7th Inning Stretch: The Road Starts Here (Week 16)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The postseason is finally back. For the first time since 2019, the Louisville baseball program is not only back in the NCAA Tournament, but hosting a regional at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The No. 12 nationally seeded Cardinals (38-9-1) have a solid regional on their hands, also welcoming No. 2 regional seed Oregon (35-23), No. 3 Michigan (32-26) and No. 4 Southeast Missouri State (37-20) to Third and Central. Play in the Louisville Regional gets underway this Friday, and the entire regional will be exclusively televised on ESPN+ and broadcast on 93.9 The Ville.
Louisville isn't limping into the postseason, per se, but they aren't exactly riding a wave a momentum. They take down Virginia to end the regular season, but then went 0-2 down in Charlotte, N.C. for another lackluster showing in the ACC Baseball Championship.
Fortunately, it did give Louisville a little extra time to prepare for their NCAA Tournament run. Considering they are hosting two teams that did win their conference tournament, they'll need that time to hone in and focus moving forward.
As always, the Road to Omaha for the College World Series isn't an easy one. Considering that Louisville didn't lock down a top eight seed, this could very well be their last games at Jim Patterson Stadium for the season. It's going to be another great weekend of baseball.
Last Week's Recaps:
- Game 56: Louisville Walked Off by Pitt in ACC Pool Play
- Game 57: Louisville Falls to Georgia Tech in ACC Pool Play
News & Notes
- Louisville ranks as high as No. 7 (Baseball America) among the six major collegiate baseball polls.
- Head Coach Dan McDonnell has missed the NCAA Tournament just twice not including the 2020 COVID year. Louisville missed the tournament in 2011 and 2021.
- Of McDonnell's 12 previous trips to the postseason, he holds a 32-11 record in Regionals, including 24-4 in his eight times hosting.
- Louisville has advanced to the Super Regionals eight times, and have only failed to win a regional as a host once, coming in 2010.
- Louisville hosted Michigan back in mid-March, taking two of three from the Wolverines. The lone loss came during a snow-delayed game two.
- Shortstop Christian Knapczyk remains "day-to-day" after suffering an ankle injury in early May. He is expected to play in the Louisville Regional, but likely in a limited DH or PH role.
- Dalton Rushing ranks 16th in the nation in home runs with 21.
- Levi Usher ranks 11th in the nation in stolen bases with 33.
The Week Ahead
Friday, June 3
- Game 1: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Southeast Missouri State - 2:00 p.m. EST
- Game 2: No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Michigan - 7:00 p.m. EST
Saturday, June 4
- Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 4:00 p.m. EST
Sunday, June 4
- Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser - 12:00 p.m. EST
- Game 6: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 4:00 p.m. EST
Monday, June 5
- Game 7*: Game 6 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner - 6:00 p.m. EST
*If Necessary
Know The Foe
Louisville Regional Seed No. 2
School: University of Oregon
Nickname: Ducks
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Total Enrollment: 18,045
Head Coach (school record): Mark Wasikowski (82-46)
2022 Record (conference record): 35-23 (18-12 Pac-12)
All-Time Series Record: First Meeting
Top Performers (Hitters):
- OF Anthony Hall (57 GP, 56 GS): .321/.396/.623, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 12 2B, 5 3B, 24 BB
- OF Tanner Smith (58 GP, 58 GS): .320/.373/.502, 11 HR, 36 RBI, 13 2B, 17 BB
- INF Brennan Milone (57 GP, 57 GS): .320/.394/.506, 10 HR, 51 RBI, 13 2B, 25 BB
Top Performers (Pitchers)
- RHP Logan Mercado (24 APP, 0 GS): 2.52 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 39.1 IP, 37 K, 12 BB, .247 B/AVG
- LHP Rio Britton (32 APP, 0 GS): 2.82 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 38.1 IP, 35 K, 17 BB, .185 B/AVG
