Cards Head to Lexington for Battle of the Bluegrass

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville baseball team finishes off a five-game road swing with the first Battle of the Bluegrass game of the spring at Kentucky on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on the SEC Network. Radio coverage will be available on 93.9 The Ville.

WEEKEND SERIES IN DURHAM
Louisville dropped two-of-three last weekend on the road at Duke. The Cardinals lost the opening two games before salvaging the series with a 9-4 victory on Saturday.

BATTLE OF THE BLUEGRASS HISTORY
Tuesday is the 118th Battle of the Bluegrass contest. Kentucky leads the all-time series 66-50-1 and holds a 36-19 edge in Lexington. The teams split two meetings last year with each team winning on its home field.

CARDS AT KENTUCKY PROUD PARK
Louisville and Kentucky have played four times in Lexington since Kentucky Proud Park opened in 2019. The Cardinals were victorious in each of their first three visits before losing for the first time last year at KPP.

TEAM NOTES

The Cardinals are 105-26 (.802) under Dan McDonnell against teams from the state of Kentucky (Bellarmine, EKU, Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, NKU and WKU).
Louisville has an .811 winning percentage (202-47) in regular season non-conference games since the start of 2016.
Entering the weekend, the Cardinals rank top 15 nationally in batting average, hits, runs, runs per game, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and triples.

PLAYER NOTES

Tague Davis set the Louisville freshman home run record with 18 long balls in his first season. The first baseman tied for the ACC regular season lead in home runs and was the first Louisville freshman to hit double-digit homers since Alex Binelas in 2019. Davis homered in five consecutive games from March 6-11, joining Mark Jurich in 2004 as the only Cards to homer in five straight since 2000. Davis heads into the week as the national leader in RBIs at 62, 10 more than the second-most. The sophomore is also second nationally in home runs and total bases, and seventh in runs, leading the ACC in all three categories. He's also fourth in slugging percentage and 10th in hits.
Zion Rose led the Cardinals last season with 67 RBIs and ranked fourth in the ACC in stolen bases, fifth in RBIs, fifth in triples, seventh in runs, 11th in hits and 12th in total bases. The Chicago native was one of just three players in 2025 to have 10 homers, 15 doubles, 30 stolen bases and 60 RBIs. However, Rose has missed games in two different stints this season due to injury. When he's been in the lineup though, Rose has shown how dynamic he can be. In 10 starts this season, Rose is hitting .553 with eight extra-base hits, 19 RBIs, 18 runs scored, and is 8-for-8 in stolen bases.
Kade Elam came to Louisville with big expectations, ranked as a top 100 player nationally in the 2025 class. The freshman got off to a slow start, sitting with a .195 average through the first 13 games. Elam has found his groove though, going 31-for-77 (.403) with five doubles, a triple, three home runs, 18 runs and 17 RBIs. Elam had an excellent weekend at Duke, tallying six hits with a pair of homers and five RBIs.
Bayram Hot split time at second base in 2025 in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Marist, hitting .326 with three doubles and three homers in 92 at-bats. The senior has started every game this spring at third base and has been excellent at the plate. Hot leads the team with a .419 average and currently ranks top five in the ACC in batting average, hits, on-base percentage and hit by pitch.

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Players Mentioned

Tague Davis

Kade Elam

Bayram Hot

Zion Rose

University of Louisville Athletics