Cardinals Baseball Begins NCAA Play Friday in Nashville

Mark BlankenbakerMay 29, 2025

The Road to Omaha begins on Friday for the University of Louisville baseball team as the Cardinals take on East Tennessee State on Friday at 2 p.m. ET in Nashville. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with radio coverage available on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK.

TWO SEED IN THE NASHVILLE REGIONAL

The Cardinals are the two seed in the Nashville Regional this weekend. Vanderbilt is the top seed and host, and is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. East Tennessee State and Wright State are the three and four seeds, respectively.

LAST POSTSEASON TRIP TO NASHVILLE

The Cardinals have fond postseason memories in Nashville. Louisville played at Vanderbilt in the 2013 Super Regional round, winning the first two games to clinch its second College World Series appearance.

SERIES HISTORY WITH NASHVILLE REGIONAL FOES

While Louisville has plenty of history with Vanderbilt and Wright State, Friday will mark the first-ever contest against ETSU. The Cardinals are 4-6 in postseason play against Vanderbilt, having met in five different NCAA Tournaments – 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019.Louisville is 9-8 all-time against Wright State, including a win over the Raiders in the 2016 regional final.

LOUISVILLE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Making their 14th NCAA Championship appearance in the 19 seasons under head coach Dan McDonnell, the Cardinals are 51-33 overall in NCAA postseason games during that span.
Louisville is playing in a road regional for the first time since the 2018 season. The Cardinals have been in five regionals away from home, posting an 8-9 record in those games. The Cardinals won the 2007 Columbia Regional on their way to their first College World Series appearance.
The Cardinals were among nine ACC teams selected to the 2025 NCAA Championship — Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
Louisville has advanced to an NCAA Super Regional nine times and the College World Series five times in its 14 previous NCAA Championship berths. The Cardinals are 36-14 in NCAA Regional games, 11-9 in NCAA Super Regional games and 4-10 in College World Series games.
Louisville competed against 13 of the other 63 teams in this year’s NCAA Championship field during the regular season going 13-13 against those teams.
The Cardinals played five of the 16 regional hosts during the regular season – No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Texas, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 9 Florida State and No. 11 Clemson – posting a 7-4 mark in those 11 games.
During his previous 20 seasons as a collegiate coach entering 2025, including his final two seasons as an assistant at Ole Miss in 2005 and 2006, McDonnell advanced to 15 NCAA Regionals and 11 NCAA Super Regionals to go along with five College World Series berths.
The Cardinals have just one player on the current roster who has played in the NCAA Tournament. Brennyn Cutts is the lone Cardinal to have experience in the postseason, playing in the 2024 NCAA Lexington Regional for Indiana State. Cutts allowed just two runs in a complete game effort to send the Sycamores to the regional final.

PLAYER NOTES

Eddie King Jr. heads into the NCAA Regional on a tear, going 8-for-14 over the last four games with two doubles, four homers, nine RBIs and seven runs scored. King led the Cardinals in home runs and RBIs last season and has matched his homer total with 14 this season and set a new career mark with 52 RBIs. The senior has been at his best against the best competition throughout his career, as 29 of his 33 home runs have come against Power Four teams including all 14 this spring.
Lucas Moore has been the ultimate weapon at the top of the lineup for the Cards. Moore leads the Cardinals and the ACC with 78 runs scored, sixth-most in all of Division I. The speedy outfielder is also pacing the league and second nationally going 46-for-47 in stolen bases. He also ranks second in the ACC in hits, fourth in triples, seventh in batting average and eighth in on-base percentage. Moore’s 46 stolen bases are the second-most in a single season in Louisville history. His 78 runs scored are tied for eighth-most in program history and most since three Cardinals had 80 or more in 2009.
Zion Rose had an exceptional freshman campaign that saw him hit .380 with 19 extra-base hits and 32 RBIs while finishing with more walks than strikeouts. The 2025 season has seen more of the same but with more damage. Rose is hitting .327 with 28 extra-base hits and a team-leading 59 RBIs. The increase in production hasn’t affected his plate discipline though, as he has 28 walks and eight HBPs to just 28 strikeouts. Rose has also increased his production on the basepaths, going 29-for-32 in stolen bases.
Ethan Eberle began the season as a key reliever for the Cards, but has since moved into the weekend rotation. The southpaw has allowed three runs or fewer in four of his last five starts – at Clemson, at Notre Dame and at Georgia Tech.
Tucker Biven served as Louisville’s closer each of the last two seasons, but has recently taken on a new role. The junior pitched in the weekend rotation each of the final two weekends against Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. Biven received a no-decision in each start, but allowed just three runs on five hits over nine innings with nine strikeouts combined between both.