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CARDS vs Virginia series

PHCARD

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Apr 6, 2007
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The Cardinals huddle before the game against Florida State at Jim Patterson Stadium on April 9.

Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics
Baseball April 15, 2021 Stephen Williams

No. 2 Cardinals Head to Virginia for Three Games​

The series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. ET in Charlottesville.​

Story Links​

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The second-ranked University of Louisville baseball team travels to Charlottesville this weekend for a three game series at Virginia beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Saturday's game is set for 4 p.m. ET, while Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra and radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals captured another ACC series last weekend, winning two out of three over Florida State at Jim Patterson Stadium. Louisville notched a walk-off victory on Friday night before rallying from behind with nine unanswered runs to secure the series on Sunday.

Louisville did not have a midweek game leading into this weekend's series at Virginia. It marks the first time the Cardinals have not played in the midweek since consecutive series against Clemson and Florida State the last two weekends of March in 2018.

SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Virginia have met 16 times since the Cardinals became members of the ACC for the 2015 season. UofL is making its fourth trip to Charlottesville, where it holds a 6-3 record. The Cardinals are 9-7 all-time against the Cavaliers. Virginia took two of three from the Cardinals in 2019, despite Louisville winning the opening game of the weekend.

TEAM NOTES
  • Louisville owns 123 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
  • UofL has won 43 of its 57 ACC series (two series ended 1-1) since joining the league and is 45-10 in its series finales during that span, including a 15-6 record in rubber games.
  • Louisville's offense ranks among the best in the ACC this season. The Cardinals currently lead the ACC in batting average, runs, hits, triples, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and stolen bases.
  • UofL is 77-1 when leading after eight innings over the past three seasons, including an 19-0 mark this season. Since the start of 2012, the Cardinals are 382-8 when taking a lead into the ninth inning.
  • The Cardinals have been the one of the best in the country on the basepaths this season with 83 stolen bases, 45 more than anyone in the ACC. Levi Usher leads the ACC and country with 23, while Cooper Bowman and Luke Brown are third in the ACC with 12, and Henry Davis is sixth with nine.

PLAYER NOTES
  • Trey Leonard is having the best season of his Louisville career in 2021. The junior currently leads the ACC with a .416 batting average. Leonard had a career night at Cincinnati going 4-for-6 with three RBIs against and hitting a go-ahead home run in the sixth, a game-tying double in the eighth and adding another double in the 10th. Over the last eight games, Leonard is hitting .485 (16-for-33) with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs.
  • Henry Davis has been the most consistent hitter for the Cardinals this season. Davis saw his 23-game hitting streak come to an end in the second game at Notre Dame, the only game he hasn't recorded a hit this season. The sophomore leads the ACC in on-base percentage, ranks third in batting average and walks, fourth in hits and RBIs, fifth in slugging, and sixth in home runs and stolen bases. Davis has nine stolen bases after having just one through his first two seasons at Louisville. Over his last eight games, Davis is hitting .444 (12-for-27) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs, 10 walks and a .625 on-base percentage.
  • Alex Binelas got off to a slow start but has returned to being a major run producer in the middle of the Louisville order. Over his last 14 games, Binelas is hitting .327 (18-for-55) with a double, two triples, six home runs and 23 RBIs. He registered his third career multi-homer game against Florida State, including his first career grand slam. Binelas also recorded two triples against Western Kentucky, becoming the first Louisville player with two triples in a game since Ty Young did so against Notre Dame on March 28, 2013.
  • Luke Brown has quietly been a hitting machine for the Cardinals in 2021. The junior outfielder leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, including four in the last six contests. Over the last six games, Brown has a .393 (11-for-28) batting average with a pair of doubles.
  • Levi Usher set a Louisville school record (since 2000) with five stolen bases in the win over Murray State. Usher is the national leader in stolen bases with 23, 10 more than anyone else in the ACC. Since joining the Cardinals, Usher is 34-of-37 (23-for-25 this year) on the basepaths in 46 career games.
  • Michael Kirian has smoothly made the transition from closer to weekend starter this season. The southpaw took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in the series opener at NC State and tallying a career-high 13 strikeouts. Kirian is currently tied for the ACC lead with five wins and has three double-digit strikeout efforts this season. Since the start of the 2019 season, Kirian has a 1.93 ERA in 79.1 innings with 103 strikeouts.
  • Luke Seed has started each of the last four weekends for the Cardinals. The left-hander has allowed just four earned runs in 21.1 innings for a 1.69 ERA. Seed has allowed just one earned run in all four starts, but is still yet to record a decision.
  • Adam Elliott opened the season in the starting rotation but has returned to his usual role in the Louisville bullpen. In nine relief appearances this season, Elliott is 4-0 with nine saves and a 2.19 ERA, striking out 27 in 24.2 innings with an opponents' batting average of .140.

DAVIS NAMED TO GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
Catcher Henry Davis was one of 45 players named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list.
Through 30 games, Davis leads the ACC in on-base percentage, while ranking third in batting average and walks, fourth in hits and RBIs, fifth in slugging percentage, and sixth in home runs and stolen bases.

