7th Inning Stretch: Back to the Lone Star State (Week 3)

With two weeks of baseball in the books, Louisville is hitting the road for the first time, and facing an uptick in competition.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program might no longer be perfect on the season, but last week was still a good one by all account.

The Cardinals opened up midweek play with an offensive showcase against Xavier, then followed that up with a series win against Bowling Green, but were denied a sweep thanks to a game two hiccup.

With two weeks of baseball in the books, now things get kicked up a notch. After another midweek matchup with Eastern Kentucky, Louisville is hitting the road for the first time and making a return trip to the Lone Star State.

They'll be playing at the 2023 Shriners Children's College Classic in Houston, Tex., where a trio of quality Power Five teams await. In fact, all three teams - Texas A&M, TCU and Michigan - are schools Louisville faced last season. The Cardinals' 2022 season actually ended to the hands of the Aggies at Texas A&M.

Louisville will certainly be put to the test early. It's one that will be needed once ACC play kicks off.

Last Week's Recaps:

• Game 4: Louisville Outlasts Xavier in Midweek Showdown
• Game 5: Louisville Wins Pitcher's Duel Over Bowling Green to Open Weekend Series
• Game 6: Late Inning Bowling Green Surge Hands Louisville First Loss of Season
• Game 7: Louisville Dominates Bowling Green to Clinch Series

News & Notes

• Out of the six major collegiate baseball polls, Louisville ranks as high as the No. 4 team in the nation, courtesy of Baseball America.
• First baseman Ryan McCoy ranks 13th in the nation in home runs with four.
• RHP Ryan Hawks ranks 23rd in the nation in strikeouts with 17.

The Week Ahead

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

• Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. vs. Eastern Kentucky
• ACC Network Extra
• 970 WGTK

Neutral (Minute Maid Park - Houston, Tex.)

• Friday, Mar. 3 at 8:00pm vs. Texas A&M
  • Astros.com
  • 970 WGTK and 93.9 The Ville
• Saturday, Mar. 4 at 4:00pm vs. TCU
  • Astros.com
  • 970 or 93.9
• Sunday, Mar. 5 at 12:00pm vs. Michigan
• Astros.com
• 970 or 93.9

Know The Foe

Midweek

School: Eastern Kentucky University
Nickname: Colonels
Location: Richmond, Ky.
Total Enrollment: 13,984
Head Coach (school record): Chris Prothro (64-56)
2023 Record (conference record): 4-4 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 72-49-1

Top Performers (Hitters):

• INF Miguel Larreal (7 GP, 7 GS): .360/.515/.520, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 7 BB
• 1B Charlie Ludwick (8 GP, 8 GS): .321/.486/.500, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 8 BB
• C Will King (7 GP, 7 GS): .300/.333/.600, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

• RHP Luke Reed (3 APP, 0 GS): 0.00 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 7 K, 3 BB, .107 B/AVG
• RHP Chase Alderman (3 APP, 1 GS): 1.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 6 K, 4 BB, .125 B/AVG
• RHP Rese Brown (1 APP, 1 GS): 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 15 K, 6 BB, .182 B/AVG

Weekend

School: Texas A&M University
Nickname: Aggies
Location: College Station, Tex.
Total Enrollment: 73,530
Head Coach (school record): Jim Schlossnagle (48-23)
2023 Record (conference record): 4-3 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Texas A&M leads 2-1

Top Performers (Hitters):

• INF Hunter Haas (7 GP, 7 GS): .391/.576/.478, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 10 BB
• INF Jack Moss (7 GP, 7 GS): .269/.424/.308, 7 RBI, 1 2B, 7 BB
• OF Jace Laviolette (7 GP, 7 GS): .269/.367/.577, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 2B, 4 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

• RHP Nathan Dettmer (2 APP, 2 GS): 0.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 15 K, 2 BB, .200 B/AVG
• LHP Troy Wansing (2 APP, 2 GS): 5.19 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 16 K, 4 BB, .273 B/AVG
• LHP Justin Lamkin (2 APP, 0 GS): 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 5 K, 2 BB, .133 B/AVG

