7th Inning Stretch: Conference Play Begins (Week 5)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville is currently one of the hottest baseball programs at the Division I level.

When they didn't play perfect baseball at times this past week, they still did enough to emerge with a perfect 4-0 mark. The Cardinals dominated Morehead State, then swept a chippy Dayton squad in which they were challenged in all three games.

As a result, Louisville is now riding a nine-game winning streak, which is tied for the sixth-longest active streak and is their longest streak since 2020. Not only that, Louisville is just one of five teams in D1 baseball to have only single loss on the season (LSU, Virginia, South Carolina, Wofford).

What made the perfect week even more astounding was that it was fueled mainly by the bullpen. In the series against Dayton, two of the starters had their worst outings of the year and the third had to leave the game early due to injury. However, the pen picked up the slack, and allowed only one earned run in 15.0 innings of work against the Flyers.

The offense was inconsistent at times, but did do just enough at the end of the day. The bats, plus Louisville's starting rotation, are sure to bounce back moving forward.

Now, things really start to get serious with Louisville kicking off conference play starting this week. The Cardinals already have passed a few early tests this season, and every weekend moving forward is sure to be one in an extremely deep ACC.

Last Week's Recaps:

News & Notes

Out of the six major collegiate baseball polls, Louisville ranks as high as the No. 2 team in the nation, courtesy of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
RHP Ryan Hawks is one of the 16 pitchers who are tied for second in the nation in wins with two.
Shortstop Christian Knapczyk ranks fourth in the nation in hit by pitches with 10.
LHP Greg Farone ranks ninth in the nation in hits allowed per nine inning at 3.18, and 37th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.76.
Catcher Jack Payton ranks 28th in the nation in batting average at .455.
RHP Carson Liggett ranks 40th in the nation in in earned run average at 1.37.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Wednesday, Mar. 15 at 11:30 p.m. vs. Miami (Oh.)

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK

Friday, Mar. 17 at 6:00 p.m. vs. Georgia Tech

ACC Network Extra
970 WGTK

Saturday, Mar. 18 at 1:00 p.m. vs. Georgia Tech

ACC Network Extra
970 WGTK

Sunday, Mar. 19 at 1:00 p.m. vs. Georgia Tech

ACC Network Extra
970 WGTK

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Miami University--Oxford
Nickname: Redhawks
Location: Oxford, Oh.
Total Enrollment: 19,216
Head Coach (school record): Danny Hayden (222-253)
2023 Record (conference record): 2-14 (0-3)
All-Time Series Record: Miami (Oh.) leads 12-9

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Ryland Zaborowski (12 GP, 12 GS): .320/.382/.820, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 4 2B, 3 BB
OF Zach MacDonald (16 GP, 16 GS): .311/.443/.672, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 7 2B, 12 BB
INF Cooper Weiss (14 GP, 14 GS): .333/.448/.604, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 4 2B, 9 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Hudson Leach (5 APP, 0 GS): 4.32 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 29 K, 6 BB, .183 B/AVG
LHP Conner Oliver (4 APP, 4 GS): 4.95 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 39 K, 9 BB, .228 B/AVG
RHP Martin Sosna (6 APP, 0 GS): 3.37 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 15 K, 5 BB, .225 B/AVG

Weekend

School: Georgia Institute of Technology
Nickname: Yellow Jackets
Location: Atlanta, Ga
Total Enrollment: 43,844
Head Coach (school record): Danny Hall (1,153-608-1)
2023 Record (conference record): 13-3 (2-1)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 10-6

Top Performers (Hitters):

RHP/INF Jackson Finley (13 GP, 12 GS): .452/.531/.1.071, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 5 2B, 5 BB
OF Jake DeLeo (16 GP, 16 GS): .419/.507/.742, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 5 2B, 6 BB, 4 SB
INF/OF Angelo Dispigna (16 GP, 16 GS): .383/.493/.667, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 5 2B, 11 BB, 4 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Ben King (6 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 15 K, 1 BB, .175 B/AVG
RHP/INF Jackson Finley (4 APP, 4 GS): 1.53 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 17.2 IP, 11 K, 4 BB, .197 B/AVG
RHP Terry Busse (6 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 20 K, 1 BB, .091 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings:

Miami (Oh.)	Georgia Tech	Louisville
Highest Poll Ranking	NR	27th	2nd
RPI	296th	95th	63rd
SOS	264th	199th	219th
Home Record	1-5	11-2	11-1
Away Record	1-9	1-1	0-0
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	3-0

Hitting:

Miami (Oh.)	Georgia Tech	Louisville
Base on Balls	16th (101)	24th (93)	154th (65)
Batting Average	197th (.256)	50th (.303)	17th (.327)
Hits	138th (137)	38th (167)	43rd (163rd)
Home Runs	47th (22)	27th (27)	71st (19)
On Base Percentage	95th (.394)	29th (.428)	21st (.434)
Runs Per Game	147th (6.4)	20th (9.6)	40th (8.5)
Slugging Percentage	108th (.451)	26th (.539)	31st (.530)

Pitching:

Miami (Oh.)	Georgia Tech	Louisville
Earned Run Average	277th (9.41)	183rd (6.45)	9th (2.71)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	212th (10.56)	148th (9.57)	4th (6.02)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings	2nd (13.1)	45th (10.6)	40th (10.8)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	188th (1.65)	110th (2.10)	64th (2.48)
WHIP	278th (2.05)	166th (1.62)	15th (1.15)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	288th (7.92)	169th (5.04)	108th (4.33)

(Photo of Tucker Biven: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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