Louisville Cardinals baseball

The Louisville Cardinals baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Louisville, located in Louisville, Kentucky. The program was a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference for the 2014 season and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in July 2014. The Cardinals have played at Jim Patterson Stadium since the venue opened during the 2005 season. Dan McDonnell has been the program's head coach since the start of the 2007 season. As of the end of the 2017 season, the program has appeared in 13 NCAA tournaments and five College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won two Big East Conference baseball tournaments. In regular season play, it has won two Metro Conference titles, four Big East Conference titles, one American Athletic Conference title, and four Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Louisville also set the ACC record for most conference wins in a season with 25 during the 2015 season.^[2]

Louisville Cardinals baseball
2024 Louisville Cardinals baseball team
Founded	1909; 115 years ago (1909)
University	University of Louisville
Head coach	Dan McDonnell (18th season)
Conference	ACC
Location	Louisville, Kentucky
Home stadium	Jim Patterson Stadium (Capacity: 4,000)
Nickname	Cardinals
Colors	Red and black[1]
College World Series appearances
2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019
NCAA regional champions
2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022
NCAA Tournament appearances
2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Conference tournament champions
Big East: 2008, 2009
Regular season conference champions
Metro: 1983, 1984 Big East: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 The American: 2014 ACC: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022

As of July 20, 2019, 19 former Cardinals have appeared in Major League Baseball. Seven former Cardinals have appeared in MLB games during the 2019 season: Nick Burdi, Adam Engel, Chad Green, Matt Koch, Brendan McKay, Josh Rogers, Will Smith, and Nick Solak

Conference affiliations

• Independent (1909–1912, 1920–1922, 1924–1942, 1945–1962)
• Missouri Valley Conference (1963–1975)
• Metro Conference (1976–1995)
• Conference USA (1996–2005)
• Big East Conference (2006–2013)
• American Athletic Conference (2014)
• Atlantic Coast Conference (2014–present)

Louisville in the NCAA Tournament

Year	Record	Pct	Notes
2002	0–2	.000	Atlanta Regional
2007	7–4	.636	College World Series 5th place, hosted Louisville Super Regional
2008	0–2	.000	Athens Regional
2009	3–2	.600	Fullerton Super Regional, hosted Louisville Regional
2010	2–2	.500	Hosted Louisville Regional
2012	2–2	.500	Tucson Regional
2013	5–2	.714	College World Series 7th Place, hosted Louisville Regional
2014	5–2	.714	College World Series 7th place, hosted Louisville Regional and Super Regional
2015	4–2	.667	Hosted Louisville Regional and Super Regional
2016	3–2	.600	Hosted Louisville Regional and Super Regional
2017	0–2	.000	College World Series 5th place, hosted Louisville Regional and Super Regional
2018	2–2	.500	Lubbock Regional
2019	8–3	.727	College World Series 3rd place, hosted Louisville Regional and Super Regional
2022	4–3	.571	Hosted Louisville Regional
TOTALS	45–32	.584

Venues

Early venues

Early in its history, Louisville played many home games at Eclipse Park in Louisville, until the venue burned down in 1922. Other early venues included the Belknap Campus Diamond, Shawnee Park, Manual Stadium, and St. Xavier Field.^[3]

Parkway Field

Main article: Parkway Field

Parkway Field, located on the university's campus, was the program's home sporadically from 1923 to 1960 and full-time from 1961 to 1995. The grandstand that allowed professional baseball to be played at the venue in the first half of the 20th century was torn down in 1961.^[3][4]

Derby City Field

For all of the 1996 and 1997 seasons and parts of the 1998 and 1999 seasons, the Cardinals played at Derby City Field.^[3]

Old Cardinal Stadium

Main article: Cardinal Stadium (1956)

Jim Patterson Stadium in 2007.

