Will Smith, Corey Ray, Austin Clemons Louisville vs. Wright State 6-5-2016 Photo by William Caudill

Cardinal Baseball Hosts Bowling Green For 3-Game Set

Mark BlankenbakerFebruary 24, 2023

The University of Louisville baseball team welcomes Bowling Green to Jim Patterson Stadium for a three-game series beginning Friday at 3 p.m. ET. The series continues Saturday and Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. ET both days. All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra with radio coverage available on 970 WGTK.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

Louisville improved to 4-0 on the season with a 12-8 come-from-behind victory over Xavier on Wednesday. The Cardinals scored 10 runs in their final three trips to the plate to rally back from a 6-2 deficit.

Louisville’s offense has proven explosive in the early stages of 2023 with the Cardinals putting up a four-run inning in each of the first four games. The Cards scored at least four runs in an inning 41 times in 2022.

SERIES HISTORY

Louisville is 7-0 all-time against Bowling Green including sweeping series in 2009 and 2010. The last meeting between the two came in the opening game of the 2013 NCAA Regional with the Cards securing an 8-3 victory. Chad Green went seven innings for the win, while Coco Johnson homered twice to lead the offense.

TEAM NOTES

Louisville has an .850 winning percentage (136-24) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016, including a 111-12 (.902) mark in regular season non-conference home games.
The Cardinals have recorded at least 10 hits in three of the first four games. Louisville tallied double-digit hits 41 times during the 2022 season.
The Cardinals have launched seven home runs over the first four games, tied with the 2016 and 2021 teams for the most through four games under Dan McDonnell.
Twelve different Cardinals have made their Louisville debut through four games, with nine making their collegiate debuts.

PLAYER NOTES

Christian Knapczyk picked up right where he left off last spring going 6-for-14 to start the season, reaching base 11 times and stealing three bases. 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.
Eddie King Jr. sat out the 2022 season with an injury, but his playing career has started with a bang. The outfielder is 7-for-11 through the first four games with three extra-base hits, including his first collegiate home run in the win over Xavier. King has reached base in 11 of his 15 plate appearances and is second on the team with five runs scored.
Ryan McCoy has announced his presence in the middle of the Louisville lineup immediately. The junior is 8-for-16 through four games, recording a pair of home runs and leading the Cardinals with seven RBIs and seven runs scored.
Ryan Hawks drew the Opening Day start for the Cardinals, just the second start of his collegiate career. The senior made the most of it though, allowing just one run over 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts and not surrendering a hit until the fifth inning. Hawks set career-high marks for innings pitched and strikeouts while turning in the longest Opening Day outing by a Louisville starter since Kyle Funkhouser worked seven innings in the 2015 opener.
Greg Farone dominated junior college hitters in 2022, striking out 139 in just 60 innings on the mound. He had similar success in his first outing with the Cards, punching out eight hitters in three innings of relief work in the series finale against Bucknell.
Ben Wiegman has made two appearances out of the bullpen in 2023, both in high leverage situations. Wiegman entered with the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning of the finale against Bucknell and locked down his first career save. He also took the mound with a runner on in the eighth inning of a tie game and recorded the final six outs for the win against Xavier.