Thursday, April 26, 2007

Back at home for a Big Big East Weekend.

We have just finished a two week road stretch going 6-2 in the eight straight games away from Jim Patterson Stadium. We won 2 out of 3 at Uconn, won at Western Kentucky, swept at Seton Hall and lost Wednesday night at Kentucky. We are currently 28-12, 11-4 in the Big East in 2nd place. The good news is all our goals are still reachable. By playing well the next 4 weeks, we have an opportunity to win the Big East and get to 40 wins during the regular season. Again, we will have to play well, and at times play very well to accomplish these goals. Without listing individual statistics this time(go to www.uoflsports.com for stats), as a team we are hitting .325, fielding .970 and pitching at an era of .283. We are very pleased with all these numbers, but lets not forget the most important numbers are WINS!!

South Florida comes to town with a very familiar face in Lelo Prado. I am not about to go over his history here, because honestly I don't know it, but I am sure he will have many friends and fans come out to see him. He comes to town with a very good South Florida team looking to rebound after a tough weekend getting swept by Rutgers, currently in 1st place. Saturdays game will give Dugout Club members the opportunity to spend time with fellow members as well as meet some players and get a few words from myself before the game (www.uofldugoutclub.com has the details).

Finally, let me end with some really good news. We may have lost the game Wednesday night, but picked up a win as the RPI rankings were released for the first time this season. This is an important number in sports as it ranks teams as to where we stack up in the eyes of the NCAA. Being ranked in the top 25 for polls is nice, but being ranked high in the RPI is better. We are not in the top 25 yet, but lets look at the numbers. We are currently 40, while Kentucky is 53. We have identical records, having beat each other at home, yet we are 13 spots ahead of them in the eyes of the NCAA. You can stick your chest out because you are in the SEC, as they do in recruiting, but right now if the season ended today, Kentucky would be the 9 seed, not going to their conference tournament making it hard to go to the Regionals. We would finish 2nd, and by playing well in the Big East Championship could receive a high seed in the NCAA's. Again, we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but our players, parents, fans and alumni have a lot to be proud of as to what this Louisville baseball team has accomplished so far. Hopefully, we can all be proud at the end of the season.

Hope to see you at the ballpark.

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