From the start of the 1998 season through mid-April 2005, Louisville played at Old Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals played a full schedule at Cardinal Stadium from 2000 to 2004 and portions of their schedule there in 1998, 1999, and 2005. At points in its history, the stadium was also home to the Louisville football program, minor league baseball teams, and minor league football teams.^[3][5]

Jim Patterson Stadium

Main article: Jim Patterson Stadium

Since partway through the 2005 season, the program has played at Jim Patterson Stadium, located on Louisville's campus. The venue has a capacity of 4,000 spectators, cost $8.5 million, and is named for businessman and former Louisville baseball player Jim Patterson.^[6] It underwent $4 million renovations prior to the 2013 season to increase its capacity and upgrade its facilities.^[7] It has hosted Eight NCAA Regionals (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) and six Super Regionals (2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).^[8] Jim Patterson Stadium is conveniently located just behind Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, home of the Louisville Cardinals football stadium. In effort to build JPS, Tino Martinez donated money and has his initials above the press box behind home plate. He is the brother-in-law of former head coach, Lelo Prado.

Head coaches

Dan McDonnell, the program's current head coach, is Louisville's wins leader, with 605. Lelo Prado, the program's head coach from 1996 to 2006, is second, with 320. John Heldman, who served as head coach for 26 seasons, is the program's longest tenured head coach.^[9]

Tenure(s)	Coach	Seasons	W-L-T	Pct
1909	A. P. Hauss	1	3–2	.600
1910	J. B. Helm	1	3–2	.600
1911–1912	A. L. Bass	2	8–3[a]	.727
1920–1922	Tommy Kienzle	3	8–6–1[a]	.567
1924–1925	Fred Enke	2	7–6	.538
1926–1929	Tom King	4	30–10–1[a]	.750
1930–1932	Unknown	3	—	—
1933–1936	C. V. Money	4	18–15[a]	.545
1937–1942, 1945–1966	John Heldman	26	309–149–4[a]	.673
1967–1968	Mario Cheppo	2	11–30	.268
1969	Harold Adams	1	9–13	.401
1970–1973	Dale Orem	4	66–98–1[a]	.403
1974–1979	Jim Zerilla	6	141–148–1	.488
1980–1981	John Boles	2	75–69	.521
1982–1984	Derek Mann	3	78–46	.629
1985–1990	John Mason	6	110–186–1	.372
1991–1995	Gene Baker	5	120–179	.401
1996–2006	Lelo Prado	11	320–301–1	.515
2007–present	Dan McDonnell	15	637–261	.716
Totals	18	101	1963-1524-10	.563

