The First Baseball Battle of the Bluegrass in 2026
*NARRATOR VOICE* Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here…standing on an RV in the Left Field circle, holding a broom while the Louisville Baseball team dogpiles in front of a record crowd.
Photo via Facebook – Ryan Hammel
That was 2017. Louisville welcomed Kentucky to its first-ever Super Regional, and swept ’em to go to Omaha. the Bat Cats had been on a rise, but it was nice to let them remember who the big dog is in the state by keeping them out of Omaha.
Kentucky has continued to improve, buoyed by the rise of the Transfer Portal and SEC money, and in recent memory got to have a laugh at Louisville’s expense when, in 2024, the Cards sat at home for the tournament while UK’s best-ever baseball team (and credit where it’s due – they were so good) made their first-ever College World Series, where they beat NC State and then lost to eventual runner-up Texas A&M before being eliminated by Florida.
The Rivalry should be at its peak after each team has made a CWS bracket in the last two seasons, right? RIGHT?
Louisville has a potentially historically-good offense, a bullpen that is surrendering runs and games at a historically-bad pace, and a defense that’s not up to its usual standard. Kentucky is ‘good’ at all three phases of the game, but just lost a series at home (and its national ranking) to Missouri and comes into the matchup licking its wounds after going 5/37 with runners on in the losses to Mizzou.
The Cats Present a Bad Matchup for the Cards
Kentucky Wildcats
Conference: Southeastern Conference
Head Coach: Nick Mingione
Record (23-8) (6-6 SEC) (Streak: L1)
Series History: UofL 27-28 (12-16 at Kentucky) / Streak: L1 (Last: 2025 Lost 5-17 in 7 innings at Kentucky)
Last Series: Lost 1-2 vs Missouri
2025 Result: 31-26 overall / 13-17 SEC
2025 Postseason: Lost to West Virginia in Clemson Regional Final
Last NCAA Tournament (2025)
College World Series Appearances: (1: 2024)
Louisville Baseball, after their showings against Pitt and Eastern Kentucky, then dropping the series to Duke, fell to #80 in the RPI. Yikes. Kentucky sits at #17 (likely to fall slightly as the RPI site is usually a day behind).
This one is a big one if the Cards want to cling to any sort of life and momentum on the turn toward the back half of the season.
Kentucky likes to steal bases, and they play small ball well. They boast 28 more stolen bases on the season than Louisville, and ten more sacrifices to move runners over.
Pitching-wise, they surrender almost 2.5 fewer Earned Runs per game than does Louisville, while allowing fewer hits, striking out more batters, and surrendering almost half the long-balls that Louisville pitchers have given up.
Read Also: Louisville Baseball Opponent Preview: Duke Blue Devils
Danger in the Kentucky Batting Order
Offensively, Kentucky had very high hopes for preseason All-SEC Shortstop Tyler Bell. In the opening game vs. UNC Greensboro, Bell dove for a ball and injured his shoulder. He’s still been able to make an impact in his return, playing in 17 games and batting .340 with two doubles, three home runs, and 15 RBI.
The Cats are lead by Hudson Brown (.358), Jayce Tharnish (.354), and Luke Lawrence (.342) as the trio batting over .300. They are also 1, 2, and 3 respectively in RBIs with Brown totaling 28, Tharnish driving in 23, and Lawrence with 22.
Ethan Hindle (.257) leads the team in both doubles with 11, and home runs with six, to go with two triples. He also is second on the team behind Hudson Brown (22) with 21 walks. Hindle is a dude that Louisville Pitchers cannot allow to crush them on Tuesday.
A familiar face has seen a good amount of action for the Bat Cats – Catcher Tagger Tyson, a member of Louisville’s College World Series team last season, has been in the lineup for 19 of Kentucky’s 31 games and is batting .294 with two doubles and nine RBI.
Kentucky’s Pitchers Can Limit Damage
From the Mound, Junior Lefty Ben Cleaver (1-2, 3.51 ERA / 1.59 WHIP) joined Tyler Bell earning preseason All-SEC honors. He’s been a weekend starter, seeing action on Friday, as well as Saturdays, and Sundays. He started the Sunday loss to Mizzou, so it’s not likely Louisville sees him on a quick turnaround. It is likely, however, that the Cards see either Freshman Lefty Will Coleman (0-0, 3.12 ERA / 1.58 WHIP) or Junior Righty Connor Mattison (3-0, 2.71 ERA / 1.41 WHIP) take the mound Tuesday evening.
The bullpen has been reliable, tallying nine saves for the year, and generally keeping Kentucky in a position to maintain and win. Louisville’s offense won’t be able to take the day off as they have done in games like Morehead and Western.
A Statistical Look
This is one where Louisville has an advantage on one side of the ball (offense), while Kentucky has an advantage on the other (pitching). The defenses are almost identical. Louisville has the offensive firepower to win this game, as long as it doesn’t get swing-happy, or dig holes in counts and then look at strike three. Kentucky catchers have only thrown out eight base-stealers this season, so if Louisville gets men on, they may be able to get them over at a decent clip.
Kentucky batters are magnets for baseballs. They’ve been hit 1.7x more than Louisville hitters which sets up their 90 stolen bases, and the 34 sacrifices they’ve tallied this season.
Fundamentals are Key
Louisville is going to have to get on base early in innings and do the little things well, while hoping Tague Davis, Zion Rose, and Bayram Hot can continue doing the big things. Getting Kade Elam to continue his recent streak would go a very long way.
Speaking of Tague Davis doing the big thing…my goodness the 490-foot BLAST that he sent over the scoreboard this weekend may have knocked a satellite out of alignment in orbit.
Louisville Needs to Get Going – Now
It is going to be extremely important that the Cards play complimentary baseball. They won’t have a home crowd, they won’t have their home field, and they’ll be up against a team that just lost its national ranking – in a rivalry game where anything often does happen. Kentucky will be fighting that too, somewhat. Louisville needs wins against better-RPI teams, and needs any form of momentum or good vibes, especially for the guys who pitch the baseball.
This feels like a game where a guy like Zane Stahl (0-0, 1.42 ERA / 1.26 WHIP), or Anthony Karbowski (0-1, 3.00 ERA / 1.67 WHIP) gets the start. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see TJ Schlageter (1-0, 18.56 ERA / 2.81 WHIP) get the nod. Kian Vorster (1-0, 18.69 ERA / 4.38 WHIP) has struggled in the midweek, and Brandon Shannon (1-2, 6.91 ERA / 1.88 WHIP) may yet be a solid relief guy. I do think that role is going to suit Jake Bean (1-2, 8.76 ERA / 1.95 WHIP) as well coming out of the pen.
Any time that Jake Schweitzer (1-0, 6.87 ERA / 1.53 WHIP) wants to return to postseason-2025 Jake…we’ll all be ready for that as well.
Final Thoughts on the Rivalry Game
Regardless of who throws the first pitch in the bottom of the first, the story will be the same for this team the rest of the season. If they play the way the have, then 2027 will have more questions than answers, because if the losses don’t stop piling up, there won’t even be a need to a sweat out the selection show at the end of the year. That feels harsh, and weird to type for a team that had lofty goals just a few weeks ago, but it’s the same issues and the same things happening over and over…and to expect different results? We know the definition of that word.
First Pitch from Kentucky Pride Park is set for 5:30pm Tuesday. The time is now for this Louisville Baseball squad.
Beat Kentucky.
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