7th Inning Stretch: Returning Home to Right the Ship (Week 4)

(Photo of Louisville Players: Matt Stone/Courier Journal, Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In their first week since rising to the No. 1 team in the country, it's safe to say that the Louisville baseball program could have had a better week. The Cardinals started the week with a shocking upset loss at home to Morehead State, then followed that up with a series loss down at Georgia Tech, going 1-3 on the week.

After going 0-12 with runners in scoring position against the Eagles, the Cardinals' bats certainly woke up against the Yellow Jackets. Over their three game series in midtown Atlanta, Louisville plated 28 runs on 40 hits against Georgia Tech, improving their team batting average to a top five mark in the ACC.

The problem, however, was that the Yellow Jackets were teeing off against the Cardinals pitchers all weekend. Louisville allowed an average of 12.7 runs per game during the series, and also committed five errors in their two losses. As a result, through eleven games, Louisville has the 104th ranked ERA (4.36) and 158th ranked fielding percentage (.964) in all of Division I.

There is still plenty of time to right the ship, as Louisville still has 40 games left on the season and 33 in the ACC. But if the pitchers continue to struggle like they did against Georgia Tech, it will be a long season. Fortunately, they should be in line to get Friday night starter Glenn Albanese, as well as others, back from injury sooner rather than later.

Last Week's Recaps:

Game 8: No. 1 Louisville Upset by Morehead State
Game 9: Fast Start Powers Louisville Past Georgia Tech in ACC Opener
Game 10: Louisville Rocked by Georgia Tech to Even Series
Game 11: Louisville Drops Rubber Match vs. Georgia Tech

News & Notes

Louisville is ranked as high as the No. 9 team in the nation among the six major collegiate baseball polls (Perfect Game).
Louisville is first in the nation in stolen bases (32) and sixth in stolen bases per game (2.91).
Outfielder Levi Usher is third in the nation in stolen bases with eight.
Outfielder Cam Masterman is first in the ACC in the NCAA's 'toughest to strike out' metric, and 37th in D1.

The Week Ahead

Coming up this week, the Cardinals will play all four games at home this week. They will start with a midweek game against Murray State, then a three-game weekend series with Boston College.

Home (Louisville, Ky.)

Tuesday, Mar. 9 at 3:00pm vs. Murray State

ACC Network Extra
1450 WXVW

Friday, Mar. 12 at 6:00pm vs. Boston College

ACC Network Extra
Radio TBA

Saturday, Mar. 13 at 1:00pm vs. Boston College

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Sunday, Mar. 14 at 1:00pm vs. Boston College

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Murray State University
Nickname: Racers
Location: Murray, Ky.
Total Enrollment: 9,569
Head Coach (school record): Dan Skirka (39-43)
2021 Record (conference record): 5-6 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 14-4

Team Leaders:

Avg: Jordan Cozart (.302)
RBI: Jordan Cozart, Bryson Bloomer (8)
HR: Jordan Cozart, Brock Anderson (3)
ERA: Connor Holden (0.00)
Strikeouts: Alec Whaley (11)
Wins: Five Tied (1)

Weekend

School: Boston College
Nickname: Eagles
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Total Enrollment: 14,171
Head Coach (school record): Mike Gambino (222-286)
2021 Record (conference record): 8-2 (2-1)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 11-5
Team Leaders:

Avg: Sal Frelick (.478)
RBI: Luke Gold (16)
HR: Sal Frelick and Luke Gold (4)
ERA: Five Tied (0.00)
Strikeouts: Emmet Sheehan (19)
Wins: Emmet Sheehan, Mason Pelio (2)

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings & Records:

Murray State	Boston College	Louisville
Highest Poll Ranking	N/A	13th	9th
RPI	122nd	7th	102nd
SOS	95th	19th	121st
Home Record	4-1	1-0	6-2
Away Record	1-5	7-2	1-2
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	0-0

Hitting:

Murray State	Boston College	Louisville
Base on Balls	88th (46)	30th (57)	28th (58)
Batting Average	128th (.253)	76th (.275)	50th (.291)
Hits	72nd (92)	49th (101)	26th (111)
Home Runs	44th (11)	28th (13)	44th (11)
On Base Percentage	170th (.344)	72nd (.382)	50th (.397)
Runs	82nd (60)	34th (78)	34th (78)
Slugging Percentage	95th (.405)	44th (.469)	69th (.432)

Pitching:

Murray State	Boston College	Louisville
Earned Run Average	192nd (6.00)	127th (4.85)	104th (4.36)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	179th (9.60)	199th (10.31)	138th (8.91)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings	180th (8.5)	103rd (9.7)	70th (10.3)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	176th (1.70)	156th (1.85)	147th (1.91)
WHIP	172 (1.62)	206th (1.73)	159th (1.59)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	168th (5.00)	182nd (5.26)	192nd (5.38)

Murray State Racers:

As far as the Ohio Valley Conference goes, Murray State is a middle of the pack type of team. Prior to getting swept at No. 1 Arkansas, the Racers were 5-3, including a solid road win at Middle Tennessee. Even in their three-game series against the Razorbacks, they were still able to put up six runs in two of them, and even led Arkansas through seven innings of game one.

Hitting undoubtedly the strength of this team, as the Racers boasts a few more than capable hitters. As far as regular starters go, infielder Jordan Cozart is the cream of the crop, batting .302 with a team-best three home runs and eight RBI and four doubles. Like Louisville, Murray State shuffles in and out a fair amount of hitters. While they don't count as qualified hitters (2 PA/G, 75%), catchers Alex Crump & Tanner Booth and first baseman Trey Woosley are all batting over .300 with an OPS over .900, with the latter second on the team in homers and RBI. Those four are really the most noteworthy in the lineup, as Murray State as a while is batting .253 for the season.

Heading over to the mound, this is some where that Murray State has largely struggled through out the year. They have a team ERA of exactly 6.00, and about half their staff has a double digit ERA and WHIP above 2.00. The most likely candidate for midweek starter could be right-hander Jacob Pennington, who has a respectable ERA of 3.65, and the second-most strikeouts with 10. Their go-to bullpen arm is fellow righty Alec Whaley who has 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings pitched and five appearances, with a 3.18 ERA to boot.

Boston College Eagles:

Boston College will be heading to Louisville as one of the hottest teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Their last game saw them score 10 unanswered runs to take the three-game series at Auburn, including eight of them coming in the ninth inning with two outs. They also won their first ACC series of the year at Duke, who currently has the highest RPI out of any ACC team (10).

Infielders Sal Frelick (.478/.531/.857, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 4 2B) and Luke Gold (.366/.386/.829, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 5 2B) are the engine that powers Boston College's offense, as the duo is first and second on the team in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs and doubles. Outfielder Dante Baldelli is BC's next best power threat with a slugging percentage of .541 with two homers and four doubles, whereas Jack Cunningham & Cody Morrissette's compliment that by leading the team in walks (nine and 11, respectively), and placing second and third on the team in on base percentage.

The Eagles take a little bit of a dip in production once we transition to the mound, particularly within the starting rotation. Right-hander Mason Pelio is their best option, posting an ERA of 3.68 in 14.2 innings of work, although his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 13-10. Right-hander Emmet Sheehan & left-hander Joe Vetrano have ERAs of 6.43 & 9.00, but those stats are mostly skewed by their series with Auburn. Joey Walsh and Alex Stiegler are their best bullpen guys, as they combine for 32 strikeouts to just nine walks, but have also combined for 11 runs in 24.0 innings

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