Year-by-year records

Below is a table of the program's yearly records. Louisville's first season of varsity intercollegiate baseball was 1909. It did not sponsor a team from 1913 to 1919, in 1923 (not enough players), or from 1943 to 1944 (World War II).^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Year	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
1909	A. P. Hauss	3–2
1910	J. B. Helm	3–2
1911	A. L. Bass	8–3
1912	A. L. Bass	N/A[a]
No program (1913–1919)
Independent (1920–1922)
1920	Tommy Kienzle	N/A[a]
1921	Tommy Kienzle	6–2
1922	Tommy Kienzle	2–3–1
No program (1923–1923)
Independent (1924–1942)
1924	Fred Enke	6–3
1925	Fred Enke	N/A[a]
1926	Tom King	13–2
1927	Tom King	8–1
1928	Tom King	5–3
1929	Tom King	4–4–1
1930	Unknown	N/A[a]
1931	Unknown	N/A[a]
1932	Unknown	N/A[a]
1933	C. V. Money	7–1
1934	C. V. Money	6–3
1935	C. V. Money	0–7
1936	C. V. Money	5–4
1937	John Heldman	8–3
1938	John Heldman	11–1–1
1939	John Heldman	11–1
1940	John Heldman	9–2
1941	John Heldman	6–4
1942	John Heldman	5–4
No program (1943–1944)
Independent (1945–1962)
1945	John Heldman	8–2
1946	John Heldman	5–5
1947	John Heldman	10–7
1948	John Heldman	12–7
1949	John Heldman	9–7
1950	John Heldman	9–5
1951	John Heldman	12–4
1952	John Heldman	10–5–1
1953	John Heldman	8–7
1954	John Heldman	13–6
1955	John Heldman	15–3
1956	John Heldman	13–10
1957	John Heldman	15–0
1958	John Heldman	16–4–1
1959	John Heldman	11–11
1960	John Heldman	12–7–1
1961	John Heldman	15–6
1962	John Heldman	11–7
Independent:		330–158–6[a]
Missouri Valley Conference (1963–1975)
1963	John Heldman	16–7		2nd	MVC Tournament
1964	John Heldman	15–8		2nd	MVC Tournament
1965	John Heldman	13–11	0–6	3rd (East)
1966	John Heldman	13–4	0–3	4th (East)
1967	Mario Cheppo	7–15	0–9	4th (East)
1968	Mario Cheppo	4–15	0–7	4th (East)
1969	Harold Adams	9–13	0–6	4th (East)
1970	Dale Orem	16–20–1	4–5	2nd (East)
1971	Dale Orem	20–22		4th	MVC Tournament
1972	Dale Orem	12–26		8th	MVC Tournament
1973	Dale Orem	18–30		6th	MVC Tournament
1974	Jim Zerilla	16–26		4th	MVC Tournament
1975	Jim Zerilla	25–28		5th	MVC Tournament
Missouri Valley:		184–225–1	4–36[a]
Metro Conference (1976–1995)
1976	Jim Zerilla	29–24	4–1		Metro Tournament
1977	Jim Zerilla	26–27			Metro Tournament
1978	Jim Zerilla	27–16	1–1		Metro Tournament
1979	Jim Zerilla	18–27–1	3–6		Metro Tournament
1980	John Boles	38–21	6–3		Metro Tournament
1981	John Boles	37–48	6–7		Metro Tournament
1982	Derek Mann	22–17	4–3		Metro Tournament
1983	Derek Mann	25–18	4–2	1st (Northern)	Metro Tournament
1984	Derek Mann	31–11	6–1	1st (Northern)	Metro Tournament
1985	John Mason	20–30	5–11		Metro Tournament
1986	John Mason	18–33	3–13	7th	Metro Tournament
1987	John Mason	12–36	1–14	7th	Metro Tournament
1988	John Mason	18–35	6–11	7th	Metro Tournament
1989	John Mason	27–23	4–10	6th	Metro Tournament
1990	John Mason	15–29–1	4–10	t-7th	Metro Tournament
1991	Gene Baker	32–30	8–12	7th	Metro Tournament
1992	Gene Baker	37–24	10–8	2nd	Metro Tournament
1993	Gene Baker	18–41	3–11	7th	Metro Tournament
1994	Gene Baker	16–42	1–17	7th	Metro Tournament
1995	Gene Baker	17–42	5–16	7th	Metro Tournament
Metro:		483–574–2	84–157
Conference USA (1996–2005)
1996	Lelo Prado	18–36	6–15	8th	C-USA tournament[b]
1997	Lelo Prado	23–32	11–15	7th	C-USA tournament[b]
1998	Lelo Prado	31–24	14–13	5th	C-USA tournament[b]
1999	Lelo Prado	37–19	14–13	6th	C-USA tournament[b]
2000	Lelo Prado	17–37–1	10–16–1	8th	C-USA tournament
2001	Lelo Prado	32–29	13–14	T–5th	C-USA tournament
2002	Lelo Prado	39–18	21–9	2nd	NCAA Regional
2003	Lelo Prado	34–23	14–15	7th	C-USA tournament
2004	Lelo Prado	26–30	13–17	8th	C-USA tournament
2005	Lelo Prado	32–24	15–14	T–6th	C-USA tournament
Conference USA:		289–272–1	131–141–1
Big East Conference (2006–2013)
2006	Lelo Prado	31–29	17–10	3rd	Big East tournament
2007	Dan McDonnell	47–24	19–8	3rd	College World Series
2008	Dan McDonnell	41–21	16–11	4th	NCAA Regional
2009	Dan McDonnell	47–18	19–7	1st	NCAA Super Regional
2010	Dan McDonnell	50–14	21–6	1st	NCAA Regional
2011	Dan McDonnell	32–29	14–13	T–4th	Big East tournament
2012	Dan McDonnell	41–22	18–9	T–1st	NCAA Regional
2013	Dan McDonnell	51–14	20–4	1st	College World Series
Big East:		340–171	144–68
American Athletic Conference (2014)
2014	Dan McDonnell	50–17	19–5	1st	College World Series
American Athletic Conference:		50–17	19–5
Atlantic Coast Conference (2015–present)
2015	Dan McDonnell	47–18	25–5	1st	NCAA Super Regional
2016	Dan McDonnell	50–14	22–8	1st	NCAA Super Regional
2017	Dan McDonnell	53–12	23–6	1st	College World Series
2018	Dan McDonnell	45–19	18–12	3rd (Atlantic)	NCAA Regional
2019	Dan McDonnell	51–18	21–9	1st	College World Series
2020	Dan McDonnell	13–4	2–1		Season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	Dan McDonnell	28–22	16–16	4th (Atlantic)
2022	Dan McDonnell	42–21–1	18–11–1	1st (Atlantic)	NCAA Super Regional
2023	Dan McDonnell	31–24	10–20	6th (Atlantic)
2024	Dan McDonnell	32–24	16–14	4th (Atlantic)
Atlantic Coast Conference:		392–176–1	171–102–1
Total:		2073-1602-11
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Notable former players

