Louisville Hopes To Rebound From Awkward 2023
Louisville has been among the nation’s most consistently successful programs for almost 20 years. The Cardinals have made five trips to the College World Series and won ten conference championships in three different leagues since Dan McDonnell joined the team in 2007. (Big East, American and ACC).
One of the success stories of the 21st century in the game is Louisville’s rise. Before McDonnell arrived, the Cardinals had just once qualified for and failed to make the NCAA Tournament in his first 13 seasons. Numerous big-league players, including two-way standout Brendan McKay, who rose to become one of the most accomplished players in collegiate baseball history, came from the Cardinals. Louisville rose to prominence.
But since the 2020 season was postponed, Louisville has missed two of the previous three NCAA Tournaments, with a super regionals trip in 2022 in between. They had a 31–24 record and placed 13th in the ACC the previous season.
As he does each year, McDonnell assessed the program following the season. He examined the team’s advantages and disadvantages as well as the reasons the Cardinals had become infected with injuries. After deciding to use the transfer site for the first time, he signed four four-year transfers, the first two of whom were Division II All-American at Quincy (Ill.) catcher Luke Napleton and righthander Sebastian Gongora (Wright State). Louisville had a lot of confidence going into the offseason thanks to a top-10 traditional recruiting class, an experienced returning squad, and an older roster.
Louisville has been among the nation’s most consistently successful programs for almost 20 years. Five College World Series have been held by the Cardinals since Dan McDonnell joined the team in 2007.
One of the success stories of the 21st century in the game is Louisville’s rise. Before McDonnell arrived, the Cardinals had just once qualified for and failed to make the NCAA Tournament in his first 13 seasons. Numerous big-league players, including two-way standout Brendan McKay, who rose to become one of the most accomplished players in collegiate baseball history, came from the Cardinals. Louisville rose to prominence.
But since the 2020 season was postponed, Louisville has missed two of the previous three NCAA Tournaments, with a super regionals trip in 2022 in between. They had a 31–24 record and placed 13th in the ACC the previous season.
As he does each year, McDonnell assessed the program following the season. He examined the team’s advantages and disadvantages as well as the reasons the Cardinals had become infected with injuries. After deciding to use the transfer site for the first time, he signed four four-year transfers, the first two of whom were Division II All-American at Quincy (Ill.) catcher Luke Napleton and righthander Sebastian Gongora (Wright State). Louisville had a lot of confidence going into the offseason thanks to a top-10 traditional recruiting class, an experienced returning squad, and an older roster.
On Opening Day eve, Evan Webster, a fifth-year lefthander, stated, “The vibes are good.” Many guys are hungry right now and don’t want to do what we did the previous year.
Nevertheless, going into the spring, Louisville found itself in a different situation. For the fourth time since McDonnell’s debut season, it was not included in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 and was selected sixth in its division by ACC coaches. The Cardinals had something to prove after the previous campaign.
With only one week into the season, it is far too soon to draw broad generalizations. However, Louisville has had a disastrous start to the season (0–3), tying its poorest start since Opening Weekend versus Florida in 2009.
In a tournament held in Tampa this year, Louisville dropped two games by a single run on Opening Day: 8-7 against Indiana State and 4-3 to UConn. Before losing both games, the Cardinals had the lead late. It rained out the final game of the weekend, which played against South Florida. The Cardinals’ homecoming game against Xavier on Wednesday ended in a 9-1 loss. Under McDonnell, it was only their third home opener defeat.
