Louisville Ranked No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper 2021 Preseason Poll

The Cardinal Nine find themselves just outside the top ten in the first preseason poll of the 2021 season.

(Photo of Dan McDonnell: Steven Branscombe/USA TODAY Sports)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The upcoming 2021 college baseball season might still be roughly two months away, but the Louisville baseball program is still generating a fair share of preseason hype.

In Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 50 NCAA Division I pre-season poll, the first set of preseason rankings for the upcoming 2021 season, the Cardinals find themselves coming in as the No. 11 team in the country.

Louisville is one of four ACC teams ranked within the poll's top 25 teams, with only Miami (Fla.) placing ahead at No. 6. Florida tops out the poll, with Vanderbilt, UCLA, Texas Tech and Ole Miss rounding out the top five.

The Cardinals finished the 2020 season with a 13-4 record, and were ranked as high as the No. 2 team in the country (D1Baseball, Perfect Game) at the time of the season's cancellation due to COVID-19. They had previously been tabbed as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation and were also voted by league coaches as the favorite to win the ACC.

Head coach Dan McDonnell returns for his 15th season with the program, compiling a 618-244 record during his tenure as the Cards' skipper - the most wins of any team in the country since his hiring in 2007.

Due to a shortened 2020 MLB Draft and an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, Louisville returns much of their team from last season. Only Reid Detmers, Bobby Miller and Zach Britton were drafted; with just Danny Oriente and Justin Lavey signing undrafted free agent deals.

As a result, the Cardinals return six starting position players, as well as Luke Smith in the weekend rotation and three key bullpen pitchers.

Outfielder Levi Usher and catcher Henry Davis led the charge at the plate as the only two qualified hitters with an OPS over 1.000; with third baseman Alex Binelas and infielder/outfielder Lucas Dunn aiming for bounce back years after missing most of the season due to injury.

Smith, who looks to take over as the Friday starter, posted a 3.42 ERA while striking out 18 batters over three starts and 23.2 inning pitched. Glenn Albanese, Adam Elliott and Michael Kirian, Louisville leading retruning bullpen arms, combined for 43 strikeouts in 25.0 innings of work with only three earned runs allowed.

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