The sophomore opened the 2021 campaign by getting a hit in each of the first 21 games to extend his hit streak to 23 overall, giving him the second-longest streak in Louisville baseball history. Davis went hitless in the second game at Notre Dame, but has recorded at least one hit in each of the eight games since.
 
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Didn’t look like he was back to being s starter. Coming out if the pen on Sat following Seed would be my choice for now.
 
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I’m looking forward to this series with UVA. Hopefully we’ll be successful. These games are available on radio and also on TV with a subscription.

GO CARDS!!!
 
Truly amazing how many UofL games are not on the ACCN. What a waste.
Edit. At least it is on ACCNX vs ESPN+. But still. Best BB program in the ACC since joining and we get very little run.
 
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Does anyone know the reason why Louisville is not on the ACC network more often? There has to be a reason. It can't just be coincidental. I'm surprised McDonnell or someone with the University hasn't commented about it. Has anyone in the media asked why the conferences top program is not on the network? I swear only with Louisville does shit like this go down.
 
Maybe we as fans need to email/call ACCN Monday and voice our opinion? Clemson vs Miami are on ACCN tonight & Sunday.
 
And, my only complaint over the last ~7 years is our coaching staff not being proactive with having guys getting warm. I think we all saw Kirian getting tired. How can Dan and Roger not see it as well? Those runs are on the coaches plain and simple.
 
Imagine how good this team would be with Detmers and Miller in the rotation and Kirian closing?

Tonight is why the Cards will not go far in post season. They simply do not have the pitching, starters and relievers.

Virginia is a struggling offensive team and they teed off on Kirian and McDonnell didn't remove him because he doesn't trust his bullpen.

Louisville would be the huge favorite to win the world series if they had just two pitchers back that could have came back. Just like the women's hoops program, the baseball program just can't seem to get over the championship hump.
 
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And, my only complaint over the last ~7 years is our coaching staff not being proactive with having guys getting warm. I think we all saw Kirian getting tired. How can Dan and Roger not see it as well? Those runs are on the coaches plain and simple.
That has been my only complaint about our coaching staff is that we let our starters in too long. I keep thinking that we will have the bullpen where this is not an issue. I don’t care who it is but when they are approaching 90 pitches you need to get someone else up . It’s obvious they only trust Elliott but only want to use him for 2 innings max.
 
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Bowman really went full bill Buckner and let the game roll between his legs.
 
We lost because of the three errors on our infield. That is totally unacceptable and isn’t understandable especially at this level of college baseball. I’ll be watching tomorrow as well. Final score was 8-7 in 10 innings.

GO CARDS!!!
 
As I was saying...

Just like football and basketball, I'm just putting off the baseball season as casualties of the Covid years.

I have never seen a defense and pitching this bad in the McDonnell years.

I'm convinced this season will ultimately be the driving force in McDonnell to make sure there will be no more of this going forward.

Covid cheated the program of a highly possible championship in 2020 as pitching and defense was a strength, not a liability. Don't think McDonnell expected this much struggling and it sometimes effects his decisions with a not so good outcome.

This is a kicked in the rear year. It's going to be a challenge next season as both Davis and Binelas will be gone.
 
They find ways to lose. 2 Errors end up giving up 2 runs. Routine plays in the field.

You can’t leave a guy on 3rd with no outs in a 1 run game. Get that run in game over. Instead a solo shot ties it. To many bigs swings with 2 strikes
 
I was thinking about Alex and him leaving. He certainly has the tools at the plate. Right now, I think his defense and where he would play on the field is a negative. As for the others, we ieep saying coach will get them straightened out. It is April 17. It may be as good as it gets. Last night’s choke was bad. UVA should be a sweep. With that being said, yes, it is baseball and you ate going to lose some games. Fine. Lose a few to teams you should lose to. I fear this year’s mid-week’s game record will go down in flames with losses to UK and Vandy coming up. I think it comes down to the fact there is talent for sure. Yet, there is shaky consistency at the plate, shaky consistency on defense and a C- confidence in the bullpen.
 
Alex was switched to first base for his professional career, not what's best for this Louisville baseball team. Word from scouts were that Alex would FastTrack his professional career if he moved to first base so that's what McDonnell did.

Assuming minor league baseball will play again after covid, Alex will have plenty of time to improve defensively before making the show. So there's no chance he comes back to college baseball.

As for the Louisville program, the covid pandemic really has damaged the momentum and McDonnell has a big challenge on his hands keeping the program at the top of the game. Defense and pitching have suffered this season due to it but hopefully players like Alex and Henry continue to come to Louisville. Some more high end pitchers like McKay, Detmers and Miller are needed as well.
 
