Dan McDonnell Louisville Baseball vs. Kentucky NCAA Super Regional 6-10-2017 Photo by Mark Blankenbaker TheCrunchZone.com

#4 Cards Return Home vs. Morehead State

Mark BlankenbakerMarch 6, 2023

he University of Louisville baseball team returns home to start a nine-game homestand beginning with Morehead State on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET from Jim Patterson Stadium. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra and radio coverage will be available on 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

Louisville was dominant in three games at Minute Maid Park in Houston, going 3-0 and earning the 2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic championship. The Cards defeated No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 10 TCU and needed just seven innings for a win over Michigan.

UofL starting pitching was nearly flawless in Houston. Ryan Hawks, Greg Farone and Carson Liggett combined to work 20 innings with just one run and five hits allowed while striking out 24. The lone run tallied against the trio scored on a two-run homer after Farone had exited the game on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY

Louisville and Morehead State square off for the 88th time on Tuesday. The Cards lead the all-time series 51-36, a series that has seen the two programs match up in all but two years (1984 and 1998) dating back to 1972. Louisville trailed Morehead State 5-4 in the ninth inning of last year’s meeting before Ben Metzinger launched a three-run walk-off homer for the win.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .850 winning percentage (142-25) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 114-13 (.898) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
The Cardinals have recorded at least 10 hits in nine of the first 11 games. Louisville tallied double-digit hits 41 times during the 2022 season.
UofL are 8-1 when tallying more hits than the opposition. During Dan McDonnell’s tenure at Louisville, the Cardinals are 559-64 (.897) when they record more hits.
Louisville has been excellent early in games this spring, outscoring opponents 22-3 in the first two innings.

PLAYER NOTES

Jack Payton finished with an ACC-best 23 doubles in 2022, but homered just four times. The junior is still racking up the doubles with five already this season. However, Payton has shown more power this spring and matched his sophomore season total just 10 games into 2023. Payton is 17-for-34 (.500) over the last eight games and has his average up to .463.
Eddie King Jr. sat out the 2022 season with an injury, but his playing career started with a bang. The outfielder got off to a blistering start with hits in seven of his first 11 at-bats and reaching base in 11 of his first 15 plate appearances. The sophomore kept his hot start going in Houston, picking up hits in five of his eight at-bats.
Ryan McCoy has announced his presence in the middle of the Louisville lineup immediately. The junior is tied for the team-lead or leads in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and total bases through eight games. McCoy homered three times last week, including first-inning home runs in the final two games of the series against Bowling Green.
Patrick Forbes came to Louisville with high expectations as the 2022 Kentucky Mr. Baseball winner. The freshman recorded his first and second career home runs in consecutive plate appearances against Eastern Kentucky. Forbes was the first Louisville true freshman to homer twice in a game since Alex Binelas did so against Florida State on May 16, 2019.
Christian Knapczyk picked up right where he left off last spring hitting .372 to start the season, reaching base 25 times and scoring 13 runs. Knapczyk was the sparkplug at the top of the order in 2022 with the Cardinals averaging 9.1 runs in the 53 games he started versus just 6.2 in the 11 games he did not start.
Ryan Hawks drew the Opening Day start for the Cardinals, just the second start of his collegiate career. The senior has been dominant through three starts this spring, allowing just one earned run in 19.2 innings with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 25-5. Hawks shut out No. 12 Texas A&M over six two-hit innings for his third win in as many starts.
Greg Farone dominated junior college hitters in 2022, striking out 139 in just 60 innings on the mound. He has had similar success early in his time with the Cards, taking the mound four times and punching out 21 batters in 12.1 innings. Farone made his first start as a Cardinal against No. 10 TCU in Houston and was stellar, tossing seven shutout innings before a leadoff single came around to score after he left the game in the eighth.
Carson Liggett earned the Sunday starting role to open the season and has been terrific through three weekends. The sophomore is 3-0 and turned in the best start of his college career against Michigan in the finale at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Liggett gave up just one hit over seven shutout innings in what turned out to be a complete-game effort as the Cards run-ruled Michigan.

LOUISVILLE SWEEPS 2023 SHRINERS CHILDREN’S COLLEGE CLASSIC

Facing its stiffest competition of the young season, the Cardinals rolled into Houston and grabbed three victories at the 2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic inside Minute Maid Park.

Louisville cruised past No. 12 Texas A&M, 14-5, before defeating No. 10 TCU, 3-2, and wrapped up the weekend with a 10-0 victory in just seven innings against Michigan.

The Cards were dominant in every facet over the three games, outscoring opponents 27-7, while Louisville’s three starting pitchers (Ryan Hawks, Greg Farone and Carson Liggett) combined to allow just one run in 20 innings of work.

LIGGETT BLANKS MICHIGAN, NAMED ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK

Sophomore right-hander Carson Liggett garnered ACC Pitcher of the Week honors after twirling a seven-inning one-hit shutout against Michigan in the finale of the 2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic.

Liggett gave up just one hit, allowed only three baserunners and retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.

The complete-game effort was the first by a Louisville pitcher since Brendan McKay shutout Ole Miss in Oxford on Feb. 27, 2016.