- LHP Kolby Somers (25 APP, 0 GS): 2.90 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 31.0 IP, 43 K, 15 BB, .237 B/AVG
Louisville Regional Seed No. 3
School: University of Michigan
Nickname: Wolverines
Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Total Enrollment: 31,329
Head Coach (school record): Erik Bakich (328-214)
2022 Record (conference record): 32-26 (12-12 Big Ten)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 6-1
Top Performers (Hitters):
- OF Joe Stewart (58 GP, 58 GS): .344/.408/.564, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 15 2B, 2 3B, 24 BB, 23 SB
- INF/OF Clark Elliott (57 GP, 55 GS): .344/.466/.626, 14 HR, 66 RBI, 16 2B, 3 3B, 48 BB, 12 SB
- INF Matt Frey (57 GP, 57 GS): .315/.444/.514, 10 HR, 53 RBI, 13 2B, 38 BB
Top Performers (Pitchers)
- LHP Connor O'Halloran (17 APP, 16 GS): 4.90 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 86.1 IP, 97 K, 37 BB, .262 B/AVG
- RHP Cameron Weston (17 APP, 11 GS): 4.72 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 74.1 IP, 88 K, 36 BB, .290 B/AVG
- RHP Chase Allen (24 APP, 7 GS): 3.95 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 73.0 IP, 55 K, 26 BB, .279 B/AVG
Louisville Regional Seed No. 4
School: Southeast Missouri State University
Nickname: Redhawks
Location: Cape Girardeau, MO
Total Enrollment: 8,929
Head Coach (school record): Andy Sawyers (154-138)
2022 Record (conference record): 37-20 (16-8 OVC)
All-Time Series Record: SEMO leads 1-0
Top Performers (Hitters):
- INF Tyler Wilber (57 GP, 57 GS): .330/.400/.626, 18 HR, 73 RBI, 14 2B, 27 BB
- C Andrew Keck (55 GP, 55 GS): .330/.404/.651, 17 HR, 67 RBI, 15 2B, 2 3B, 25 BB, 11 SB
- OF Jevon Mason (57 GP, 57 GS): .318/.438/.592, 14 HR, 43 RBI, 13 2B, 3 3B, 42 BB, 16 SB
Top Performers (Pitchers)
- RHP Jason Rackers (16 APP, 14 GS): 4.45 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 85.0 IP, 77 K, 30 BB, .254 B/AVG
- RHP Kyle Miller (23 APP, 0 GS): 2.91 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 43.1 IP, 46 K, 14 BB, .2524 B/AVG
- LHP Blake Cisneros (26 APP, 0 GS): 2.94 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 37 K, 17 BB, .198 B/AVG
Opponent Breakdown
Rankings:
| Louisville | Oregon | Michigan | SEMO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
D1 Baseball Ranking | 8th | NR | NR | NR |
RPI | 17th | 28th | 61st | 64th |
SOS | 21st | 6th | 40th | 144th |
Home Record | 29-6 | 25-10 | 14-9 | 23-2 |
Away Record | 8-9-1 | 10-11 | 10-13 | 11-17 |
Neutral Record | 1-3 | 0-2 | 8-4 | 3-1 |
Hitting:
| Louisville | Oregon | Michigan | SEMO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Base on Balls | 14th (307) | 139th (235) | 22nd (296) | 50th (276) |
Batting Average | 22nd (.305) | 18th (.306) | 105th (.284) | 177th (.272) |
Home Runs | 29th (87) | 59th (72) | 39th (82nd) | 21st (95) |
On Base Percentage | 14th (.414) | 68th (.390) | 64th (.391) | 128th (.377) |
Scoring Average | 12th (8.7) | 70th (7.3) | 25th (8.1) | 64th (7.3) |
Slugging Percentage | 17th (.513) | 65th (.475) | 56th (.479) | 46th (.483) |
Pitching:
| Louisville | Oregon | Michigan | SEMO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Earned Run Average | 118th (5.29) | 55th (4.60) | 236th (6.81) | 134th (5.53) |
Hits Allowed/9 Innings | 86th (9.09) | 58th (8.86) | 234th (10.74) | 164th (9.91) |
Strikeouts/9 Innings | 24th (10.0) | 196th (7.9) | 95th (9.0) | 94th (9.0) |
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio | 114th (2.08) | 185th (1.74) | 174th (1.79) | 78th (2.24) |
WHIP | 130th (1.55) | 94th (1.49) | 234th (1.75) | 133rd (1.55) |
Walks Allowed/9 Innings | 196th (4.82) | 162nd (4.53) | 218th (5.02) | 90th (4.00) |
Oregon Ducks
Oregon very much earned their at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. They played one of the toughest schedules in all of baseball, and have a very respectable RPI ranking to boot. The Ducks largely took care of opponents they should have, sporting a record of 25-8 against opponents in Quadrants 2-4 with only one series loss.
