Louisville Baseball’s slump continued last week, as the Cardinals dropped three out of four games last week. The Cardinals dropped the rivalry game to Vanderbilt (12-6), then lost two out of three on the road at Miami (FL) (8-13, 16-9, and 8-10).
The losses highlighted Louisville’s struggles on the mound once again, as the Cardinals gave up at least eight runs in all four games last week. This has resulted in Louisville holding a 6.81 team ERA, which is both the highest in the ACC and currently the highest for Louisville baseball since 2000. At 27-25, Louisville is also at risk of finishing at .500 or below for the first time since 2004.
Louisville hosts Bellarmine in a midweek, intracity game, then hosts Virginia to close out the regular season.
Last Week in Cliff Notes
Louisville jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning against Vanderbilt, coming on a grand slam from Jimmy Nugent. But it would not hold, as the Commodores scored 11 unanswered runs in their first five innings, en route to a 12-6 victory for Vanderbilt. Logan Johnston (3-for-4, three RBI) got Vanderbilt started with an RBI single in the first inning, then added another RBI on a sac fly in the third. Colin Barczi’s three-run homer in the third pushed Vanderbilt ahead for good, and the Commodores added five more runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
Read more: Around the Bases (2026): Week 14Louisville had another early lead in game one of the Miami series, taking a 2-1 lead in the first. But a nine-run explosion in the fifth inning by the Hurricanes put the Cardinals in a hole they could not climb out of, as Miami took a 13-8 victory.
Miami pushed game two into extra innings with a game-tying RBI single in the ninth, but Louisville took a 16-9 victory in 11 innings with a massive rally in the final inning. The Cardinals scored nine runs in the 11th inning, highlighted by Tague Davis’s second home run of the night. Davis went 2-for-6 with five RBI on his two homers, with Jimmy Nugent (2-for-4, RBI, two BBs) adding another home run to his week.
However, Miami took a 10-8 victory in game three of the series, leaving Louisville without a single road series win in ACC play this season. The Hurricanes had four home runs against the Cardinals pitching lineup, including two from Alex Sosa (4-for-5, two HRs, five RBI). Tague Davis had a home run in the sixth inning that gave Louisville an 8-7 lead, but Miami followed it with a two-run blast from Vance Sheahan in the bottom portion of the inning to go ahead (Sosa had his second home run in the same inning).
Tague Davis set more records in last weekend’s series against Miami (FL). Davis hit three more homers, setting the ACC single-season record with now 33 on the year. He also set a new Louisville single-season record for RBI, now at 91 heading into the final week. Jimmy Nugent continued his hot stretch at the plate with two home runs last week; Nugent now has eight home runs in his last ten games, and is batting 14-for-40 (.350) with 16 RBI in that stretch.
This Week’s Schedule
- vs. Bellarmine
- Tues. May 12 at 6 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville / 970 AM)
- vs. Virginia
- Thurs. May 14 at 6 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville / 970 AM)
- Fri. May 15 at 6 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville / 970 AM)
- Sat. May 16 at 1 p.m. ET (ACCNX via ESPN+ / 93.9 The Ville / 970 AM)
Opponent Primer: Bellarmine
Bellarmine is 19-30 entering Tuesday’s game with Louisville, but the Knights did pull off a 10-9 upset over the Cardinals last year (their first ever win against both a power conference, and a ranked Division 1 opponent).
The Knights are batting .289 for the season, third-best in the Atlantic Sun. AJ Swader leads the team in batting (.370) and RBI (57) and has been hot in his last five games, batting 11-for-22 (.500) in that stretch. Landon Akers (.362/.420/.541, 15 doubles, 35 RBI) was Bellarmine’s only batter with a multi-hit game in last year’s win over Louisville, batting 2-for-5 against the Cardinals. Bellarmine has three other qualifying batters averaging over .300; Jake Bell (.301, nine doubles, eight HRs, 27 RBI), Sawyer Pace (.301, 16 RBI), and Eli Watson (.319, 31 RBI). Watson has also been very solid as of late, batting 15-for-30 (.500) with ten RBI and four doubles in the last eight games.
The Knights will be playing their first midweek game since a 13-3 loss to Morehead State on April 14th. Cade Rusch (3-2, 2.37 ERA, three saves) has been Bellarmine’s best reliever, averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings (36 K’s in 30.1 innings). Aaron Ragat (1-0, 4.50 ERA in 20 appearances) and Austin Egan (1-0, 6.98 ERA in 23 appearances) have been among Bellarmine’s most frequent contributors from the bullpen, but the Knights are allowing .312 batting as a team and a 7.96 team ERA (both second-highest in the Atlantic Sun).
Opponent Primer: Virginia
After Brian O’Connor spent 21 seasons in Charlottesville (including five College World Series and a national title in 2015), he took the head coaching position at Mississippi State. UVA wasted little time finding a successor, hiring Chris Pollard from Duke to lead the program. Pollard won two ACC tournaments at Duke and left Durham with the most wins in Duke baseball history.
So far, Virginia has had a solid first year under Pollard. The Cavaliers enter the final week of the regular season with a 33-18 record. UVA does have a notable road series win over North Carolina, but they’ve lost their last two ACC series against Pitt and California.
Sam Harris and AJ Gracia followed Pollard from Duke to Virginia and have been two of Virginia’s best players this season, both among the team’s leaders in batting (.321 and .320, respectively). Harris leads the team in home runs (14) and RBI (50) to go with ten doubles, with Gracia has ten doubles, 13 home runs, and 39 RBI this season. Eric Becker (.318/.436/.556, 13 doubles, 38 RBI) was Third Team All-ACC last season, but has not played since April 16th due to injury.
On the mound, expect Henry Zatkowski (6-1, 4.35 ERA), John Paone (1-3, 4.91 ERA), and Kyle Johnson (1-2, 5.59 ERA) to make starts on the mound. Zatkowski is another Duke transfer that’s led the Cavaliers this season; he went 5-2 with a 4.38 ERA last year for the Blue Devils, and leads Virginia this year with 82 strikeouts (also allowing .218 at the plate). Paone is coming off his best performance of the season last weekend, pitching 7.2 innings and striking out nine in Virginia’s win over California on May 9th. Western Kentucky transfer Lucas Hartman (9-2, 3.35 ERA) has 30 appearances this season, with Tyler Kapa (2-2, 1.32 ERA) being among the ACC’s best closers this season, logging 11 saves in 22 appearances.
