7th Inning Stretch: Rivalry Week (Week 9)

While the Louisville baseball program looked better this past week than they did the week before, they still find themselves merely treading water.

The Cardinals (19-13, 5-7 ACC) went .500 this past week, run-ruling Eastern Kentucky in a neutral site midweek showdown, then dropping a weekend series at Duke.

Since going through a stretch where they had won 12 of 14, Louisville has since lost seven of their last 11 games. A team that entered the season with hopes of going back to the College World Series now finds themselves flirting with the possibility of not even making the NCAA Tournament.

Once again, pitching is primarily what did Louisville in this past weekend at Duke, giving up 20 runs to the Blue Devils. Of course, only putting up three runs themselves in the series opener didn't help, but the Cardinals at least course corrected for the final two.

There's still over a month left in the regular season, but if there's any week to get back on track, it's this one. Not only does Louisville head to Lexington for the first leg of their annual home-and-home midweek series with in-state rival Kentucky, they return home this weekend for a series against sub-.500 Stanford.

News & Notes

• Louisville remains out of the top-25 in all five major collegiate baseball polls.
• First baseman Tague Davis has been named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, and was named a Second-Team Midseason All-American by D1Baseball and Perfect Game.
• Davis ranks first nationally in runs batted in with 62, second in total bases with 118, second in home runs with 19, fourth in slugging percentage at 0.908 and 10th in total hits with 51.
• Third baseman Bayram Hot ranks 16th nationally in batting average at .419.
• Outfielder Lucas Moore ranks 18th nationally in stolen bases with 20.

The Week Ahead

Away (Kentucky Proud Park - Lexington, Ky.)

• Tuesday, Apr. 7 at 5:30 p.m. EST vs. Kentucky (SEC Network/93.9 The Ville)

Home (Jim Patterson Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

• Friday, Apr. 10 at 6:00 p.m. EST vs Stanford (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)
• Saturday, Apr. 11 at 2:00 p.m. EST vs Stanford (ACC Network Extra/93.9 The Ville)
• Sunday, Apr. 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST vs Stanford (ACC Network/93.9 The Ville)

Know The Foe

Kentucky Wildcats

Head Coach (school record): Nick Mingione (318-200)
2026 Record (conference record): 23-8 (6-6 SEC)
All-Time Series Record: Kentucky Leads 66-50-1

Top Hitters:

• INF Hudson Brown (31 GP, 31 GS): .358/.493/.509, 2 HR, 28 RBI, 10 2B, 22 BB, 4 SB
• OF Jayce Tharnish (31 GP, 31 GS): .354/.418/.500, 3 HR, 23 RBI, 6 2B, 2 3B, 11 BB, 23 SB
• INF Luke Lawrence (31 GP, 31 GS): .342/.466/.479, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 7 2B, 16 BB, 11 SB

Top Pitchers:

• RHP Jaxon Jelkin (8 APP, 8 GS): 2.96 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 48.2 IP, 54 K, 10 BB, .215 B/AVG
• RHP Nate Harris (8 APP, 8 GS): 5.40 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 35.0 IP, 33 K, 18 BB, .214 B/AVG
• LHP Ben Cleaver (8 APP, 8 GS): 3.51 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 31 K, 17 BB, .242 B/AVG

Stanford Cardinal

Head Coach (school record): David Esquer (289-165)
2026 Record (conference record): 14-15 (4-8 ACC)
All-Time Series Record: First Meeting

Top Hitters:

• INF Teddy Tokheim (23 GP, 21 GS): .425/.510/.885, 10 HR, 27 RBI, 10 2B, 15 BB
• INF Charlie Bates (28 GP, 28 GS): .301/.392/.584, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 4 2B, 2 3B, 15 BB, 5 SB
• 1B Rintaro Sasaki (29 GP, 29 GS): .262/.413/.589, 9 HR, 19 RBI, 8 2B, 27 BB

Top Pitchers:

• RHP Nick Dugan (9 APP, 6 GS): 7.79 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 34.2 IP, 32 K, 13 BB, .331 B/AVG
• RHP Cohen Gomez (12 APP, 1 GS): 7.25 ERA, 1.81 WHIP, 22.1 IP, 31 K, 12 BB, .298 B/AVG
• RHP Trevor Moore (13 APP, 0 GS): 3.20 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 19.2 IP, 26 K, 12 BB, .217 B/AVG

Statistical Breakdown

Rankings and Records:

Hitting:

Pitching:

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