Alexis CubitLouisville Courier Journal
Louisville opened the 2023 college baseball season with its sights set on Omaha, but instead found itself on the other side of program history.
For the first time under longtime head coach Dan McDonnell, and since 1970, the Cardinals failed to make a conference tournament, snapping a streak that dated back to their days in the Missouri Valley Conference. It’ll be the second time in three years that U of L misses the NCAA tournament.
"I don't know if I've ever gone into a year not thinking, acting, talking like we're going to compete to win a conference championship, play in the NCAAs and compete to go to Omaha," McDonnell said. "We played so good the first half of the year. It wasn't just talk or belief — it was action, it was product. We did it between the lines. Then as the injuries just started to pile up, we fell below the threshold to win and then just couldn't get out of that funk."
The Cardinals, who end the year with a 31-23 overall record, had a chance to make the ACC tournament Saturday against Florida State. A series win, coupled with an N.C. State series win over Pitt, would've given U of L the 12th and final spot in the conference tournament.
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The Cardinals, however, fell to the Seminoles 6-2 in Game 3 of the series, ending the season with six straight conference series defeats. During the Cardinals' final game of the season, they gave up five doubles, which tied a season high.
"Everything will be evaluated ... from A to Z," McDonnell said. "I think you have to. When we finished third in the country, you evaluate A to Z because what could we have done differently to finish one or two? ... We're all responsible for this. I'm the head coach so I can get the most. But we challenge these guys to take ownership. If you're going to be successful in life, you got to take ownership.
"So, it'll be interesting how these meetings go, player-to-player and then coach-to-coach and program to coaches as to what we need to do differently to get us back on track."
Louisville was ranked 11th in the preseason USA TODAY coaches poll and 16th in the preseason D1Baseball poll but fell out of the rankings at the beginning of May after losing six of their last eight games in April.
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The Cardinalsstarted the season winning nine of their first 10 games and put together an 11-game winning streak, which included victories over top-25 opponents Texas A&M and TCU during the Shriners College Classic on March 3 and 4.
Injuries plagued the Cardinals throughout the season, though, with the squad featuring 51 different batting lineups and 43 difference defensive alignments in 55 games played. Three of the team’s top four hitters — Jack Payton, Christian Knapczyk and JT Benson — missed time. All three were healthy for Louisville's sweep of Boston College on Easter weekend, which was the last league series the team won.
The instability for much of the season took its toll on U of L's offense, which ended the year with a batting average (.280) that ranked outside the top 100 nationally.McDonnell said he felt part of the problem was the team was "trying too hard" and he "coached too hard" to help keep the team motivated as it faced obstacles.
"I'm stubborn, and I'm hardheaded," McDonnell said. "I just thought we could, I mean, I could, coach our way and motivate our way and tough our way through this."
Louisville posted a 4-11 record against the six ACC teams currently ranked in both the USA TODAY and D1Baseball polls.
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One of the high points for the Cardinals in 2023 was their pitching. The group recorded a 4.39 ERA on the year. Of those who pitched 30 or more innings, Evan Webster (4-2) had the lowest ERA (3.09), followed by Carson Liggett (7-2, 3.42 ERA), who took the season-ending loss against the Seminoles on Saturday. Entering the season with one collegiate start, Ryan Hawks (5-3) became the Cardinals’ Friday night starter in 2023 and tallied a team-leading 80 strikeouts on the year.
The Cardinals will lose Kuehner and Hawks but will likely return Liggett and Riley Phillips (4-2, 4.08 ERA), who fanned 46 batters on the year and started four games.Their offense is also expected to return its top five hitters in Payton (.374), Knapczyk (.331), Brandon Anderson (.295), Benson (.288) and Logan Beard (.282).
With the transfer portal, MLB draft and an incoming 2023 class Perfect Game ranked 22rd in the country, McDonnell said roster management and having conversations with players about their futures will be priorities this offseason.
"This is an unusual year where we have so many players that didn't get to perform at the level they thought they were or wanted to because of the guys being banged up," McDonnell said. "We've got to meet with this group and then individually we'll meet with players. It's who do we feel is right for us to keep; who might already have one foot out the door in the land of transfer portal.
"If there's any benefit to the season ending early, which there's not many, I don't want to act like there's a lot of positives, but knowing your roster and getting ready for next year I guess that's something we'll try to get a jumpstart on."
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
