It was not the start that the Louisville baseball team wanted this weekend, as the Cardinals dropped their first two games on opening weekend to Indiana State and UConn on scores of 7-8 and 3-4, respectively. The scheduled weekend finale against South Florida was canceled due to inclement weather.
Up next, Louisville (0-2) begins an 18-game homestand from now until mid-March. The Cardinals open their home slate against Xavier on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., then follow it up with a weekend series against St. Bonaventure.
Weekend Recap
Starting out 0-2 is not ideal to begin your season, especially in the fashion that Louisville lost both games last weekend. The Cardinals held leads after the sixth inning against Indiana State, and the seventh inning against UConn, before both opponents rallied to secure one-run victories over the Cardinals.
Sebastian Gongora lived up to his billing as the starter in game one, allowing just two earned runs in five innings of work (both coming in the second inning). Louisville took a 4-2 lead after four innings, following RBI base hits from JT Benson and Luke Napleton in the third, and Logan Beard’s RBI single in the fourth. But the Sycamores retook the lead in the sixth inning, after Gongora exited the game. Grant McGill, Henry Brown, and Randal Diaz each brought in runs during the frame to give the Sycamores a 5-4 lead. The Cardinals retook the lead in the bottom portion of the inning, after back-to-back RBI triples from Ryan McCoy and Gavin Kilen. But, Indiana State would take the lead back for good in the seventh inning, as Brown hit a three-run homer against Riley Phillips.
Game two saw UConn walk it off against Louisville in the ninth. Trailing 1-0 entering the seventh inning, Louisville plated three runs in the frame, with Gavin Kilen and Dylan Hoy providing RBI base hits, respectively. But the Huskies began their rally afterwards, as Paul Tammaro and Jake Studley hit back-to-back home runs off Jared Lessman in the eighth inning to tie the game. Korey Morton, who also hit a home run in the fifth inning, gave the Huskies their walk-off in the bottom of the ninth with two outs via an RBI single.
Stats of Note
- Sebastian Gongora had a solid Louisville debut, throwing five innings with two earned runs against Indiana State.
- Evan Webster made his first start of 2023 against UConn and was also solid, pitching four shutout innings with just two hits allowed.
- As a team, Louisville batted .231 with .684 OPS. JT Benson led all hitters with a .333 average last weekend, with Ryan McCoy batting .286, a triple, and an RBI last weekend.
- Jake Karaba had a strong showing from the bullpen, pitching 2.1 innings without a hit or run allowed against Indiana State.
- Elsewhere, the bullpen struggled with holding late leads against Indiana State and UConn. Louisville enters this weekend with a 6.11 team ERA and four home runs allowed.
Xavier & St. Bonaventure Preview
The Musketeers enter today’s game at Louisville with an 0-3 record, coming off a sweep in their opening weekend series at Clemson. Xavier was tabbed to finish second in the Big East preseason poll behind UConn, whom Louisville faced on Friday afternoon. Though Xavier is 0-3, they return a lot of talent from last year’s team that won the Big East Tournament and made it all the way to the Regional Final against Vanderbilt. Matt McCormick (.309*, 12 2B, 14 HR, 44 RBI), Jared Cushing (.284*, ten doubles, 14 HR, 50 RBI), and Grant Stephenson (.236*, ten doubles, 29 RBIs) highlight an infield that saw all three guys tabbed as Preseason All-Big East selections, with McCormick and Stephenson earning All Big-East Second Team honors last year.
St. Bonaventure (1-2) comes into this weekend after dropping two of three on the road against The Citadel. The Bonnies were picked to finish last in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll, after finishing 8-40 last season. David Marshall, Jr. and Jack Putney are coming off strong weekends against The Citadel, both batting over .400 and combining for 13 of St. Bonaventure’s 27 RBIs entering this weekend. Putney also had two home runs last weekend, both coming in the 22-10 win over Citadel on Saturday. Kyle Caccamise also had a strong weekend, batting .364 with four RBIs. Pitching, however, will need to see improvement for St. Bonaventure to take a game or two this weekend; the Bonnies gave up no less than eight runs in each game last weekend, and enter the Louisville series with a 9.72 team ERA.
*- All numbers reflected are from the 2023 season
How to Watch / Listen:
Louisville v. Xavier starts at 3:00 p.m., with broadcasting on ACC Network Extra and 970 AM.
The Louisville / St. Bonaventure series starts at 2:00 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader, also on 970 AM. The Saturday and Sunday games both start at 1:00 p.m., with 93.9 The Ville and 970 AM carrying the game on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. All three games will also be aired on ACC Network Extra.
Bonus content:
Here’s Sebastian & JT on the Louisville LiveStream on the CSZ Podcast Network:
