The University of Louisville travels east to face No. 17 UK baseball (19-9) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Tuesday’s game will mark the third consecutive week that the Cats have faced a top-10 opponent. Over the weekend, the Cats lost a three-game series to No. 5 Vanderbilt University.

Behind the arm of junior pitcher A.J Reed, UK grabbed the opening game, 4-2, but fell Saturday, 9-3 and Sunday, 6-2. The Cats have a 4-3 record this season against top-five teams, defeating former No.1 University of Virginia in February and taking two games in a series against University of South Carolina two weeks ago.

No. 10 Louisville (21-6), winner of four straight, is coming off a weekend series sweep of Xavier University and Butler University. The Cardinals finished a perfect 4-0 week by dominating Xavier and Butler 35-5 in the three weekend games.

Senior Micheal Thomas and Reed drive a lineup that is the Southeastern Conference leader in batting average with .307. On the mound, the Cats post a 3.08 earned run average.

Pitching will be in the spotlight as the two high-powered offenses square off.

UK is backed by a bullpen that includes junior Spencer Jack (1-0, 0.56 ERA), who has struck out 12, and sophomore Kyle Cody (3-0, 1.10 ERA).

The Cardinals are led by senior outfielder Jeff Gardner and junior infielder Grant Kay. Both have over 30 runs batted in for an offense that has scored 220 runs with 14 home runs on 270 hits.

STAFF REPORT