Louisville baseball opens 2026 season with 4-3 home loss to Michigan State at Jim Patterson Stadium

Michigan State edges No. 8 Louisville in opener as early-season pitching command becomes a deciding factor

LOUISVILLE — Louisville opened the 2026 college baseball season Friday with a 4-3 loss to Michigan State at Jim Patterson Stadium, dropping the first game of a three-game series that runs through Sunday. Louisville entered opening day ranked No. 8 nationally in at least one major preseason poll, while Michigan State began its season with a road win in its first trip to Louisville in decades.

The margin came down to a narrow set of outcomes that often define the first weekend of the season: traffic on the bases, free passes, and damage on limited mistakes. Louisville’s pitching staff allowed five hits, but Michigan State converted opportunities through two home runs and by reaching base repeatedly without hits. Louisville issued two walks and hit five batters, creating extended innings even when contact was limited.

Left-hander Ethan Eberle drew the opening-day start for Louisville and worked 4.1 innings. He allowed two hits and one earned run, struck out six, and walked one, but also hit three batters. Louisville kept Michigan State off the scoreboard through the first four innings before the game turned in the middle frames.

After Eberle departed in the fifth, reliever Jack Brown surrendered a two-out, two-run double that put Michigan State in front. The Spartans’ scoring included two homers, which accounted for a significant portion of their offense in a game where total hits were limited.

Louisville produced eight hits and took its first lead of the season in the second inning. Freshman Kade Elam recorded the Cardinals’ first hit of 2026 with a double, and Ben Slanker followed with another double to drive in the year’s first run. Slanker finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while Tague Davis went 2-for-4 with a double. Lucas Moore added an RBI.

Louisville’s opening-day loss snapped a run of home-opening success that had held since 2024.

The opener also provided an early indicator of what Louisville must tighten as the weekend continues: limiting hit-by-pitches and walks while preventing multi-run swings on extra-base hits. Those details mattered as much as the contact itself on Friday.

What’s next

• The series continues Saturday (Feb. 14) and Sunday (Feb. 15) at Jim Patterson Stadium, with both games scheduled for 1 p.m. starts.

• Louisville’s early-season schedule includes a home game vs. Xavier on Feb. 17 before traveling to Arlington, Texas, for a multi-team event the following weekend.

With two games remaining in the series, Louisville will have immediate opportunities to stabilize its pitching efficiency and even the weekend against a Michigan State club that showed it can win with limited offensive volume when it consistently reaches base.