Louisville Cardinals baseball

The Louisville Cardinals baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Louisville, located in Louisville, Kentucky. The program was a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference for the 2014 season and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in July 2014. The Cardinals have played at Jim Patterson Stadium since the venue opened during the 2005 season. Dan McDonnell has been the program's head coach since the start of the 2007 season. As of the end of the 2025 season, the program has appeared in 15 NCAA tournaments and six College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won two Big East Conference baseball tournaments. In regular season play, it has won two Metro Conference titles, four Big East Conference titles, one American Athletic Conference title, and four Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Louisville also set the ACC record for most conference wins in a season with 25 during the 2015 season.
As of July 20, 2019, 19 former Cardinals have appeared in Major League Baseball. Seven former Cardinals have appeared in MLB games during the 2019 season: Nick Burdi, Adam Engel, Chad Green, Matt Koch, Brendan McKay, Josh Rogers, Will Smith, and Nick Solak.

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Conference affiliations

Venues

Early venues

Early in its history, Louisville played many home games at Eclipse Park in Louisville, until the venue burned down in 1922. Other early venues included the Belknap Campus Diamond, Shawnee Park, Manual Stadium, and St. Xavier Field.

Parkway Field

Parkway Field, located on the university's campus, was the program's home sporadically from 1923 to 1960 and full-time from 1961 to 1995. The grandstand that allowed professional baseball to be played at the venue in the first half of the 20th century was torn down in 1961.

Derby City Field

For all of the 1996 and 1997 seasons and parts of the 1998 and 1999 seasons, the Cardinals played at Derby City Field.

Old Cardinal Stadium

From the start of the 1998 season through mid-April 2005, Louisville played at Old Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals played a full schedule at Cardinal Stadium from 2000 to 2004 and portions of their schedule there in 1998, 1999, and 2005. At points in its history, the stadium was also home to the Louisville football program, minor league baseball teams, and minor league football teams.

Jim Patterson Stadium

Since partway through the 2005 season, the program has played at Jim Patterson Stadium, located on Louisville's campus. The venue has a capacity of 4,000 spectators, cost $8.5 million, and is named for businessman and former Louisville baseball player Jim Patterson. It underwent $4 million renovations prior to the 2013 season to increase its capacity and upgrade its facilities. It has hosted Eight NCAA Regionals and six Super Regionals. Jim Patterson Stadium is conveniently located just behind Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium, home of the Louisville Cardinals football stadium. In effort to build JPS, Tino Martinez donated money and has his initials above the press box behind home plate. He is the brother-in-law of former head coach, Lelo Prado.

Head coaches

Dan McDonnell, the program's current head coach, is Louisville's wins leader, with 605. Lelo Prado, the program's head coach from 1996 to 2006, is second, with 320. John Heldman, who served as head coach for 26 seasons, is the program's longest tenured head coach.

Tenure	Coach	Seasons	W-L-T	Pct
1909	A. P. Hauss	1	3–2	.600
1910	J. B. Helm	1	3–2	.600
1911–1912	A. L. Bass	2	8–3	.727
1920–1922	Tommy Kienzle	3	8–6–1	.567
1924–1925	Fred Enke	2	7–6	.538
1926–1929	Tom King	4	30–10–1	.750
1930–1932	Unknown	3	—	—
1933–1936	C. V. Money	4	18–15	.545
1937–1942, 1945–1966	John Heldman	26	309–149–4	.673
1967–1968	Mario Cheppo	2	11–30	.268
1969	Harold Adams	1	9–13	.401
1970–1973	Dale Orem	4	66–98–1	.403
1974–1979	Jim Zerilla	6	141–148–1	.488
1980–1981	John Boles	2	75–69	.521
1982–1984	Derek Mann	3	78–46	.629
1985–1990	John Mason	6	110–186–1	.372
1991–1995	Gene Baker	5	120–179	.401
1996–2006	Lelo Prado	11	320–301–1	.515
2007–present	Dan McDonnell	18	742–330–1
Totals	18	104	2068-1593-10

Year-by-year records

Below is a table of the program's yearly records. Louisville's first season of varsity intercollegiate baseball was 1909. It did not sponsor a team from 1913 to 1919, in 1923, or from 1943 to 1944.

Rivalries

Kentucky

The Cardinals rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats is a multi sport rivalry with the baseball series known as the Battle of the Bluegrass. The two teams first met in 1925 and have met annually in a two-game, home and home series since 1970. Kentucky leads the series 66–50–1. As of June 2025, Louisville has won 14 of the last 18 meetings.

Vanderbilt

The Louisville rivalry with the Vanderbilt Commodores is a baseball rivalry known as the Battle of the Barrel. The two teams first met in 1971 and have met annually since 2008 to play in a midweek game for a traveling oak barrel trophy. The rivalry has been amplified by the success of the two programs during the 21st century, the close proximity of the two universities, and the regular postseason encounters. Vanderbilt leads the series 29–14, but Louisville leads the trophy series 7–6.

Cincinnati

The Cardinals rivalry with the Cincinnati Bearcats is a multi sport rivalry between two former conference foes. The two teams first met in 1924 and have met annually in a single midweek game series since Louisville joined the ACC in 2015. Louisville leads the series 104–84. As of June 2025, Louisville has won 14 of the last 18 meetings.

Notable former players

The following is a list of notable former Cardinals and the seasons in which they played for the program.