I was thinking about Alex and him leaving. He certainly has the tools at the plate. Right now, I think his defense and where he would play on the field is a negative. As for the others, we ieep saying coach will get them straightened out. It is April 17. It may be as good as it gets. Last night’s choke was bad. UVA should be a sweep. With that being said, yes, it is baseball and you ate going to lose some games. Fine. Lose a few to teams you should lose to. I fear this year’s mid-week’s game record will go down in flames with losses to UK and Vandy coming up. I think it comes down to the fact there is talent for sure. Yet, there is shaky consistency at the plate, shaky consistency on defense and a C- confidence in the bullpen.
Yes, I understand how you can look at Virginia’s overall record and say we should sweep them. Yet, although they are next to last in hitting (FSU is last) Virginia is third overall in pitching (FSU is first) so that can explain part of it. Also VA’s record at home is not that bad. It’s baseball
 
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Just like we were talking about all these teams struggling this season in another thread,the Cards catch a desperate one this weekend.
It started with the Cavs last weekend, catching fire.
It's gonna take a Herculean performance by the Cards over the next two days to take this series
Let's see if they're up to it.
 
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With the pitchers wearing wristbands and getting signs from the dugout, it’s pretty clear Virginia was tipping pitches last night. First time Louisville has done this all season.
 
With the pitchers wearing wristbands and getting signs from the dugout, it’s pretty clear Virginia was tipping pitches last night. First time Louisville has done this all season.

Wow! Anything to try to get a W. 😠
 
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With the pitchers wearing wristbands and getting signs from the dugout, it’s pretty clear Virginia was tipping pitches last night. First time Louisville has done this all season.
I thought Henry was doing some things I'd never seen him do defensively.
 
I thought Henry was doing some things I'd never seen him do defensively.
I listened to Moth at times and he mentioned it, but this pretty much confirms it. The way they were jumping all over Kirian, it seemed like something was up.
 
Cards win 9-5 in a consistent and fundamentally sound performance. We need to get the game tomorrow.

GO CARDS!!!
 
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Offensively this is a really good group. If Usher ever gets going then they are a nightmare top to bottom.

Fielding has to get much better behind a shaky group of pitchers. This isn’t a group that are going to pitch themselves out of mistakes. Just the opposite they pitch themselves into problems. How Sneed made it through yesterday is amazing.

Long way to go.
 
I didn’t get to tune in until the 7th. I was quit surprised that Luke Smith finally had his game on. Great to see! 2 of 3 on the road in the ACC is good but the hiccups Friday night were not Louisville Baseball. Go get KY Tuesday!
 
Cards win UVA series on the road 8-2. Luke Smith was excellent today and seems to be finding his 2019 groove. Let’s hope so. Uselessakay on Tuesday 6:30 on espnU.

GO CARDS!!!
 
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I am no Psychiatrist, but I think Friday night’s ”come from ahead loss” to UVA might turn out to be a positive. CDM apparently used the post game meeting as an opportunity to drive home his point about this roster losing focus during certain periods of some games. Not to minimize the mid-week competition, but these kids know they have more talent than most of their opponents, and I suspect Dan witnessed the let down from these kids after having a 7-1 lead after 5 innings, only to appear lethargic for the next 4 innings.

The 2 following wins were evidence of how they cleaned up defensively, and stayed aggressive for all 18 innings. No prediction here in terms of winning on Tuesday, but I have every expectation that we will see an energetic UL team In Lexington that will be focused and competing for the entire game.
 
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I am no Psychiatrist, but I think Friday night’s ”come from ahead loss” to UVA might turn out to be a positive. CDM apparently used the post game meeting as an opportunity to drive home his point about this roster losing focus during certain periods of some games. Not to minimize the mid-week competition, but these kids know they have more talent than most of their opponents, and I suspect Dan witnessed the let down from these kids after having a 7-1 lead after 5 innings, only to appear lethargic for the next 4 innings.

The 2 following wins were evidence of how they cleaned up defensively, and stayed aggressive for all 18 innings. No prediction here in terms of winning on Tuesday, but I have every expectation that we will see an energetic UL team In Lexington that will be focused and competing for the entire game.
Great post 233 and I’m in total agreement. I’m thinking that overall our pitching is starting to show very real improvement.

GO CARDS!!!
 
Throw in a sub here and there to remind starters there is plenty of talent waiting to get on the field should help to maintain some focus.
 
Our offense can play with anyone and is probably top 5 in the country. We also know that pitching is what ultimately gets you to Omaha and a NC. I’m still concerned about our pitching, especially seeing what happens when we stretch Kirian too far and also Elliott. We can’t depend on Elliott to close every game. The continued absences of Albanese, Prosecky, Poland, Corbett, Wright and the inconsistencies of Seed, Smith and Perkins are troubling. Again, I think our offense can overcome a lot.
 
Anybody know what is going on with Kaleb Corbett? He hasn't pitched since the end of March.
 
Anybody know what is going on with Kaleb Corbett? He hasn't pitched since the end of March.
I wish I knew,same for Poland who's foot injury has sidelined him for 2 months.
We still have time to get some of these arms back. Just keep taking 2 out of 3 and a midweek game here or..... tomorrow 😋
 
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