A little better, not much, for the University of Louisville baseball program during the 2024 season. The team winning 32 games overall, one more than during the previous season. Not cool for a program that was averaging more than 45 wins per season and competing in five different College World Series in Omaha.
One has to feel badly for Coach Dan McDonnell who seems to have never recovered from the 2020 season when his team was ranked No. 1 in the nation. He had two of the best pitchers in college baseball in Reid Detmers and Bobby Miller who are now practicing their trade with the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, respectively. The Cardinals were 13-4 and ranked No. 2 in the polls. That was before Covid 19 brought the season to an abrupt halt. The year that held such promise for UofL baseball was suddenly a total waste, and couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
One of the few bright spots between then and now was the selection of UofL catcher Henry Davis as the No. 1 draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2021 draft. UofL finished 28-12 that year overall, 16-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Unfortunately, the beginning of the slide since that season has continued unabated.
All too common, the losing has taken on many forms, including lopsided losses to mediocre teams and more superior teams, losses to low-level and mid-level teams, too many losses in which Louisville has given up substantial leads. UofL baseball has little resemblance to all the success achieved during McDonnell’s first 12 seasons.
A big contributor to that early success was Chris Lemonis who was a leading recruiter and McDonnell’s top assistant. Lemonis was hired away from UofL by Indiana University in 2015. He compiled a 141-91 record in four seasons at IU before he was hired away by Mississippi State. At MSU, he was 167-93 during his first five seasons, winning the College World Series in 2021. He was the first Division 1 coach to win a national championship in his less than three seasons in the modern era. UofL reached the CWS in 2007, 2013 and 2014 during Lemonis’ stay as assistant.
Louisville needs to maintain top level facilities and ensure that NIL money is plentiful to continue to compete.
However, McDonnell has some serious decisions to make in the immediate future. UofL needs a serious shot in the arm when it comes to recruiting, especially when it comes to pitchers who can compete at the highest level. Hiring an assistant coach who can recruit should be high on the agenda.
Got some work to do he does if UofL baseball is to live up to its reputation in the future (CardGame photo).
