Louisville (26-9, 9-6 ACC) split their games last week. They started by taking a dramatic walk-off victory over Kentucky in the midweek game, but dropped two out of three at NC State in the weekend series. Louisville has yet to win a road series in conference play, but they’ll have three more chances at it before postseason play (at Clemson, at Notre Dame, and at Georgia Tech).
Up next, Louisville has a stacked week of baseball. They host a Top 25 Western Kentucky squad at Jim Patterson Stadium in the midweek game, then head to Clemson to face the third-ranked Tigers in another weekend series.
Last Week in Cliff Notes
Despite multiple base running errors in the ninth inning, Louisville rallied from down 3-2 in the tenth inning to pull off a 4-3 walk-off victory over rival Kentucky. Eddie King Jr., who we highlighted in last week’s ATB, had the walk-off RBI single that scored Garret Pike. You can view a photo gallery from the UK game here.
After that, though, Louisville once again fell short in a weekend road series. The Cardinals lost two out of three at NC State last weekend (12-11, 25-8, 11-1). Although Louisville scored 25 runs in game two — the most for the Cardinals since 2019 and the most against an ACC opponent — their inability to keep runners off base was problematic all weekend. Louisville walked 37 batters in their weekend series against NC State, including 16 on Friday and 13 on Sunday.
Rankings Update
Louisville dropped six spots to #17 in this week’s Top 25 poll from Baseball America. They are also #17 on D1baseball.com, #19 on USA Today, and 21st on NCBWA.
Opponent Outlook: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
To put it lightly, Western Kentucky has been one of the best non-Power Four schools in college baseball season. The Hilltoppers are 31-5 coming into Tuesday’s game with the Cardinals, ranked in multiple Top 25 polls (as high as 20th on Baseball America), and hold the nation’s best team ERA (2.64) heading into this week. They also hold series wins over Liberty, Dallas Baptist, and have a close 5-4 loss to Vanderbilt in extras in early April.
The WKU pitching staff is extremely deep, and even on a bullpen night, should provide for one of the most intriguing matchups this week against a Louisville offense that has proven to be one of the best in the ACC. Expect guys like Gavin Perry (2-1, 2.21 ERA, 1.03 WHIP) and Zach Lyles (1-0, 2.86 ERA in 14 appearances) to appear on the mound against Louisville. Patrick Martin (0.00 ERA in five appearances) has been a regular in WKU’s midweek games and could also make an appearance.
Although not ranked number one nationally like their pitching lineup is, WKU’s offense is also pretty good. They lead Conference USA in batting (.319), doubles (87), and stolen bases (86) while also being ranked second in the conference in runs (292) and on-base percentage (.415).
Ryan Wideman has been sensational in the last three weeks, batting 19-for-44 (.432) with nine RBIs, six doubles, and nine stolen bases. He’s also leading the team in batting (.446), OPS (1.244), doubles (17), RBIs (41), and stolen bases (28). His numbers in batting, doubles, and stolen bases are also tops in Conference USA.
WKU also has six other qualifying players averaging .300 or greater at the plate, including Ethan Lizama (.326, 12 doubles, six HRs, 33 RBIs) and Kyle Hayes (.341, 1.053 OPS, 12 doubles, 22 RBIs).
Opponent Outlook: Clemson Tigers
Ranked as high as third in this week’s Top 25 poll on D1baseball.com, Clemson is looking like a potential College World Series candidate. The Tigers enter this week with a 33-6 record, holding notable series wins over South Carolina, Georgia Tech, California, and Clemson. Clemson has won all nine of their weekend series so far.
Although Clemson is hitting .284 (tenth in the ACC), they rank fourth in runs (301) and are fourth in ERA (4.53). They also lead the ACC in saves with 16, 12 of which come from closer Lucas Mahlstedt (2-0, 0.91 ERA, 12 saves in 15 appearances). Mahlstedt has 43 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work and is allowing .204 at the plate. He headlines a strong bullpen that includes Reed Garris (3-0, 0.89 ERA in 11 appearances), Joe Allen (3-0, 2.50 ERA in 12 appearances), and Hudson Lee (0-0, 2.61 ERA in ten appearances), with all three relievers holding opponents to under .161 batting collectively (Garris .152, Allen .172, Lee .162). Friday starter Aidan Knaak (6-0, 3.96 ERA, 67 Ks) has also been solid on the mound this season, winning ACC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 17th for his efforts against Notre Dame (7.0 IP, 0 R, 12 Ks).
Jarren Purify leads the team in batting (.333) and stolen bases (16-for-19), with Cam Cannarella (.323) and Dominic Listi (.302) as the remaining Clemson batters averaging over .300. Jacob Jarrell (.263) leads Clemson with nine home runs, and has had a solid stretch in his last seven games (9-for-27, one double, five home runs, six RBIs in that span).
How to Watch / Listen:
Today’s game against Western Kentucky starts at 6 p.m., and is available on both ACC Network Extra and 93.9 The Ville.
The Clemson series starts on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, with Friday and Saturday’s games at 5 and 1 p.m., respectively. All three games are also available on ACC Network Extra and 93.9 The Ville.