See also: List of University of Louisville people

The following is a list of notable former Cardinals and the seasons in which they played for the program.^[15]

Sean Green while pitching for the MLB's New York Mets.

• Nick Burdi (2012–2014)
• Chris Cates (2004–2007)
• Chris Dominguez (2006–2009)
• Adam Duvall (2008–2010)
• Cody Ege (2011–2013)
• Adam Engel (2011–2013)
• Chad Green (2011–2013)
• Sean Green (1998–2000)
• Zach Jackson (2002–2003)
• Dean Kiekhefer (2008–2009)
• Matt Koch (2010–2012)
• Fred Koster (1926–1928)
• Trystan Magnuson (2004–2007)
• Justin Marks (2007–2009)
• Kyle McGrath (2013–2014)
• Brendan McKay (2015–2017)
• Dale Orem (1957–1960)
• Josh Rogers (2014–2015)
• B. J. Rosenberg (2004–2008)
• Will Smith (2014–2016)
• Nick Solak (2014–2016)
• Tony Zych (2009–2011)

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
• Louisville Cardinals

Notes

1. Records incomplete.
2. In this season, all teams in Conference USA qualified for the postseason tournament.

References

1. Louisville Athletics Brand Guidelines (PDF). August 8, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
2. Jones, Steve (May 17, 2015). "McDonnell proud of ACC record but moving ahead". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
3. "Cardinals Will Unveil Jim Patterson Stadium Friday". GoCards.com. Louisville Sports Information. April 12, 2005. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
4. "Parkway Field". BallparkReviews.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
5. "Cards Fall in Battle of the Bluegrass Nines 12–11". GoCards.com. Louisville Sports Information. March 20, 2005. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013. Game one of the three game set will be Friday at 6:00 p.m. in what will be the final three home games in Cardinal Stadium before the Cardinal baseball team opens Jim Patterson Stadium on Friday, April 15th against defending C-USA champion East Carolina.
6. "Jim Patterson Stadium: Home of Louisville Cardinal Baseball". GoCards.com. Louisville Sports Information. Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
7. Wall, Garret (May 10, 2012). "UofL Announces Details of Jim Patterson Stadium Expansion". WHAS11.com. Louisville Sports Information. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
8. "Louisville Baseball to Host NCAA tournament Regional". Courier-Journal.com. May 26, 2013. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
9. "2013 Louisville Baseball Media Guide". Louisville Sports Information. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
10. "2013 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). MVC.org. Missouri Valley Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
11. "Annual Conference Standings". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
12. "2013 Conference USA Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Conference USA. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 10, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
13. "2013 Big East Conference Baseball Media Guide". BigEast.org. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
14. "2024 Louisville Baseball Media Guide". gocards.com. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
15. "University of Louisville Baseball Players Who Made It to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2013.

External links

• Official website