7th Inning Stretch: Uptick in Competition (Week 4)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After making some steady overall improvements over the first few weeks, the Louisville baseball program took a giant leap in one area.

Continuing on their 18-game home-stand to open the season, the Cardinals went a perfect 4-0 last week to extend their win streak out to five. While they needed a walk-off to beat Morehead State, they responded by pummeling Akron for a three-game sweep.

It was a week marked by blazing hot bats. Louisville put up 51 runs against Akron alone, and added seven against Morehead State. Eight qualified hitters for the Cardinals are now batting .330 or greater, with two - Christian Knapczyk and Ben Bianco - betting well over ,400.

On the flip side, pitching and defense struggled a touch. Louisville surrendered 21 combined runs to Akron and Morehead State, two teams whose RPI is outside the top 150. Tate Kuehner and his six innings of one-run work in his start was the bright spot on the week from the mound and field, but no other pitching performance really stood out.

Now, the rubber starts to hit the road for Louisville. Before ACC play gets underway, the Cardinals have two high caliber non-conference opponents coming to town in TCU and Michigan. This team is trending in the right direction, but this week could show what this team is truly capable of.

Last Week's Recaps:

Game 8: Louisville Walks Off Morehead State on Metzinger Homer
Game 9: Louisville Takes Down Akron in Series Opener
Game 10, 11: Louisville Sweeps Doubleheader vs. Akron

News & Notes

Louisville remains unranked in the top 25 of all of the six major collegiate baseball polls.
Ben Metzinger's walk-off home run against Morehead State was the first for Louisville since Nick Solak hit a game-winner to beat Notre Dame on March 11, 2016.
Luke Seed made his return from injury in the series opener against Akron.
The 42 runs in the Akron doubleheader were a school record, breaking the previous mark of 41 in a pair of wins over Chicago State on March 30, 1977. It marked the third time the Cardinals have scored at least 20 runs in consecutive games and the first time since 1991.
Ben Bianco ranks 12th in the nation in batting average at .500, and seventh in slugging percentage at 1.036.
Metzinger ranks 18th in the nation in home runs with five.
Christian Knapczyk ranks third in the nation in runs with 20.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Tuesday, Mar. 8 at 12:00pm vs. TCU
- ACC Network Extra
- 93.9 The Ville

Friday, Mar. 11 at 3:00pm vs. Michigan

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Saturday, Mar. 12 at 1:00pm vs. Michigan

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville
Sunday, Mar. 13 at 1:00pm vs. Michigan

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Texas Christian University
Nickname: Horned Frogs
Location: Fort Worth, Tex.
Total Enrollment: 9,704
Head Coach (school record): Kirk Saarloos (8-3)
2022 Record (conference record): 8-3 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: TCU leads 11-5

Top Performers (Hitters):

OF Elijah Nunez (11 GP, 10 GS): .462/.563/.590, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 2 3B, 8 BB, 9 SB
INF Brayden Taylor (11 GP, 11 GS): .410/.549/.590, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 4 2B, 12 BB
INF Tommy Sacco (11 GP, 11 GS): .410/.500/.615, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 5 2B, 8 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Brett Walker (3 APP, 3 GS): 1.80 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 19 K, 6 BB, .250 B/AVG
RHP Cam Brown (2 APP, 2 GS): 1.64 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 16 K, 2 BB, .184 B/AVG
LHP River Ridings (5 APP, 0 GS): 1.69 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8 K, 0 BB, .304 B/AVG

Weekend

School: University of Michigan
Nickname: Wolverines
Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Total Enrollment: 31,329
Head Coach (school record): Erik Bakich (370-291-1)
2022 Record (conference record): 7-5 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 4-0

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF/OF Clark Elliott (12 GP, 10 GS): .340/.448/.702, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 6 2B, 1 3B, 10 BB
INF Matt Frey (12 GP, 12 GS): .395/.533/.581, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 14 BB
INF Ted Burton (12 GP, 12 GS): .347/.431/.633, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 8 2B,

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Noah Rennard (6 APP, 1 GS): 2.19 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 16 K, 3 BB, .245 B/AVG
LHP Connor O'Halloran (4 APP, 4 GS): 3.07 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 12 K, 8 BB, .245 B/AVG
RHP Chase Allen (5 APP, 1 GS): 3.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 9 K, 1 BB, .259 B/AVG

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings:

TCU	Michigan	Louisville
D1Baseball Ranking	21st	NR	NR
RPI	35th	61st	123rd
SOS	68th	97th	188th
Home Record	2-0	0-0	7-1
Away Record	1-2	4-2	0-1
Neutral Record	5-1	3-3	1-1

Hitting

TCU	Michigan	Louisville
Base on Balls	36th (62)	11th (73)	49th (59)
Batting Average	65th (.294)	54th (.297)	16th (.327)
Hits	82nd (106)	17th (130)	22nd (128)
Home Runs	210th (5)	27th (16)	18th (18)
On Base Percentage	50th (.404)	44th (.408)	14th (.436)
Runs	72nd (81)	15th (111)	9th (118)
Slugging Percentage	147th (.402)	32nd (.503)	6th (.577)

Pitching

TCU	Michigan	Louisville
Earned Run Average	100th (4.34)	174th (5.74)	112th (4.45)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	138th (9,06)	206th (10.46)	119th (8.72)
Strikeouts/9 Innings	24th (11.3)	147th (9.1)	39th (10.9)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	48th (3.08)	228th (1.49)	45th (3.11)
WHIP	109th (1.41)	242nd (1.84)	91st (1.36)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	79th (3.66)	254th (6.09)	70th (3.53)

(Photo of Jack Payton: Jared Anderson - State of Louisville)

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