2015 Louisville Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Will Merritt, Jackson Proffitt, John Whittle)

1. Louisville Cardinals

Louisville, Kentucky

2015 record: 43-16, 25-5 (First in Atlantic Division)

Head coach: Dan McDonnell (The Citadel, 1992, 1995)

Record at school: 352-159, 8 years

Overall record: 1028-550-2, 26 years

Assistant coaches: Roger Williams, Eric Snider, Adam Vrable, Brian Mundorf

Team offense: .272 BA, 317 R, 30 HR, .384 SLG%, .365 OBP, 118-155 SB

Team pitching: 2.76 ERA, 534 IP, 408 H, 225 BB, 532 K

Top hitters: Nick Solak (.327/2/237/18-23 SB), Corey Ray (.324/11/48/32-41 SB), Brendan McKay (.319/3/31/4-6 SB), Sutton Whiting (.311/0/25/14-20 SB), Zach Lucas (.245/5/25/17-20 SB), Will Smith (.242/1/13/2-3 SB)

Top pitchers: Brendan McKay (8-3, 4 SV, 1.76 ERA, 82 IP, 41 H, 31 BB, 103 K), Kyle Funkhouser (7-5, 3.29 ERA, 98.1 IP, 47 H, 42 BB, 93 K), Josh Rogers (7-1, 3.62 ERA, 79.2 IP, 81 H, 24 BB, 70 K), Lincoln Henzman (5-1, 2.03 ERA, 48.2 IP, 38 H, 9 BB, 42 K), Zack Burdi (5-0, 9SV, 0.75 ERA, 24 IP, 11 H, 10 BB, 42 K)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2014 (3-0 Louisville Regional, 2-0 at Louisville Super Regional, 0-2 College World Series)

Notes: The 2014-15 season was Louisville’s first season in the ACC. Louisville will host an NCAA Regional for the third straight season and the fifth in seven years. This will be Louisville’s ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cardinals set an ACC record and a school record for wins in a season with 25 and earned the top seed in the ACC Tournament. Head Coach Dan McDonnell was named the 2015 ACC Coach of the Year. In eight years, McDonnell has had 18 All-Americans, three in 2014: Nick Burdi, Kyle Funkhouser, and Jeff Gardner. This season marks the fourth straight 40-win season for the Cardinals and the eighth in nine years under head coach Dan McDonnell. Lousiville won all ten ACC series and recorded five sweeps over Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Wake Forest. Brendan McKay was named ACC Freshman of the Year. McKay struck out 12 batters in single games twice this season and has 103 strikeouts in 82 innings pitched. The Cardinals lead the ACC and are third in the nation this season for stolen bases with 118. Sophomore Corey Ray was featured on SC Top 10 for stealing home in the bottom of the ninth against Wake Forest to claim the Cardinals’ fifth ACC conference series sweep.

2. Bradley Braves

Peoria, Illinois

At-large bid from MVC

Notes: Bradley put together a tremendous year, finishing in the top 20 in RPI and reaching the NCAA tourney for the first time since 1968. It’s the seventh all-time appearance by the Braves, who haven’t won a tourney game since winning a game against Wyoming in the 1956 College World Series. Bradley has played in two College World Series (1950 and 1956). The Braves went 24-13 on road/neutral sites this season. Before arriving at Bradley, coach Elvis Dominguez led the program at Eastern Kentucky. Elliot Ashbeck, who has 11 wins and 30 RBI, was listed in the Top 10 for the John Olerud Award for best two-way player in the country. Closer Matt Dennis has 12 saves and limits opponents to a .196 average. Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett played at Bradley for a year.

3. Michigan Wolverines

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Automatic bid - won Big Ten tournament

Notes: The Wolverines marched through to capture the Big Ten tourney title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2008 when they hosted the Ann Arbor Regional as a 2-seed. The year before, Michigan shocked Vanderbilt to reach the Corvallis Super Regional, where it lost to Oregon State. Coach Erik Bakich was an assistant on the Vanderbilt team and was the head coach at Maryland before coming to Michigan. Junior Jacob Cronenworth had a huge Big Ten tourney and leads the conference in hits and runs. He also has eight saves on the year. Jackson Gibbs is second in the league in average. Brett Adcock allows hitters a .219 average.

4. Morehead State Eagles

Morehead, Kentucky

Automatic bid - won OVC Tournament

Notes: The Eagles are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983. Their season started with a bang when they traveled to San Diego and took three of four from a ranked Toreros club. And Mike McGuire’s club hit and hit and hit the rest of the way, leading the nation in average, runs and slugging, thanks in part to a very hitter-friendly park. Catcher Chris Robinson, named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball this week, ranks fifth in the nation in hitting, second in runs, fourth in RBI and has 98 hits on the year (second). Morehead scored 8.6 runs a game (second) but allows an ERA of 6.27 (262 in the land). Aaron Goe has overcome injuries to pitch some big innings for the Eagles.