Retention a Key for Louisville Baseball

As Dan McDonnell gets ready for his 21st season at the helm of the Cardinal Nine he has had to learn to adjust, adapt and work on the fly. Coach has a spectacular track record of winning at an elite clip, postseason runs, draft picks and major league debuts.

While the 2026 season saw the Cards fall short of the NCAA tourney, changes in pitching staff & approach, portal additions and retention of key bats in the lineup have the program looking optimistically toward 2027.

As the team reports for the fall semester, the program believes it “won the draft.” Five former Cards heard their name called in the July draft, including Zion Rose going No.6 overall to the Kansas City Royals. Under McDonnell, 116 players from The Ville have been drafted.

Most importantly, the Cards retained three draft-eligible prospects from the 2026 roster: catcher Jimmy Nugent, shortstop Alex Alicea & right-fielder Ben Slanker.

In 2025, Eddie King Jr. returned for his senior season garnering 2025 All College World Series Team recognition, while raising his batting average from .322 to .367 from junior to senior year.

Alicea who played last season with nagging injuries and saw action in 44 games, will look to get back to his 2025 form where he hit .307 and stole 34 bases, landing a spot on the Nashville All-Regional team in the NCAA tournament.

Nugent started 47 games for the Cards behind the dish last season, though it took some time for him to really find the “pop” in his bat at the plate. The juco transfer hit .333 in his last 16 games this spring, with eight of his eleven home-runs coming in that stretch.

Slanker, a 2025 first team All-Mac performer at Ohio, saw action in 49 games with the Cards in 2026. He hit .270 with 10 homers and 10 doubles, including an eight RBI game against Marshall in March.

If the trio of seniors can stay healthy and continue to improve at the plate, paired with the returning bats of unanimous first team All-American Tague Davis, Griffin Crain and Kade Elam; McDonnell can have his squad primed and ready to bounce back in 2027.

Fans will have plenty of opportunities to become acquainted with the 2027 roster this fall, as there will be seven weeks of intrasquad scrimmages, regional contests & the annual Pizza Bowl later in October.

Louisville Baseball Fall 2026 Schedule (JPS – Jim Patterson Stadium, all games at JPS are free and open to the public, times tbd)

9/4 – Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/5 - Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/11 - Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/12 - Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/18 - Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/20 - vs Xavier @ Prasco Park (Mason, Ohio)

· 9/25 - Intrasquad - JPS

· 9/27 - Miami (OH) - JPS

· 10/2 – Intrasquad - JPS

· 10/3 - @Purdue

· 10/9 – Intrasquad - JPS

· 10/10 - Eastern Kentucky - JPS

· 10/15-17 - Pizza Bowl (Miracle League Championship Day, Sat 10/17)

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