With football season coming to a close, it’s time for the 2023 baseball season to open. Head Coach Dan McDonnell enters his 17th season at the helm for the Louisville baseball team and looks to take his team back to the playoffs. Last season, Louisville saw their season come to an end against Texas A&M in the College Super Regionals, just two wins shy of a College World Series bid.
The #5 Aggies took on the #12 Cardinals and swept them two games to none. With the loss, Louisville missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years, so this year Dan McDonnell and the team will be hungry for success that can carry them into the postseason.
Heading into the 2023 season, Louisville is ranked No. 16 overall, after finishing last season at No. 12 in the NCAA poll. And the first hurdle for this team to jump over is a three-game series against Bucknell in Jim Patterson Stadium. The first of these three games is tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM EST.
Louisville boasts a relatively young roster with only four seniors and one graduate student. The lone graduate student, right-handed pitcher Cameron Robinson, enters his third season as a Cardinal, after transferring from John A. Logan College. He was awarded one win against Akron last season and recorded his most innings pitched (3) against South Florida.
On the other end of the spectrum are some highly touted freshmen coming into the Louisville baseball program. One is a local product out of Trinity High School, Korbyn Dickerson. Dickerson is 6-foot-1, throws right-handed, and was rated as the top overall prospect coming out of the state of Kentucky by Prep Baseball Report.
His high school head coach had this to say of him:
"“He’s going to be a high-level draft pick, and if the money is right, I’m sure he’ll sign. If not, he’ll be at Louisville and will probably be an All-ACC performer quickly there.”"
Another freshman to keep an eye on is Gavin Kilen. Kilen is 5-foot-11 and the highest overall prospect coming out of the state of Wisconsin. He is another prospect who could have gone directly to the MLB Draft, but elected to be a part of the Louisville Cardinals team.
Gavin Kilen (By Request), Inf from Milton High School Class of 2022. Top ranked SS in the state of Wisconsin, currently 54 in the country. Committed to @LouisvilleBSB. Video from PG All American Friday Workout. @PG_scouting @PG_WiscMinn @B_sakowski_pg @VCervinoPG pic.twitter.com/qkV3jja83b
— Steve Fiorindo (@SoCalSteve9) May 12, 2022
A lot of excitement will take place for this team this season and it all starts tomorrow.