LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball program unveiled its 2018 schedule on Wednesday and the slate features 35 games at Jim Patterson Stadium as well as 25 games against NCAA Championship qualifiers from last season.
The Cardinals, who made their fourth College World Series appearance in school history last season, will host 2017 NCAA Regional foes Xavier, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Clemson, NC State, Kentucky, Virginia and Indiana. Season tickets for the 2018 campaign at Jim Patterson Stadium are on sale now. Louisville’s road challenges will include visits to Wake Forest, Florida State, UK and Vanderbilt, all of which advanced to the postseason last year.
For the second time in five years, the Cardinals will open their season in Charleston, South Carolina with a trio of games hosted by The Citadel at Joseph P. Riley Park. Louisville will face Richmond (Feb. 16, noon ET), The Citadel (Feb. 17, 3 p.m.) and George Mason (Feb. 18, 11 a.m.) at the home ballpark for the host Bulldogs as well as the Charleston RiverDogs, Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
The home schedule begins Feb. 21 at 3 p.m., as Eastern Kentucky visits Jim Patterson Stadium to open a 14-game homestand for the Cardinals. The stand will also feature three-game series against non-conference foes Youngstown State (Feb. 23-25) and Western Carolina (March 2-4) and non-conference midweek games with Xavier (Feb. 27) and Morehead State (March 6). Louisville will open the 30-game ACC schedule with a visit from North Carolina (March 9-11) before concluding the homestand with a pair of midweek games against Big 12 opponent Texas Tech.
The first ACC road series for the Cardinals will be a weekend visit to Wake Forest (March 16-18). Following a midweek game at Western Kentucky (March 20), Louisville will host Clemson (March 23-25) for a three-game set and Cincinnati (March 27) for a single game. The month of March will conclude with a weekend series at Florida State (March 29-31).
Following a visit to Kentucky on April 3, the Cardinals host NC State (April 6-8) for a weekend series and Northern Kentucky (April 10) for a midweek game. Louisville will travel to Virginia Tech for a three-game set before kicking off an eight-game homestand against Kentucky (April 17). The eight-game stretch at Patterson Stadium will also feature a weekend series with Virginia (April 20-22), midweek game against WKU (April 24) and a three-game series versus Indiana State (April 27-29).
The final month of the regular season will begin with a visit to Vanderbilt (May 1) and a weekend trip to Boston College (May 4-6). Louisville will then host Wright State (May 8) for a single game and travel to Pittsburgh (May 11-13) before hosting Indiana (May 15) and Notre Dame (May 17-19) in the final week.
The 2018 ACC Baseball Championship is set for May 22-27 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C., while the 2018 NCAA Championship is scheduled to begin on June 1 with regional play. The College World Series in Omaha, Neb., is slated from June 16-26/27 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
2018 LOUISVILLE BASEBALL SCHEDULE NOTES
• The Cardinals’ annual Elementary School Day at Jim Patterson Stadium is set for Wednesday, March 14 at noon ET against Texas Tech.
• Cancer Awareness Night at the ballpark is set for Tuesday, March 28 against Cincinnati.
• Louisville will host its third annual Diamond Heritage Night on Friday, April 6 at 6 p.m., ET against NC State.
• The series-opener against Indiana State on Friday, April 27 will be the Cardinals’ annual Patriotic Game at Jim Patterson Stadium.
• The annual Battle of the Barrel contest against Vanderbilt is set for Tuesday, May 1 in Nashville.
• Louisville’s annual Senior Day ceremony is set for Saturday, May 19 prior to the regular season finale against Notre Dame.
• The longest homestand of the 2018 season for Louisville will be 14 games from Feb. 21 (home-opener against EKU) through March 14 (vs. Texas Tech).
• From March 9 through April 8, the Cardinals will play 18 of 20 games against 2017 NCAA Regional qualifiers (North Carolina, Texas Tech, at Wake Forest, Clemson, at Florida State, at Kentucky, NC State).
• Overall, the Cardinals will play 11 different programs (25 games total) in 2018 that advanced to the 2017 NCAA Championship (Xavier, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Kentucky, NC State, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Indiana).
• Louisville is making its third visit in 12 seasons to The Citadel, alma mater of head coach Dan McDonnell. The Cardinals were 2-1 in a tournament hosted by the Bulldogs in 2008 and were 2-1 in the season-opening visit in 2014.
• ACC foe North Carolina and non-conference opponent Texas Tech will make their first ever visits to Louisville in 2018.
• Louisville will make its first visits to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh as a member of the ACC. The Cardinals previously visited Virginia Tech in 1994 when the teams competed as Metro Conference foes. Louisville’s most recent visit to Pittsburgh came in 2012 when they earned a series win to clinch the Big East Conference regular season championship.
• Since opening the gates at Jim Patterson Stadium in 2005, the Cardinals have won more than 78 percent of their games in the ballpark posting a 346-97 record (.781 winning percentage)
2018 LOUISVILLE BASEBALL SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2018 Louisville baseball season can be purchased online at GoCards.com/bsbtickets, by calling 502-GO-CARDS or by visiting the Louisville Cardinals Ticket Office, located near Gate 2 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium (2800 South Floyd Street) on weekdays from 9 a.m., until 5 p.m.
Reserved chairback ticket packages are priced at $150 for adults (less than $4.50 per game), $120 for senior adults/youth (less than $4 per game) and $480 for a Family 4-Pack (less than $4 per game per ticket). Season tickets for the Left Field Berm are also available at $100 for adults (less than $3 per game), $80 for senior adults/youth (less than $2.50 per game) and $320 for a Family 4-Pack (less than $2.50 per game per ticket).
Single game tickets for the 2018 season will be priced at $10 for reserved chairback and $5 for berm and will be available for purchase at a later date. Additionally, details on the Cards Pass Flex Plan will also be announced at a later date.
Season ticket packages include all regular season home games at Jim Patterson Stadium with the exception of the annual Elementary School Day game, played each March during a weekday afternoon. For Elementary School Day, season tickets will provide admission to the game but will not include a reserved seat.
With a listed capacity of 4,000, Jim Patterson Stadium has hosted six crowds of more than 6,000 fans in the last two seasons, including three in 2017. Fresh off a fourth trip to the NCAA Men’s College World Series and third straight ACC Atlantic Division Championship, Louisville baseball has become the must-see event for Cardinals fans in the spring.
2018 Louisville Schedule (PDF)
