By Brendan Holba
(The views of Brendan Holba do not necessarily reflect those of Cardinal Sports Zone)
Louisville baseball has reached a turning point this season—not just because they finally get to take on ranked opponents at home, but because their season is teetering on the brink, again. Dating back to last season, the Cardinals are six and twenty-one and have dropped nine consecutive ACC series; a stark contrast to the group that ran roughshod all over the Atlantic Coast Conference when they first joined. Tonight starts a stretch of eight consecutive games against opponents ranked in the top twenty-five (two against number seventeen Kentucky, three against number fifteen Virginia, and three against number nineteen NC State). That’s exactly what Coach Mac wants, though. He challenged this group at the beginning of the season to run toward the roar, I assume that if he hasn’t already he will tell the team about the story of the buffalo. On the open plains, when a winter storm with howling winds and blizzard-like conditions whips itself up, the herd doesn’t turn around and run away; they run towards it. They know that if they meet the storm head-on and weather it, they will get through it faster.
The Major League Baseball season technically began over a week ago in Seoul, South Korea. Still, for the rest of the league, the season opened this past weekend, and Louisville had the most alums on Opening Day rosters—nine. Nine former Cardinals are playing Major League Baseball, and a bunch more are on AAA rosters. Will Smith just signed a ten-year deal with the Dodgers. Bobby Miller and Henry Davis are budding superstars. Most of these alums are why the Cards went to four Men’s College World Series in the 2010s, and arguments have been made that they would have won the program’s first national championship in 2020.
Despite this team not having the eye-popping, scout-drooling talent that we have seen in past years, there are many bright spots, particularly the young players. Up and down the lineup, freshmen and sophomores have stepped up, showing that the future has potential for hosting regionals and getting back to Omaha. Two of the most consistent hitters are freshman Lucas Moore and sophomore Gavin Kilen. The addition of catcher Luke Napleton has provided some veteran thump and consistency in the middle of the lineup as well. The offense, though, has not been the problem for most of the year, or even the last few years. Pitching, especially dominant weekend starters, and at least one lockdown arm at the back end of the pen was the recipe. Every year in the 2010s, it was wash, rinse, repeat. The list of arms was out the door. But that is what has been plaguing this team for the last few years. Friday night guy and transfer, Sebastian Gongora, has plus stuff and great makeup, but he has struggled to adjust to the demands of being a Friday night starter in the ACC. Evan Webster is having a fantastic senior season and is leading the pitching staff through the daunting task that is the ACC schedule. Tucker Biven and Ty Starke, two local young players, have stepped up recently out of the bullpen and are pieces to build on. But overall the pitching staff has not made enough big pitches when it’s been needed most.
Anyone who follows baseball will tell you that timing is everything. Some teams start hot and fizzle out by the end. Others, like Fresno State in 2008 or Virginia in 2015, get hot around the end of April or the beginning of May and ride the wave to the last game of the season. One of the toughest parts about being as good as Louisville has been over the past decade is that droughts like this can feel much larger than they are. Baseball is tough, plain and simple. But the Louisville Cardinals didn’t become the Louisville Cardinals that we know today without Coach Mac. His track record and leadership speaks for itself. As much as we don’t like them, the storms always rage, and as long as this team runs into the storm, they will be out of it quickly and get back to the NCAA Tournament and the standard that so many of us before them set.
March 21–23
The Cardinals went to Winston-Salem to take on the Demon Deacons and, aside from a win on getaway day, looked overmatched by last year’s National Runner-Up.
March 26
The Cardinals won a midweek clash with Cincinnati 11–5 in some rough, late March weather.
March 28–30
For the second weekend in a row,, the Cardinals were on the road facing a Top 25 team, but that’s the ACC this year. They couldn’t overcome mistakes in the opening and closing games and bookended a less-than-desirable weekend.
Upcoming
This week and next, the Cardinals will take on Kentucky in a home-and-home midweek clash, but they will get to host two Top 25 opponents in consecutive weeks, first with NC State followed by Virginia.
