The University of Louisville baseball team returns home for a three-game series against Cal beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. The series continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and wraps up Sunday at noon ET. The first two games will be televised on ACC Network Extra, while the finale will be on the ACC Network. All three games can be heard on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK.

CARDS LOSE AT CINCINNATI

Louisville took a 12-2 loss at Cincinnati on Tuesday night. Garret Pike singled home two runs in the first before the Cards allowed 12 unanswered runs. It marked the first time this season that Louisville has lost consecutive games.

CAL SERIES HISTORY

Louisville and Cal have one previous meeting, with the Cardinals defeating Cal 12-7 in March of 2007. Logan Johnson led the Louisville offense with a 3-for-5 showing, homering and driving in four.

CARDS AGAINST CALIFORNIA PROGRAMS

When Louisville and Cal square off on Friday, it will mark the first time the Cardinals have taken on a team from the state of California in nearly a decade. Louisville’s last games against a California program came in the 2016 Super Regional versus UC Santa Barbara. Louisville is 9-10 against California schools under Dan McDonnell.

TEAM NOTES

  • UofL is 58-34-2 in its 94 all-time ACC series (one series ended 1-1, one ended 1-1-1) since joining the league and is 63-28-1 in its series finales during that span, including a 22-15-1 record in rubber games.
  • Louisville owns 174 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any current Power Four school.
  • The Cardinals have won 34 of their 46 ACC series at home since debuting in the conference.
  • The Louisville offense has tallied double digit hits in 15 of 24 games to start the season, going 13-2 in those contests. The Cards notched at least 10 hits 29 times in 2024, posting a 22-7 mark when doing so.
  • Louisville is 15-1 when hitting a home run this season.
  • The Cardinals have more free passes as an offense than strikeouts, tallying 108 walks and 38 HBPs to just 142 strikeouts.
  • Louisville is 13-1 when it limits the opposition to five runs or less and 17-2 when its opponent is kept in single digits.

PLAYER NOTES

  • Lucas Moore has been the ultimate weapon at the top of the lineup for the Cards. Moore leads the Cardinals with 35 runs scored and second in the ACC in runs per game. The speedy outfielder is also a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases, tied for the highest total in the conference. Moore has also extremely difficult to strike out, ranking second nationally with a strikeout every 23.5 at-bats. The sophomore has just one strikeout in his last 102 plate appearances.
  • Jake Munroe has made an immediate impact in the middle of Louisville’s lineup. The junior college All-American is fourth in the ACC in batting average, fifth in hits, seventh in on-base percentage, eighth in triples, 11th in slugging, 12th in total bases and 14th in runs. Munroe has a hit in 20 of 24 games this season and leads the team with 13 multi-hit games.
  • Zion Rose has an exception freshman campaign that saw him hit .380 with 19 extra-base hits and 32 RBIs while finishing with more walks than strikeouts. The start to 2025 has seen more of the same but with more damage. Rose is hitting .344 and already has 13 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs in just 24 games. The increase in production hasn’t affected his plate discipline though, as he has 10 walks to just 11 strikeouts.
  • Wyatt Danilowicz missed all of the 2024 season due to injury, but has been outstanding in his return to the mound. In nine relief appearances, the southpaw has allowed just one unearned run over 9.2 innings with 15 strikeouts. Danilowicz earned his first career save in the weekend finale against UIC, recording the final four outs.
  • Ethan Eberle has had an excellent start to his collegiate career as a key piece of the Louisville bullpen. The lefty has allowed just one run over 9.0 innings, striking out 12. Eberle earned his first career victory against North Carolina with three shutout frames, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced.

CARDS RUNNING WILD ON THE BASEPATHS

Under Dan McDonnell, the Cardinals have been one of the best base stealing programs in the country.

This season is no exception, as the Cardinals enter the weekend leading the ACC with 57 stolen bases. Louisville is 28th nationally and fifth among Power Four programs.

The Cardinals are a perfect 20-for-20 stealing bases against ACC opponents this season.

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Mark Blankenbaker

@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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