The Louisville baseball team will begin its regular season-ending series with Notre Dame today at 6 p.m. in South Bend. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.
The Cardinals trail Big East-leading Connecticut by just a half game. The Huskies kick off a three-game set with Seton Hall this afternoon at 1 p.m.
In related news, U of L catcher Jeff Arnold was named one of 16 semifinalists on Wednesday for the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award, which goes to the nation's top catcher.
A Louisville native and a graduate of Male High School, Arnold is hitting .311 with two home runs and 27 RBI and leads the 10th-ranked Cardinals in stolen bases with 14 in 17 attempts this season. As Louisville's leadoff hitter in the last 22 games, he is hitting .333 with 15 RBI to lead the Cardinals to an 18-4 mark during that stretch. Defensively, he is throwing out more than 42 percent of baserunners and has committed just three errors in his four-year career behind the plate.
One of the Cardinals' two co-captains this season, Arnold is the only player on the 2010 roster to have lettered on Louisville's 2007 College World Series team, 2008 BIG EAST Tournament championship team and 2009 BIG EAST regular-season and tournament championship team. He will depart Louisville as the winningest single player in school history having played on four-straight 40-win teams.
Congrats to Jeff and good luck to the Cards as they start a big weekend this evening.