollment: 17,311
Head Coach (school record): Brian O'Connor (787-332-2)
2022 Record (conference record): 37-13 (16-11 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 11-8

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Jake Gelof (50 GP, 50 GS): .383/.480/.781, 18 HR, 71 RBI, 15 2B, 2 3B, 35 BB
INF Casey Saucke (45 GP, 42 GS): .355/.437/.587, 6 HR, 40 RBI, 12 2B, 3 3B, 20 BB
1B/OF Alex Tappen (50 GP, 50 GS): .351/.415/.629, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 13 2B, 18 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

LHP Brian Gursky (11 APP, 11 GS): 2.98 ERA, 57.1 IP, 68 K, 26 BB, .235 B/AVG
LHP Nate Savino (12 APP, 12 GS): 4.21 ERA, 62.0 IP, 67 K, 26 BB, .259 B/AVG
INF/RHP Devin Ortiz (9 APP, 5 GS): 2.03 ERA, 26.2 IP, 37 K, 3 BB, .158 B/AVG

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings:

Eastern Kentucky	Virginia	Louisville
D1 Baseball Ranking	NR	12th	10th
RPI	135th	15th	11th
SOS	251st	47th	23rd
Home Record	21-6	29-5	26-5
Away Record	11-11	6-8	8-9-1
Neutral Record	0-0	2-0	1-1

Hitting:

Eastern Kentucky	Virginia	Louisville
Base on Balls	30th (258)	15th (277)	12th (283)
Batting Average	195th (.268)	7th (.316)	22nd (.304)
Home Runs	63rd (62)	49th (67)	26th (76)
On Base Percentage	124th (.378)	8th (.420)	12th (.416)
Scoring Average	122nd (6.7)	4th (9.2)	10th (8.9)
Slugging Percentage	72nd (9.3)	24th (.501)	17th (.510)

Pitching:

Eastern Kentucky	Virginia	Louisville
Earned Run Average	105th (5.12)	12th (3.72)	117th (5.30)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	78th (9.00)	7th (7.50)	72nd (8.92)
Strikeouts/9 Innings	72nd (9.3)	8th (10.8)	24th (10.1)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	155th (1.90)	44th (2.52)	113th (2.11)
WHIP	130th (1.54)	23rd (1.31)	116th (1.52)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	205th (4.90)	134th (4.28)	191st (4.77)

(Photo of Ben Metzinger: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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