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7th Inning Stretch: Returning Home (Week 2)

Louisville baseball returns from their season-opening trip to Florida for their home opener.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 'revenge tour' for the Louisville baseball program could have started on a better note.

Kicking off the season down in Tampa, Fla., the Cardinals were able to capture their season-opener against Charlotte, but then dropped their next two games against USF and UConn to leave the Sunshine State with a 1-2 record.

Louisville got decent hitting down in Florida. Christian Knapczyk and Cam Masterman had five-hit weekends, while Jack Payton and Ben Metzinger had four. Though they did need some late runs against the Huskies to avoid getting shut out.

Pitching and defense was a different story. There were a handful of solid outings, most notably Riley Phillips' relief outing against UConn, but every pitcher but him and Kaleb Corbett - who tossed just 0.2 innings - gave up an earned run. The defense also had eight errors over the weekend, including five vs. the Huskies.

Though it is very much a young season, with plenty of young faces that will taken some time to settle into their new roles. With Louisville set to make their home debut this week and play 18-straight home games, they'll have plenty of time to figure things out.

Last Week's Recaps:

News & Notes

  • Louisville posts a losing record in the opening weekend for the first time since 2019. The Cardinals later went on to the College World Series that year.
  • Louisville remains unranked in the top 25 of all of the six major collegiate baseball polls.
  • The home opener against Xavier has been pushed up one day from Tuesday to Monday due to weather.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

  • Monday, Feb. 21 at 5:30pm vs. Xavier
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville
  • Friday, Feb. 25 at 3:00pm vs. Dartmouth
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville
  • Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1:00pm vs. Dartmouth
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville
  • Sunday, Feb 27 at 12:00pm vs. Darrtmouth
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Xavier University
Nickname: Musketeers
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Total Enrollment: 5,304
Head Coach (school record): Billy O'Conner (80-105)
2022 Record (conference record): 0-3 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 24-7
Team Leaders:

  • Avg: Andrew Walker (.455)
  • RBI: Jack Housinger (4)
  • HR: Jack Housinger (2)
  • ERA: Three Tied (0.00)
  • Strikeouts: George Eisenhardt (4)
  • Wins: None

Weekend

School: Dartmouth College
Nickname: Big Green
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Total Enrollment: 4,170
Head Coach (school record): Bob Whalen (602-591-3)
2022 Record (conference record): 0-0 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: First Meeting 

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings:

XavierDartmouthLouisville

Highest Poll Ranking

NR

NR

NR

RPI

230th

N/A

38th

SOS

64th

N/A

21st

Home Record

0-0

0-0

0-0

Away Record

0-3

0-0

0-1

Neutral Record

0-0

0-0

1-1

Hitting:

XavierDartmouthLouisville

Base on Balls

142nd (13th)

N/A

269th (4)

Batting Average

163rd (.243)

N/A

134th (.264)

Hits

141st (26)

N/A

120th (28)

Home Runs

43rd (4)

N/A

186th (1)

On Base Percentage

179th (.341)

N/A

202nd (.302)

Runs

205th (12)

N/A

175th (14)

Slugging Percentage

130th (.393)

N/A

203rd (.321)

Pitching:

XavierDartmouthLouisville

Earned Run Average

181st (6.38)

N/A

165th (5.76)

Hits Allowed/9 Innings

225th (12.0)

N/A

201st (11.16)

Strikeouts Per 9 Innings

210th (7.9)

N/A

30th (12.2)

Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio

189th (1.5)

N/A

114th (2.27)

WHIP

202nd (1.92)

N/A

192nd (1.84)

Walks Allowed/9 Innings

168th (5.25)

N/A

178th (5.40)

Xavier Musketeers

While Louisville did not have a great weekend down in Florida, at least they were able to capture a victory in their opening weekend - something Xavier was unable to do. The Musketeers opened up their season down in Tuscaloosa for a series against Alabama, and got swept. To be fair, two of their losses were just by one run, and even the finale - a 9-4 decision - wasn't an extreme blowout.

Like Louisville, Xavier got a few really hot performances in their opening weekend. Outfielder Luke Franzoni, outfielder Andrew Walker and infielder Jack Housinger each hit over .400 against the Crimson Tide, with Housinger even including a pair of homers. The issue was that Xavier didn't get a whole lot out of the rest of their starting nine at the plate in that series, as the Musketeers only got 10 hits from the rest of their roster.

Over on the mound, their production fell off after Friday's series opener. Trevor Olsen allowed just one run in five innings, but then Bryce Barnett and Luke Bell combined to give up nine earned runs in four innings. Out the seven bullpen arms that threw against Alabama, four didn't allow a run, and only one allowed multiple. The key here for Louisville will, likely, be to jump on the starter and pull ahead early.

Dartmouth Big Green

When Dartmouth takes the field against Louisville on Friday to start their weekend series, it will be their first competitive baseball in 726 days - one week away from being two full years. Not only did the Big Green have their 2020 season cut short, but their 2021 season was scrapped entirely with the Ivy League's decision to not play any games last season.

As you can imagine, Dartmouth is very inexperienced. In fact, only two players on the team have more than 30 career at-bats - outfielder Kade Kretzschmar and infielder Bryce Daniel - and neither has more than 75.

The pitching staff has a little bit more experience, as the Big Green's starting rotation of Justin Murray, Nathan Skinner and Trystan Sarcone has logged 162.2 career innings pitched. However, they also have a combined career ERA of 6.09. Even their expected go-to closer, Cole Roland, has not thrown a single pitch due to injuries early in his career.

(Photo of Kaleb Corbett: Justin Krueger via University of Louisville Athletics)

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