School: Texas Christian University
Nickname: Horned Frogs
Location: Fort Worth, Tex.
Total Enrollment: 11,938
Head Coach (school record): Kirk Saarloos (42-25)
2023 Record (conference record): 4-3 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: TCU leads 12-6

Top Performers (Hitters):

• INF Brayden Taylor (7 GP, 7 GS): .429/.556/.679, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B, 8 BB
• INF Anthony Silva (7 GP, 7 GS): .400/.464/.480, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB
• INF Tre Richardson (7 GP, 7 GS): .348/.452/.478, 4 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

• RHP Kole Klecker (2 APP, 0 GS): 1.08 ERA, 0.36 WHIP, 8.1 IP, 11 K, 0 BB, .111 B/AVG
• RHP Ryan Vanderhei (2 APP, 2 GS): 4.22 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 12 K, 1 BB, .167 B/AVG
• RHP Cam Brown (3 APP, 2 GS): 4.70 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 7.2 IP, 11 K, 6 BB, .219 B/AVG

School: University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
Nickname: Wolverines
Location: Ann Arbor, Mich
Total Enrollment: 50,278
Head Coach (school record): Tracy Smith (4-2)
2023 Record (conference record): 4-2 (0-0)
All-Time Series Record: Louisville leads 9-2

Top Performers (Hitters):

• C Gabe Sotres (6 GP, 5 GS): .444/.545/.889, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 2 SB
• INF Ted Burton (6 GP, 6 GS): .400/.500/.720, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 4 BB
• OF Greg Pace Jr. (3 GP, 3 GS): .238/.360/.524, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 3 SB

Top Performers (Pitchers)

• RHP Noah Rennard (3 APP, 0 GS): 1.13 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, .148 B/AVG
• LHP Connor O'Halloran (2 APP, 2 GS): 2.19 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 10 K, 2 BB, .196 B/AVG
• LHP Chase Allen (1 APP, 1 GS): 3.09 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 13 K, 2 BB, .283 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings:

	EKU	TAMU	TCU	UM	UofL
Highest Poll Ranking	NR	12th	11th	NR	4th
RPI	99th	203rd	8th	72nd	86th
SOS	77th	201st	5th	113th	150th
Home Record	1-3	4-3	2-2	0-0	6-1
Away Record	1-1	0-0	0-0	2-0	0-0
Neutral Record	2-0	0-0	2-1	2-2	0-0

Hitting:

	EKU	TAMU	TCU	UM	UofL
Base on Balls	24th (47)	24th (47)	73rd (38th)	136th (31st)	184th (27)
Batting Average	181st (.254)	229th (.230)	45th (.311)	127th (.274)	27th (.326)
Hits	84th (70)	220th (50)	57th (74)	171st (58)	49th (75)
Home Runs	138th (6)	138th (6)	196th (4)	172nd (5)	57th (10)
On Base Percentage	124th (.378)	127th (.377)	44th (.430)	104th (.390)	49th (.426)
Runs	109th (48th)	147th (41)	78th (56)	172nd (38)	72nd (57)
Slugging Percentage	169th (.402)	213th (.369)	125th (.429)	161st (.406)	32nd (.543)

Pitching:

	EKU	TAMU	TCU	UM	UofL
Earned Run Average	162nd (6.00)	82nd (4.50)	136th (5.48)	160th (5.94)	41st (3.43)
Hits Allowed/9 Innings	109th (8.62)	106th (8.56)	132nd (9.00)	187th (10.19)	38th (7.14)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings	179th (8.5)	52nd (10.7)	99th (9.8)	269th (6.8)	36th (11.3)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio	247th (1.21)	75th (2.55)	46th (2.92)	185th (1.60)	76th (2.55)
WHIP	193rd (1.74)	92nd (1.42)	77th (1.38)	157th (1.60)	55th (1.29)
Walks Allowed/9 Innings	258th (7.00)	99th (4.21)	51st (3.38)	101st (4.25)	117th (4.43)

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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