Recapping an opening weekend sweep for Louisville baseball.
The University of Louisville baseball team opened up their season on Friday with a three game tilt against Bucknell. The Cardinal nine picked up right where they left off last season with dominant performances at the plate, aided by some strong pitching performances and secured the weekend sweep over the Bison.
Louisville baseball starts hot
On Friday, Dan McDonnell handed the ball to senior Ryan Hawks in what was just his second career start. Hawks was masterful and turned in 6.1 innings of one run ball, the longest Opening Day start since Kyle Funkhouser in 2015. Hawks carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and also generated nine strikeouts. He figures to have a hold on the Friday night starter spot for the time being.
On the offensive side of the ball, the bats came out of the gate hot, despite the snow. Home runs from Isaac Humphrey, Ryan McCoy, and Tyeler Hawkins propelled the Cardinals to a 7-1 victory.
Eddie King Jr. made his collegiate debut on Friday afternoon and contributed right away. He went 2-3 with a 2B, 3B, BB, and RBI. He figures to be a mainstay at the top of the lineup which seemling has a set 1-5 in the order.
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Mad Scientist Dan McDonnell
However, as fans of Louisville baseball know, Dan McDonnell is going to use early season games to figure out his team and run multiple different lineups on the field.
That is exactly what we got on Saturday.
Riley Phillips was given the ball on Saturday afternoon and turned in 3.1 innings of work before the bullpen would carry the load. Sophomore Will Koger came on in relief for Phillips in the fourth and picked up his first win with 2.2 innings pitched out of the pen. Koger mowed down the Bison with three strikeouts and no runs allowed. Freshmen Kayden Campbell and Tucker Biven made their collegiate debuts out of the pen, both with an inning of work. Biven was very impressive with a clean inning, picking up two strikeouts, and touching 93 in the process.
On the other side of the lineup card, the bats continued to do their thing and were able to capitalize on the mistakes of the Bucknell pitching staff. Jack Payton had the lone home run of the afternoon, paying a visit to the batter’s eye in the fourth inning. Freshmen Gavin Kilen and Matt Klein made their collegiate debuts in the starting lineup on Saturday. Patrick Forbes and Will Vierling also made their debuts in pinch hitting roles late in the game. Vierling lined a 109 mph double down the right field line in his lone at bat.
A strong showing from the bats and bullpen had the Cardinals coasting to an 11-2 win and feeling good heading into Sunday.
Listen to the latest episode from 3rd & Central: “2023 Season Preview and Predictions”
Closing strong
Sunday was all about the pitching. The Cardinals turned to sophomore Carson Liggett to start on the mound in the series finale. He turned in five innings with six strikeouts, both career highs, while allowing just two runs to score.
The big story on Sunday was junior college transfer Greg Farone aka “The Italian Missile”. Farone took over for Liggett in the sixth, and after allowing a solo home run, racked up eight strikeouts in three innings pitched in his Louisville debut.
Farone came back out for the ninth but after allowing a lead-off walk, was pulled in favor of Ben Wiegman to close out the weekend. After a rocky start, Wiegman slammed the door on the Bison to secure a 5-3 win, also securing his first career save.
The bats on Sunday were not as high octane as they had been for the first two games of the season. After a four-run first, the lineup was held quiet until Noah Smith tacked on the fifth run of the afternoon with an RBI single in the sixth inning. That would be all that Louisville would need to secure the season opening sweep.
Louisville baseball vs. Bucknell Photo Gallery
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Top performers of the week
Ryan McCoy
5-12, HR (1), 5 RBI
Christian Knapczyk
5-11, 4 R, 3 SB
Eddie King Jr.
4-7, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 3 BB
Ryan Hawks
W (1-0), 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 9 K
Greg Farone
3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K
Photo Album
Coming up this week
Wed. Feb, 22nd vs. Xavier- 3:00 @ Jim Patterson Stadium
Fri. Feb. 24th-Sun. Feb. 26th vs. Bowling Green @ Jim Patterson Stadium
Fri- 3:00
Sat.- 1:00
Sun.- 1:00
