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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Baseball looks to avenge a pair of close losses to Louisville last season when the Hilltoppers face off against the No. 7 Cardinals on Tuesday, April 30, with first pitch at 5 p.m. CT. The contest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and broadcasted on the Hilltopper-IMG Sports Radio Network from Jim Patterson Stadium in The Derby City.
Tuesday will be Louisville's annual Cancer Awareness Night. The Cardinals will wear special black and pink jerseys and hats during the game, and fans are encouraged to visit the information fair and booths prior to the game. Pink lemonade will be sold with $1 from every sale going to support Home Runs for Hope, a fundraiser with all the proceeds benefiting Gilda's Club of Louisville.
SERIES HISTORY
- WKU and Louisville will meet for the 139th time on the diamond, with the all-time series knotted at 69-69. Each program has an advantage in home games; as the Cardinals are 41-35 and the Hilltoppers are 34-28.
- WKU and Louisville first met in 1924, when the Hilltoppers went on the road and defeated the Cardinals by a score of 11-6.
- A Louisville victory would mean a sixth-consecutive win over WKU for their third six-game win streak in the all-time series.
- The Hilltoppers' longest run was a seven-game win streak from 1979-81; most recently, WKU won 10-of-11 over the Cardinals from 1993-98, with a pair of five-game win streaks sandwiching one loss.
- WKU was close to stopping the skid twice last season, but lost by a score of 8-5 at Nick Denes Field on March 21 (RECAP), then by a 5-4 tally on April 24 in Louisville (RECAP).
WKU PREVIEW
- WKU past week recaps: TUESDAY vs. Kentucky (L, 4-15) | FRIDAY at UTSA (W, 5-3) | SATURDAY at UTSA (L, 12-17) | SUNDAY at UTSA (W, 4-2)
- The Hilltoppers' last win over a ranked opponent was a 7-1 victory at No. 13 Southern Miss on Saturday, April 7 of last season. Three days later, WKU would play another game against a ranked team, a 3-2 loss at No. 15 Vanderbilt on Tuesday, April 10. The Hilltoppers also faced off against a No. 5 Commodores' club on Tuesday, April 2 and fell by a score of 5-4 in 10 innings.
- Outfielder Jake Sanford went 8-for-15 with five walks in the three games at UTSA and midweek vs. SEC foe Kentucky. He smacked his 19th homerun of the season and three doubles, while also scoring four runs across the four games. He had a .533/.650/.933 slash line, helping the Hilltoppers go 2-2, including a 2-to-1 series win in San Antonio. He went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored against the Wildcats on Tuesday, while also producing a 3-for-4 game on Saturday against the Roadrunners with two walks, two runs scored and a stolen base.
- Sanford's 19th homerun of the season moved him into the top 10 all-time in single-season dingers in Hilltopper history, tying Chad Cregar (2009) and Paul Knuth (1981) for eighth on the charts. He also tied Matt Wallner (2017) for the most homeruns in a single-season in Conference USA over the past four seasons; with one more Sanford would become only the second C-USA hitter to reach the 20-dinger mark over the past nine years (Edwin Rios of FIU had 22 in 2015). Meanwhile, his three doubles moved him into a tie for fourth this season among C-USA hitters.
- For the season, Sanford leads Conference USA hitters in virtually every offensive category with a .419/.505/.874 slash line, 19 homeruns, 36 extra-base hits, 56 runs batted in, 53 runs scored and 146 total bases. In 18 league games, he tops the charts with a .466/.552/.920 slash line, 11 homeruns, 17 extra-base hits, 31 runs batted in and 81 total bases, while ranking third with 28 runs scored.
- WKU will start lefty Dalton Shoemake on Tuesday night. This season, the Glasgow native has pitched 38 innings with 26 strikeouts and only nine walks allowed. Although it, will be Shoemake's fourth career start, his best outing came in relief when he completed the last 7.2 frames vs. Charlotte on March 29, earning the win in an 8-4 game by allowing only three hits and striking out five.
LOUISVILLE PREVIEW
- Louisville past week recaps: TUESDAY at Cincinnati (W, 12-0) | FRIDAY vs. Alabama A&M (W, 32-1) | SATURDAY vs. Alabama A&M (W, 15-3) | SUNDAY vs. Alabama A&M (W, 14-3)
- The Cardinals enter the week with a 35-9 overall record and a No. 7 ranking in both the D1 Baseball poll and the national RPI calculation. Louisville has won 12-of-13 after sweeping Alabama A&M in a three-game set, outscoring the Bulldogs 61-to-7 in the process.
- The Cardinals boast a 10-1 record in midweek games including posting nine consecutive wins. Louisville has defeated No. 7 Ole Miss, Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky each twice in midweek contests. The team's lone loss in midweek action was a 5-4, 10-inning defeat vs. Xavier on Feb. 26.
- Third baseman Alex Binelas is coming off his second ACC Hitter of the Week honor this season. The Louisville freshman went 9-for-13 with four doubles, three triples, one homerun, 10 runs scored and 13 batted in over the course of a 4-0 week. For the season, Binelas leads the club with a .358/.462/.698 slash line.
- Returning shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald and first baseman Logan Wyatt are also near the top of the Cardinals' charts. Fitzgerald is slashing .341/.417/.531 with 21 extra-base hits, 47 runs scored, 50 driven in and 14 stolen bases. Wyatt is slashing .325/.498/.543 with 18 extra-base hits, 51 runs scored, 39 driven in and 52 walks.
- Louisville will start righty Jack Perkins on Tuesday night. This season, the freshman has pitched 22.1 innings with 27 strikeouts and only 12 hits allowed. He has, however, walked 14 in those 22.1 frames. It will be Perkins' second career start, the first being last week's 12-0 victory over Cincinnati, when he threw three scoreless innings to earn the win.
