2014 College World Series Preview: Louisville Vs. Texas

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (50-16, 19-5) vs. TEXAS LONGHORNS (43-20, 13-11)

Time: 3 p.m.

Television: ESPN2

Site: TD Ameritrade Park: Omaha, Neb.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Louisville

Louisville

Texas

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Louisville: Anthony Kidston (9-0, 3.54 ERA)

Texas: Parker French (6-5, 2.45 ERA)

NOTABLE:

--Louisville has won 55 straight games dating back to last season when scoring five runs or more including a 39-0 record this season.

--U of L starter Anthony Kidston is 9-0 this season and 14-0 for his Cardinal career.

--Texas has the most appearances in tournament history (35), and is a six-time national champion.

--Louisville is 43-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 98 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012.

--The Texas pitching staff ranks sixth nationally with a 2.32 ERA. Texas is allowing just 7.41 hits/9 innings  which ranks 12th in the country, while the Longhorns' 11 shutouts are seventh-best in the nation. In  NCAA Tournament play, Texas has a 1.15 ERA while holding opponents to a .210 batting average.

--With one more hit, Cole Sturgeon will gain sole possession of fifth place in career hits at Louisville. He enters the game with Texas tied with Stewart Ijames for fifth with 256 hits in his four seasons.

--Texas' C.J Hinojosa has swung the hottest bat in the NCAA Tournament. The sophomore shortstop is hitting .476 (10-21) with a team-high six RBIs.

--The U of L pitching staff has a 2.38 ERA in the six NCAA postseason games. The staff also has 53 strikeouts while allowing only six extra-base hits in 53.0 innings pitched.

--Louisville had eight player selected in the recent MLB Draft, tied for the second most of any team in the country. Texas had six players selected.

QUOTABLE:

--"It usually comes down to a mistake or two between the teams. You know what? This is fun. You're in the College World Series. You get the chance to play Texas with an opportunity to advance." --Dan McDonnell

--"Remember in '79 when Fullerton lost the first game in the double elimination? I said they were going to win? So we've got a chance, we've got the right attitude, we've got the right group of guys." --Texas coach Augie Garrido

--"This is not the position we want to be in, but I don't think we're going to feel sorry for ourselves. We're going to try to find a way to dig out of it. We've got a lot of fight in us." --Texas pitcher Nathan Thornhill

--"Defensively and on the mound, we struggled a little bit. And that happens, you know? You hope on nights like that your offense is on fire, and that wasn't necessarily the case last night. So, you know, we are just trying to flush it and go in to this game against Texas looking to get a (win)." --Jeff Gardner

--"It's a new day. We do a pretty good job of turning the page. It's tough. Losing hurts, you want to come out here and play good baseball. You want to keep playing." --Dan McDonnell

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