Following a weekend sweep at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge, the Louisville baseball team moved into the Top 10 in the Rivals.com and Baseball America polls released on Monday afternoon.
The Cardinals, with a 7-0 record and off to their best start since 1957, moved up three spots to No. 8 in the Rivals.com Top 25 and up three spots to No. 10 in the Baseball America Top 25. Louisville also moved into the No. 10 position in the Ping! Baseball Top 30 and is ranked in the top 15 in three other major national polls.
Louisville will open a five-game homestand on Wednesday against Evansville at 3 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. The homestand will also include a three-game series on March 5-7 against Le Moyne College, which won two of three games last weekend at No. 21 Southern Miss, and a March 9 matchup with Indiana.
Royse Named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Louisville junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Royse was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Monday after an impressive Friday night win over Michigan at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge. A native of Lexington, Ky., Royse pitched six shutout innings allowing only two hits with a season-high nine strikeouts as the Cardinals earned a 2-0 win over the Wolverines in Dunedin, Fla. Royse is 2-0 overall while allowing only four hits and no earned runs in 11.0 innings this season.
Louisville senior first baseman Andrew Clark was also named to the Weekly Honor Roll after hitting .417 with two home runs, nine RBI and a .917 slugging percentage during the Cardinals’ 4-0 week.
Three Cardinals Named to Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team
Three Louisville players – senior second baseman Adam Duvall, redshirt sophomore Stewart Ijames and junior pitcher Thomas Royse – were named to the 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team announced by CollegeBaseball360.com. Duvall hit .500 (6-for-12) during the three games with four RBI, four runs scored and one home run. Ijames hit .500 (5-for-10) with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while Royse improved to 2-0 on the season with his two-hit shutout of Michigan on Friday night.
