7th Inning Stretch: Steady Improvement (Week 3)

While the Louisville baseball program wasn't perfect last week, they looked a lot better compared to their opening weekend.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program wasn't perfect in their first week of games at Jim Patterson Stadium, but they were close.

Returning home after going 1-2 in their opening weekend down in Tampa, Fla., the Cardinals followed that up by going 3-1 in their first games of an 18-game home stretch. They were able to stage a late inning rally against Xavier and win their series against Dartmouth, although they did drop game two.

It did come against lesser opponents, but the hitting was much improved this past week. Louisville hit 45-138 (.326) against Xavier and Dartmouth, and their 38 runs in the Dartmouth series was their most since putting up 61 against Alabama A&M in Apr. of 2019.

While not optimal, the pitching and defense did look better as well. The bullpen did give up four late runs to Xavier, as well five- and three- spots in the Dartmouth series, but starting pitching seemed to be solid. Louisville had four errors in the first three games of the week, but finally had their first error-free game of the season in the series finale.

Obviously, this is very much a team that is still a work in progress. But it is promising to see them, largely, take care of business this past week. They'll have another crop of relatively manageable games this week, before a hard week of non-con games and the start of ACC play.

Last Week's Recaps:

• Game 4: Louisville Rallies Past, Holds Off Xavier in Home Opener
• Game 5: Louisville Dominates Dartmouth in Series Opener
• Game 6: Louisville Falls to Dartmouth to Even Series
• Game 7: Louisville Trounces Dartmouth to Claim Series

News & Notes

• Louisville remains unranked in the top 25 of all of the six major collegiate baseball polls.
• Ben Bianco had a career-high five hits in the series finale against Dartmouth, and it was the first five-hit games for the Cardinals since Alex Binelas had the same vs. Alabama A&M on Apr. 26, 2019.
• Ben Metzinger also had a career-high five RBI in the same game. Both him and Bianco were one leg shy of the cycle.
• Bianco ranks third in triples this season with two. He is one of six players in D1 baseball with multiple triples this season.
• Michael Prosecky is tied for eighth in the nation with two saves.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

• Tuesday, Mar. 1 at 5:00pm vs. Morehead State
  • ACC Network Extra
  • 970 WGTK
• Friday, Mar. 4 at 3:00pm vs. Akron
  • ACC Network Extra
  • 93.9 The Ville
  • Saturday, Mar. 5 at 1:00pm vs. Akron
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville
    • Sunday, Mar. 6 at 1:00pm vs. Akron
    • ACC Network Extra
    • 93.9 The Ville

    Know The Foe

    Midweek

    School: Morehead State University
    Nickname: Eagles
    Location: Morehead, Ky.
    Total Enrollment: 8,621
    Head Coach (school record): Mik Aoki (32-38)
    2022 Record (conference record): 3-5 (0-0)
    All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 25-5
    Team Leaders:

    • Avg: Nick Gooden (.353)
    • RBI: Jackson Feltner (7)
    • HR: Jackson Feltner, Ryley Preece (2)
    • ERA: John Bakke (0.00)
    • Strikeouts: John Bakke (10)
    • Wins: Three Tied (1)

    Weekend

    School: University of Akron
    Nickname: Zips
    Location: Akron, Ohio
    Total Enrollment: 13,651
    Head Coach (school record): Chris Sabo (17-53)
    2022 Record (conference record): 1-5 (0-0)
    All-Time Series Record: First Meeting
    Team Leaders:

    • Avg: Nick Arrivo (.364)
    • RBI: Cameron Benson (5)
    • HR: Cameron Benson (1)
    • ERA: Anthony Fett (3.72)
    • Strikeouts: Anthony Fett, Conor Steinbaugh (5)
    • Wins: Sammy Tortorella (1)

    Opponent Breakdown

    Rankings:

    Morehead State	Akron	Louisville
    Highest Poll Ranking	NR	NR	NR
    RPI	61st	98th	226th
    SOS	35th	47th	234th
    Home Record	2-2	0-0	3-1
    Away Record	1-3	1-5	0-1
    Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	1-1

    Hitting

    Morehead State	Akron	Louisville
    Base on Balls	31st (42)	238th (19)	106th (32)
    Batting Average	230th (.220)	197th (.234)	54th (.299)
    Hits	182nd (52)	216th (46)	51st (73)
    Home Runs	108th (5)	257th (1)	57th (7)
    On Base Percentage	167th (.351)	220th (.318)	58th (.406)
    Runs	142nd (39)	270th (16)	37th (60)
    Slugging Percentage	192nd (.347)	257th (.289)	39th (.492)

    Pitching

    Morehead State	Akron	Louisville
    Earned Run Average	177th (5.81)	238th (7.45)	144th (4.87)
    Hits Allowed/9 Innings	226th (11.03)	231st (11.17)	137th (8.85)
    Strikeouts/9 Innings	231st (7.7)	273rd (6.1)	44th (11.2)
    Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	134th (2.04)	248th (1.27)	53rd (3.17)
    WHIP	18th (1.65)	213th (1.78)	107th (1.38)
    Walks Allowed/9 Innings	88th (3.77)	168th (4.84)	70th (3.54)

    (Photo of Christian Knapczyk: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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