7th Inning Stretch: Battle of the Bluegrass (Week 8)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville baseball's perfect start in conference play wasn't going to last forever.

After taking care of Western Kentucky to start last week's slate of game, the Cardinals saw their unblemished 6-0 record in ACC play tarnished by Pitt, dropping the series two games to one for their first conference series loss of the season

Louisville has been swinging hot bats all season long, but they went surprisingly cold at certain times up in the Steel City. While they did combine for 21 runs on 29 hits in the split doubleheader, they followed that up with just three runs on four hits in the finale.

With their pitching continuing to be inconsistent, particularly in the bullpen, the Cardinals can ill afford their offense to suddenly stop in their tracks. Especially with the week of games coming up.

Louisville will start their week with the final leg of an eight-game road trip, ending in Lexington for a rivalry showdown with Kentucky. They'll then return home this weekend for a solid North Carolina squad looking to bounce back after dropping six of their last eight games.

Last Week's Recaps:

Game 25: Louisville Trounces Western Kentucky in Bowling Green
Game 26, 27: Louisville Splits Doubleheader at Pitt to Open Series
Game 28: Louisville Drops Rubber Match at Pitt

News & Notes

Louisville ranks as high as No. 4 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) among the six major collegiate baseball polls.
Ben Metzinger ranks seventh in the nation in home runs with 12, 14th in walks with 27 and 11th in RBIs with 39.
Christian Knapczyk ranks first in the nation in runs with 42.
Ben Bianco, Usher and Knapczyk are all tied for 19th nationally in triples with three.
Michael Prosecky is 16th in the nation in saves with six.
Levi Usher ranks 18th in the nation in stolen bases with 17.

The Week Ahead

Away (Kentucky Proud Park - Lexington, Ky.)

Tuesday, Apr. 5 at 6:30pm vs Kentucky

SEC Network+
93.9 The Ville

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Friday, Apr. 8 at 6:00pm vs. North Carolina

ACC Network Extra
970 AM

Saturday, Apr. 9 at 1:00pm vs. North Carolina

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Sunday, Apr. 10 at 1:00pm vs. North Carolina

ACC Network Extra
93.9 The Ville

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: University of Kentucky
Nickname: Wildcats
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Total Enrollment: 22,227
Head Coach (school record): Nick Mingione (161-115)
2022 Record (conference record): 18-11 (3-6 SEC)
All-Time Series Record: Kentucky leads 26-24

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Chase Estep (29 GP, 29 GS): .384/.493/.732, 9 HR, 29 RBI, 10 2B, 3B, 21 BB, 10 SB
INF Jacob Plastiak (29 GP, 29 GS): .284/.403/.569, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 7 2B, 3B, 17 BB
INF Ryan Ritter (29 GP, 29 GS): .286/.348/.452, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, 7 BB, 7 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

RHP Darren Williams (9 APP, 2 GS): 0.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 31 K, 10 BB, .225 B/AVG
RHP Tyler Guilfoil (12 APP, 0 GS): 2.08 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 17.1 IP, 32 K, 8 BB, .190 B/AVG
LHP Tyler Bosma (6 APP, 6 GS): 3.29 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 27.1 IP, 28 K, 11 BB, .260 B/AVG

Weekend

School: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Nickname: Tar Heels
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Total Enrollment: 19,399
Head Coach (school record): Scott Forbes (48-35)
2022 Record (conference record): 20-8 (6-6 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: North Carolina leads 8-5

Top Performers (Hitters):

INF Johnny Castagnozzi (28 GP, 28 GS): .333/.449/.581, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 5 2B, 13 BB
OF/INF Vance Honeycutt (28 GP, 28 GS): .268/.369/.563, 8 HR, 19 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, 14 BB. 19 SB
OF Angel Zarate (28 GP, 28 GS): .368/.455/.482, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 10 2B, 14 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

LHP Caden O'Brien (13 APP, 0 GS): 0.68 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 17 K, 9 BB, .140 B/AVG
RHP Max Carlson (7 APP, 7 GS): 2.36 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 26.2 IP, 39 K, 10 BB, .179 B/AVG
LHP Shawn Rapp (20 APP, 0 GS): 1.80 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 32 K, 11 BB, .167 B/AVG

Opponent Breakdown

Rankings:

Kentucky	North Carolina	Louisville
D1 Baseball Ranking	NR	22nd	12th
RPI	58th	23rd	38th
SOS	39th	43rd	99th
Home Record	15-7	18-2	15-3
Away Record	3-4	2-6	5-3
Neutral Record	0-0	0-0	1-1

Hitting:

Kentucky	North Carolina	Louisville
Base on Balls	51st (137)	105th (121)	12th (158)
Batting Average	39th (.298)	113th (.276)	7th (.322)
Home Runs	59th (31)	53rd (33)	15th (46)
On Base Percentage	40th (.399)	110th (.377)	7th (.432)
Scoring Average	40th (7.6)	170th (5.9)	6th (10.0)
Slugging Percentage	46th (.470)	113th (.431)	4th (.555)

Pitching:

Kentucky	North Carolina	Louisville
Earned Run Average	132nd (5.12)	8th (3.07)	107th (4.82)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	162nd (9.53)	22nd (7.53)	72nd (8.46)
Strikeouts/9 Innings	13th (11.0)	28th (10.5)	55th (9.8)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	49th (2.63)	32nd (2.86)	94th (2.29(
WHIP	147th (1.53)	24th (1.24)	82nd (1.42)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	121st (4.20)	60th (3.67)	136th (4.28)

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

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