After a year where they missed the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals are making sure it doesn't happen again.
A week from today, Louisville will begin its 2022 campaign in Tampa, Fla. for a trio of games against Charlotte, South Florida and UConn. A few days later, on Tuesday, February 20, the Cardinals will play their home opener against Xavier, beginning a straight 18-game segment at Jim Patterson Stadium.
And they'll have a noticeable edge about them for good reason. When selection Sunday for the 2021 NCAA Tournament rolled around, Louisville found itself to be an outcast for the first time since 2011, and only the second time in Dan McDonnell's tenure as head coach.
For a program like Louisville, which used to host regionals and travel to the College World Series, McDonnell says they're going to be "annoyed" this season because of their performance last year.
"I don't know if there's a better way for newcomers to come to the event, with a bunch of old players, a coaching staff and administration that wasn't happy with the way it ended," he said. . Precision Media Day of the event. "So everyone's on high alert, and everyone crosses their T's and dot their I's, and you don't slide anything."
In 2021, Louisville was highly ranked as the No. 4 team in the nation with four weeks remaining in the regular season. The Cardinals then lead 5–11 for the rest of the year, including a three-weekend sweep in ACC play and a heartbreaking extra-innings loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament, which effectively ended their season. Gave.
For players returning from last year's team, they have as much motivation to return to the NCAA Tournament as McDonnell has.
"We set the standard this year, that every single day, we'll play like it's an elimination game," said infielder Ben Metzinger. "We're a game or two away from making the tournament last year, and then we sat in this room and saw that we didn't make the tournament, and it was really hard for us. We would win and lose, more importantly lose, much more seriously."
"We definitely have a chip on our shoulders," said outfielder Cam Masterman. "It's a bitter taste in our mouths from last season. It's not something this program is used to. It's not something I'm used to. We call the season the "Revenge Tour," that's what we call it are."
Usually in the weeks leading up to the start of the season, the event is filled with pre-season accolades. Whether it's a Top 25 ranking, a pre-season All-ACC selection or an All-American, Louisville has been no stranger to accolades and promotions until the season.
Except for this preseason, it has been noticeably absent. Louisville is currently unranked in all major polls, with no players earning any preseason honors, and the Cardinals were actually selected to finish fourth in their own division.
Part of this is due to the number of high-potential players Louisville abandoned the program on the off-season. The Cardinals selected seven players in the 2021 MLB Draft -- including No. 1 overall pick catcher Henry Davis -- and an additional seven for the graduation and transfer portal.
This is not to say that the Cardinals are completely devoid of talent. They return people such as Masterman and Metzinger, as well as pitchers Luke Seid, Tate Kuehner and Caleb Corbett. But they still lost 72.6 percent of their total bases and three of their top five pitchers by innings.
From McDonnell's point of view, this means more opportunities for others, and more competition. He is particularly excited about the sophomore and junior classes, as he finally had a regular form of development after the onset of COVID-19.
"There are going to be some new names and new faces that the world of college baseball is not yet familiar with," he said. "But they will be."
(Photo by Dan McDonnell, Louisville Players: Matt Stone – Courier Journal, Courier Journal via Imagine Content Services, LLC)