High-profile opponent makes way to Cougar Field

From the land of The Run for the Roses and iconic baseball bats, UH’s weekend foe, No. 10 Louisville, has essentially picked up from where it left off after a College World Series run last year.

The Cardinals will arrive at Cougar Field on Friday for the first of three games in a series between top 10 teams. Combined, No. 7 UH (26-6, 4-2) and Louisville (24-8, 4-2) have 50 wins and only 14 losses.

Though Louisville, which dethroned a talented Vanderbilt team during last year’s CWS, will bring an imposing presence to Cougar Field, UH head coach Todd Whitting is taking the challenge in stride, perhaps bolstered by the Cougars’ 19-2 home record.

“I’m excited to get a great Louisville team in here. We’ll have a tremendous crowd this weekend,” Whitting said. “I expect the Cougar fans to show up in full force, and I know they will. Our kids are excited to play Louisville.”

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, who is in his eighth year, commands a ship with a .293 team batting average and a team ERA of 3.13. By contrast, UH’s team ERA stands at a nimble 1.76.

“Against good pitchers, the key is to not let them get to two strikes,” McDonnell said. “They attack the zone and get ahead, so you have to be ready to hit early in the count.”

UH pitching, which will be at the frontline of the assault against Louisville, can point to its confidence as its best weapon.

“Louisville might be heavy-hitting,” freshman right-hander Andrew Lantrip said. “But we have the best pitching staff in the nation, in my eyes. We throw strikes, command the zone. When you look at it, it’s going to be a battle, but I think we have the upper hand.”

The top team ERA in the nation versus Louisville’s team .293 batting average is the most visible plot line — and not one that has eluded Whitting. Nor has the fact that this is two top-10 teams dueling under the lights adjacent to Scott Street.

“You got two top-10 teams coming here to Cougar Field, and I don’t know when the last time that happened. It ought to be a great series,” Whitting said.

McDonnell, who is not unaware of UH’s tendency to put up their runs with two outs and often in the later innings, can lean on a pitching staff that has 267 strikeouts so far this season.

“Good hitters are at their best when the game is on the line, so our pitchers have to be able to hit spots and make pitches,” Whitting said. “Our defense also has to be at its best late in games.”

In his first season at Louisville, McDonnell took a team with 31 wins in 2006 to 41 in 2007. This feat, similar to the turnaround job orchestrated by Whitting at UH, allows the Louisville skipper some observational skills about what is happening at UH.

“We are very familiar with Coach Whitting and had no doubts about the rapid turnaround. He has won at every school, and I knew he would get it going quickly at Houston,” McDonnell said.

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