But they against Q1 competition, Oregon only has a 10-14 record. They took a series from Stanford, went 4-0 against Arizona, and took both midweek games from Gonzaga, but that's really it. They went 0-5 against Oregon State, 1-3 against San Diego and got swept by UCLA.
At the plate, Oregon has a very well balanced lineup that presents both contact and power. Anthony Hall, Tanner Smith and Brennan Milone present the biggest threat, combining for 35 home runs and 376 total bases, but the Ducks have four other regular starters with a batting average over .290 and a couple extremely potent bench bats in Drew Conley and Bennett Thompson.
Oregon's strength from the mound is in their bullpen. Their top four arms in Logan Mercado, Rio Britton, Kolby Somers and Christian Ciuffetelli all have sub-3.00 ERA and combine for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 146-48. However, their starting rotation only has one strong piece in Isaac Ayon (5.51 ERA, 83.1 IP, 77 K, 26 BB), with a rotating door of starters behind him.
Michigan Wolverines
Louisville took the series from Michigan very early in the season, and after that, the Wolverines largely struggled after that. They went 6-11 in Quadrant 1 and 4-6 in Quadrant 2, with their best win being a series victory at home against Rutgers. But in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan caught fire, taking down the top four seeds in the tournament to win the conference championship and punch their ticket.
Michigan has a deadly one-two punch at the plate, with Joe Stewart and Clark Elliott being two of the best hitters in the Big Ten. They also have a lot of help around them, with four other hitters tallying either 100 total bases or 50 RBI. It's overall a well-rounded approach at the plate, similar to what Louisville has, but on a slightly lesser scale.
Pitching-wise, the Wolverines are severely lacking. Connor O'Halloran and Cameron Weston are solid pieces in their stating rotation and Chase Allen is their go-to reliever, but Michigan really doesn't have any other reliable arms. Take those three out of the mix, and their already high team ERA balloons to 8.74.
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
The Redhawks are another team who made Big Dance after winning their conference tournament, defeating, Tennessee Tech, SIUE and Belmont to capture the Ohio Valley Conference title. SEMO hasn't had many opportunities to play quality teams, going 3-4 in Q1. They were swept at Oklahoma State, but won a series at Dallas Baptist and took a midweek game at Ole Miss.
SEMO's biggest strength is probably at the plate due to their extremely strong middle part of the lineup. Tyler Wilber, Andrew Keck, Jevon Mason and Brett Graber all have an OPS over 1.000 and over 115 total bases, and have an incredible amount of home run potential with 58 combined. Ty Stauss and Lincoln Andrews are good compliments, but after them, production at the plate falls off a cliff.
Even with a somewhat high team ERA, the Redhawks have some good options in the pitching staff. Jason Rackers is a respectable ace, while Kyle Miller and Blake Cisneros are go-to options out of the pen. But like at the plate, there aren't many quality arms after them.
(Photo via Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)
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