WEEKEND PREVIEW: Baseball Hits the Road to Take on Louisville

The Hoos are on a winning streak heading into the weekend after taking out George Washington in 12 innings on Tuesday, and thumping Liberty 14-3 on Wednesday!

They’ll face a different kindof challenge this weekend in Louisville as they take on the Cardinals.

Louisville enters the weekend not as strong as they have in years past having made the College World Series in three of the past 5 years and Super Regional appearances in the other two. They currently sit at 25-11 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, which is good enough for fourth in the Atlantic Division. And they are riding a winning streak of their own having won five straight, including a series sweep of Virginia Tech last weekend.

Without a doubt, the Cardinals are lead by their stellar starting pitching. All three starters the Cavaliers will face this weekend have a winning record and an ERA below 2.40. Saturday’s starter, Nick Bennett, is unbeaten on the mound at 4-0, a 1.45 ERA, and only 10 walks in 31 innings pitched. Just behind Bennett is Sunday’s starter, Bobby Miller, who sports a 4-1 record, a 1.13 ERA, and only nine walks, but in 24 innings.

As previously noted, the Cardinals have been one of the best programs in the country over the last five years, and Virginia can attest to it. Last year in Charlottesville, the Cardinals took the series, and two years ago in Louisville, UVa was able to win the first game, but ended up dropping the final two to give the series to the Cardinals.

Although it appears Jake McCarthy will likely still be on the bench this weekend due to injury, this could be a bell-weather series for the Hoos. Louisville only has two ACC series victories on the season, like UVa, and both are in dire need of wins to make a run at the NCAA tournament.