Louisville split their four games last week with a 2-2 record, but still sit at just under .500 heading into week three. The Cardinals (3-4) took a 23-11 victory over Xavier and a 4-2 win over Nebraska, before dropping the last two games to Michigan (5-8) and Auburn (6-10).
The Cardinals hope to get some momentum going with a homestand that starts on Tuesday and extends to March 17th. Louisville has a midweek game against Eastern Kentucky, then will host Central Michigan in the weekend series.
Last Week in Cliff Notes
Louisville started the week with a convincing 23-11 win over Xavier last Tuesday, one that saw the Cardinals blitz the Musketeers early. Louisville had a 7-run second inning, highlighted by home runs from Lucas Moore, Tague Davis, and Jax Hisle. All three had three RBIs and multi-hit games (Moore 3-for-6 with a triple; Davis 4-for-6; Hisle 2-for-5), with Alex Alicea going 4-for-7 at the plate. Bayram Hot and Kyle Campbell also had three-hit afternoons at the plate, with Hot also adding two RBIs.
Read more: Around the Bases (2026): Week ThreeNebraska took a 2-0 lead versus Louisville after five innings, but a two-RBI double from Griffin Crain in the bottom of the sixth put the Cardinals ahead. Tague Davis added a solo home run in the seventh to give Louisville a 4-2 win over the Cornhuskers.
Louisville would then drop its next two games on scores of 5-8 and 6-10 to Michigan and Auburn, respectively. Michigan jumped on Louisville early with a 5-1 lead, led by Cade Ladehoff, who had a solo home run in the third inning, then an RBI single in the fourth. Louisville closed the gap to 5-4 with three runs in the sixth inning, but a three-run homer from Michigan’s Colby Turner put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.
Trailing 4-3 after six innings, Auburn scored five runs in the seventh to eventually take a 10-6 win over Louisville. Auburn’s Ethin Bingaman had two home runs with two RBIs, with Chase Fralick (2-for-4, two RBIs) adding a home run of his own.
As a result of Louisville’s 3-4 record through two weeks, they’ve fallen out of the D1Baseball, Perfect Game, and Baseball America Top 25 polls.
Notable Numbers
Tague Davis had a huge week at the plate, getting three home runs and batting 9-for-18 (.500) with a double, triple, and two walks. Heading into this week, he’s batting .387 (third among Louisville’s qualifying hitters, behind Bayram Hot’s .393 and Griffin Crain’s .389) with a 1.280 OPS, three doubles and home runs each, one triple, and a team-high ten RBIs.
With Zion Rose out of action due to injury, Griffin Crain and Kyle Campbell have been the most notable names to appear in the first two weeks. Crain had a solid run last week, batting 6-for-13 (.462) with a double, triple, two walks, and seven RBIs. This includes a four-RBI outing versus Xavier, and his 2-for-2 day versus Nebraska where he had the go-ahead RBI base hit. In five games played, Campbell is batting .500 (7-for-14) with three walks. Lucas Moore is up to six stolen bases in as many attempts and is batting .364 through two weeks as well.
As a team, Louisville currently has a 7.11 ERA and has allowed .292 hitting through two weeks. Ty Starke did have two shutout appearances last week, including logging his first win of 2026 with 1.1 innings of work. Jack Brown (2.1 IP, H, BB, K) and Aaron England (1.0 IP, two Ks) both had shutouts from the bullpen in Louisville’s win over Nebraska.
This Week’s Schedule
- v. Eastern Kentucky
- Wed. Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET (970 AM / ACCNX via ESPN+)
- v. Central Michigan
- Fri. Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. ET (970 AM / ACCNX via ESPN+)
- Sat. Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+)
- Sun. March 1 at 1 p.m. ET (970 AM / ACCNX via ESPN+)
Opponent Primer: Eastern Kentucky
The Colonels come into this week with a 2-5 record, having lost both of their weekend series against Alabama State (3-6, 0-13, 14-7) and Dayton (7-17, 9-12, 1-3). EKU is coming off an 11-44 record last season, including a 2-26 record on the road.
Dylan Littlefield has hit a home run in his last four games, and leads EKU with a .414 batting average with 15 RBIs already. Silas Shaffer (.318, four RBIs) was EKU’s top returning batter from last season, batting .259 with six doubles and 27 RBIs.
EKU will have to find some consistency on the mound, as they’ve allowed .322 hitting through seven games and hold a team ERA of 7.76. Cooper Pumphrey (6.75 ERA in two appearances) got the start against Northern Kentucky last week, but expect a bullpen night with names such as Jack Bell (one save and zero ERA in two appearances), Clay Cartledge (zero ERA, 1.50 WHIP in two appearances), and Chardy Tierney (4.50 ERA in two appearances) possibly appearing.
Opponent Primer: Central Michigan
Louisville plays its third opponent from the state of Michigan in as many weeks, with Central Michigan (5-2) traveling south to Jim Patterson Stadium. The Chippewas have won both of their weekend series to date, claiming three-of-four against West Georgia (3-11, 18-6, 15-6, 6-1), and two-of-three against Belmont (9-3, 2-5, 6-4).
Cole Prout (6-for-15, 2B, HR, nine RBIs) leads the team with .400 batting. Harrison Bowman (.310 batting, eight RBIs) had three home runs in CMU’s series versus West Georgia, with Drew Loikits (.370 batting, three doubles, two RBIs) being the only CMU qualifying hitter averaging over .300 at the plate.
On the mound, expect Luke Neiswonger (2-0, 2.70 ERA), Jared Honson (0-1, 9.00 ERA), and Hayden Bailey (11.63 ERA) to make starts. Neiswonger has pitched five innings in each of his first two starts, with a shutout performance against West Georgia on February 14th. Bailey is coming off a shutout performance versus Belmont, pitching three innings with strikeouts. Gavin Moczydlowsky (1-0, 1.50 ERA), Tyson Potts (zero ERA in two appearances), and ETSU transfer Kenny Keller (zero ERA in two appearances) all have sub-2.00 ERAs from the bullpen and should make appearances this weekend.
