The 11th-ranked Louisville baseball team travels to the Sunshine State for its first ever appearance in the second annual Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge hosted by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission on Feb. 26-28.
The Cardinals will open the weekend against Michigan on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Dunedin Stadium in Dunedin, Fla. On Saturday, Louisville will face Michigan State at 4:30 p.m. ET at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Fla., and the Cards will close the weekend on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET against Minnesota at the Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg, Fla. Live audio for all three Louisville games at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge will be available online through CardsTV at UofLSports.com.
Louisville, ranked 11th in this week’s Rivals.com Top 25, enters the weekend with a 4-0 record overall after four straight wins at home to open the season. The unbeaten start to the 2010 season is the best start for the Cardinals since the 2003 squad opened with six straight wins. Through four games, junior outfielder Drew Haynes leads Louisville with a .500 average, while sophomore Ryan Wright has a team-leading seven RBI, a .375 average and one home run.
In Friday’s opener, the Cardinals will start junior righty Thomas Royse (1-0, 0.00 ERA) against Michigan senior righty Alan Oaks (1-0, 3.00 ERA). On Saturday, Louisville junior lefty Dean Kiekhefer will take the mound against Michigan State sophomore righty Tony Bucciferro, while on Sunday, sophomore righty Tony Zych will start for the Cardinals against Minnesota senior righty Allen Bechstein.
The Cardinals lead the all-time series with Michigan at 1-0 and trail the all-time series with Michigan State 1-0. Sunday’s game will be the first between Louisville and Minnesota on the baseball diamond. U of L is 36-40 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference but is 13-2 in Dan McDonnell’s four seasons as head coach.
Michigan enters the weekend at 2-2 overall after earning two wins over Jacksonville State and dropping two games to Texas Tech at last week’s Red Raider Classic in Lubbock, Texas. The Wolverines had a streak of four straight NCAA Regional appearances halted in 2009 while finishing 30-25 overall. However, the Wolverines have carried the banner for Big Ten baseball for many years with 21 total NCAA Regional appearances and six College World Series appearances.
Michigan State opens the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge at 2-1 overall after opening the season in Greenville, S.C. The Spartans earned wins over host Furman and Miami (Ohio), while falling to No. 15 Clemson. MSU, which has four NCAA appearances and one College World Series appearance all-time, finished 2009 at 23-31 overall and in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference standings.
Minnesota enters the second weekend of the season at 2-1 overall after taking two of three from Akron in Fort Myers, Fla. Minnesota leads the Big Ten with 29 all-time NCAA appearances, with its latest coming in 2009 as the Golden Gophers finished 40-19 overall after being eliminated in the championship round of the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge, La., by eventual national champion LSU. The Gophers finished second in the Big Ten standings, just one half game behind Ohio State.
Following the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge, the Cardinals return home to open a five-game homestand at Jim Patterson Stadium on Wednesday, March 3 at 3 p.m. ET against Evansville.
