Louisville (19-13) had another .500 week, taking the midweek game versus Eastern Kentucky, but once again dropped two-out-of-three in ACC play to Duke in the weekend series.
This week, Louisville heads to Lexington to play Kentucky in the first half of the Battle of the Bluegrass this season, then returns home for a weekend series versus the Stanford Cardinal.
Last Week in Cliff Notes
Louisville and Eastern Kentucky scheduled an impromptu midweek game at Legends Field in Lexington, which led to the Cardinals taking another run-rule victory in a 17-7 win over the Colonels in seven innings. After the Colonels took a 4-3 lead through the first inning, the Cardinals responded with seven runs across the third and fourth innings, including a grand slam from Slanker to push Louisville’s lead to 10-4. Bayram Hot led the Cards with a 3-for-5 afternoon and four RBI, with him, Tague Davis (2-for-4, HR, two RBI, two BBs), and Ben Slanker (1-for-1, four RBI, three BBs) all hitting home runs.
Read more: Around the Bases (2026): Week NineLouisville then dropped the first two games of their series versus Duke, losing on scores of 3-6 and 8-10. Game one saw Duke jump to a 5-1 lead despite seeing Louisville starter Ethan Eberle throw a career-high 15 strikeouts against the Blue Devils. Kaden Smith and Jake Lambdin both had 2-for-4 outings at the plate for Duke, with Lambdin hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning. Kade Elam and Lucas Moore both attributed for all three of Louisville’s runs driven in; Elam had a solo homer in the fifth inning, with Moore hitting a solo homer in the ninth and having an RBI single in the seventh.
Game two was a 10-8 victory for Duke, with each hitting three home runs in the contest. Kaden Smith had another strong outing with a 4-for-5 showing with two home runs and six RBI, including the game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. Bayram Hot (3-for-5, two RBI), Zion Rose (2-for-4, RBI), and Kade Elam (3-for-5, four RBI) all had home runs for Louisville, coming in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Louisville managed to avoid the sweep with a 9-4 win in game three of the series, led by two home runs from Tague Davis. The sophomore went 2-for-5 with five RBI, with his first home run of the day going 490 feet on 112 MPH exit velocity.
Notable Numbers
We are officially on record watch for sophomore Tague Davis, who hit three more homers and added seven RBI last week. Davis now has 19 homers with 62 RBI (the latter leads Division I). Davis would need six home runs in the next 6-7 weeks to tie Chris Dominguez for the most single season home runs in school history (25). Dominguez also has the most single-season RBI in the Dan McDonnell era (82; 2009), with Rob Newman and Richie Hawks tied for the school record with 88.
Kade Elam had a really strong week versus EKU and Duke, batting 8-for-19 with two home runs and seven RBI. The freshman is also batting .331 (fourth among qualifying Louisville players) with 22 RBI on the season. Bayram Hot went 8-for-17 with two home runs and six RBI, he is still averaging .400 batting (team-high .419) with 11 doubles and 25 RBI. Zion Rose returned to the starting lineup in the Duke series, batting 6-for-12 (.500) with two home runs, four RBI, and four runs scored. In 11 games played, Rose is batting .553 with 19 RBI, slugging 1.000, and holding an OPS of 1.630.
Ethan Eberle threw a career-high 15 strikeouts in 5.2 innings against Duke on Thursday. Brandon Shannon (2.0 IP, 3 H, K) and Aaron England (1.0 IP, H, K) pitched the final three innings with no earned runs allowed in the win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.
This Week’s Schedule
- at Kentucky
- Tues. April 7th at 5:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network / 93.9 The Ville)
- vs. Stanford
- Fri. April 10th at 6 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville)
- Sat. April 11th at 2 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville)
- Sun. April 12th at 1 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville)
Opponent Primer: Kentucky
Kentucky (23-8) will be looking to bounce back after dropping their last three weekend series against Ole Miss, LSU, and Missouri.
The Wildcats lead the SEC with 90 stolen bases, with Jayce Tharnish (.354 batting, six doubles, 23 RBI) leading the team with 23 stolen bases. Luke Lawrence (.342, seven doubles, 22 RBI), Scott Campbell (.268 batting, 19 RBI), and Ethan Hindle (.257 batting, 30 RBI) also have double-digit stolen bases on the year. Tyler Bell (.340 batting, 15 RBI) was a second-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, but turned down a pro contract to come to Lexington and he’s been one of UK’s leaders the last two seasons. Bell earned Freshman All-American honors last season and was tabbed as a Preseason All-American by most major publications earlier this year, he’s a difference maker that could be in line for another high draft selection in 2027. Former Louisville player Tagger Tyson (.294 batting, nine RBI) could be one to watch in this year’s editions of the rivalry.
Expect a bullpen night from UK as usual in the midweek games. Nile Adcock (2-1, 3.38 ERA, two saves) and Jackson Soucie (0-1, 3.48 ERA, SV in ten appearances) both have sub-4.00 ERAs. Jack Bennett (1-1, 3.93 ERA) has five saves in 11 appearances, with the Wildcats allowing .236 hitting at the plate.
Opponent Primer: Stanford
Stanford (14-15) is coming off a series loss to Clemson last weekend, but do have notable wins over Arizona and Nebraska early in the season.
Freshman Teddy Tokheim has had a strong first year with the Cardinal, leading the team in batting (.425), OPS (1.395), doubles and home runs (ten each), and RBI (27). He is also riding a 12-game hit streak into this weekend, including nine multi-hit games and batting 26-for-51 (.510) in that stretch. Ethan Hott (.306 batting, 13 RBI) and JJ Moran (.306, 22 RBI), and Charlie Bates (.301, nine HRs, 26 RBI) are the only other Stanford qualifying players averaging over .300 at the plate. The Cardinal are also third in the ACC in doubles (67), home runs (56), and fifth in slugging (.528).
Like Louisville, Stanford has struggled with their pitching rotation. They are currently 14th in the ACC in team ERA (6.61), and 15th in opponent batting average (.298). Nick Dugan had a perfect 6-0 record with a 4.80 ERA last year, but he hasn’t played at the same level in 2026. Dugan holds a 1-3 with a 7.79 record in nine appearances (six starts), and a 1-3 record. Kassius Thomas (1-1, 3.46 ERA in 14 appearances), Trevor Moore (4-1, 3.20 ERA in 13 appearances), and Toran O’Harran (2-1, 4.05 ERA in 14 appearances) are among the team’s most notable bullpen arms.
