Louisville Falls to Xavier in Home Opener

W: Logan Schmidt (1-0), L: Carson Liggett (0-1)

Making a triumphant return to Jim Patterson Stadium for their first home game of the 2024 season, the Louisville baseball program fell flat on their face against Xavier, suffering a 9-1 loss on Wednesday.

The Cardinals (0-3) suffer only their third loss in their home opener in Dan McDonnell's 18 years as the head coach, and their first since 2020 vs. Wright State. Also losing a pair of games against Indiana State and UConn this past weekend in Tampa, Louisville drops their first three games of the season since being swept at Florida to open their 2009 campaign.

Like in the previous game vs. UConn, Louisville's offense left a lot to be desired. J.T. Benson (2-4, RBI, 2B, BB), Lucas Moore (1-4, BB) and Luke Napleton (2-4,) were the only Cardinals to reach base multiple times, they hit just 3-for-15 with runners on base and 0-7 with two outs, and stranded the bases loaded twice.

Louisville's pitching didn't have a sharp outing, either. The staff as a whole allowed 15 base hits, walked nine batters to just four strikeouts, and only tossed two scoreless frames.

Getting the start on the mound after his scheduled start at USF was rained out, Carson Liggett (2.2 IP, 2 K, 1 BB, 7 H, 3 ER) struggled in his first appearance of the season. He allowed an RBI double in the first, a sacrifice fly in the second and a solo home run in the third before being replaced by Kaleb Corbett (2.1 IP, 1 K, 3 H, 2 ER).

Louisville was able to get on the scoreboard in the third inning courtesy of an RBI single from Benson for their lone run of the game, but Xavier was quick to respond and pad their lead. Corbett gave up an RBI double in the fourth, then a solo homer in the fifth.

After giving up runs in each of the first five innings, Louisville's pitching was able to rebound some. Tucker Biven (0.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 H) and Kayden Campbell (0.2 IP) split the sixth for the first scoreless frame of the game, then Ty Stake (1.0 IP, 2 BB, 1 H) twirled a scoreless seventh in his collegiate debut.

However, Louisville's pitching regressed down the stretch. After Riley Phillips (0.0 IP, 2 BB) walked the first two batters of the eighth, Jake Karaba (2.0 IP, 1 K, 3 BB, 3 H, 3 ER) was inserted, and minimized the damage in frame by allowing only an RBI double. However, he then allowed a three-run bases loaded double in the ninth.

Next up for Louisville, they'll host St. Bonaventure for their first weekend series of the season. First pitch is slated for Friday, Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m. EST, and will be televised on ACC Network Extra and broadcast on 970 WGTK.