Louisville comes into its first game in Omaha against Rice with a 46-22 record, after going 25-8 at home, 16-11 on the road, 5-3 in neutral site games, and 19-8 in the Big East.

How'd They Get Here?
It wasn't the easiest road to Omaha of the eight teams, but it also wasn't the toughest. The Cards started their trek in Columbia, Missouri where after downing perennial power Miami for their first ever postseason win, they fell to host Missouri in game two. Then the fireworks began. UofL stayed alive by knocking out Miami 8-7, then defeated Mizzou two times in a row to advance to the super regionals for the first time in school history. That's when things broke exactly the way they needed to. Oklahoma State defeated Arkansas to advance, meaning two No. 3 seeds were matched up against one another, and the committee handed a home super regional to gorgeous Jim Patterson Stadium.

So L'ville matched up against an Oklahoma State team that came in with a team batting average of .326, but the Cards made the Cowboys look like a team that had never taken batting practice before. In the three games they played, the pitchers held OSU to only five runs, including a first game shutout. They pitched to the tune of a 1.20 ERA, completely dominating their opponents.

The offense wasn't too shabby either. They averaged 10.3 runs per game over the weekend and pounded out an average of 14 hits.

Offense:
I don't know which unit of Louisville's is a better one, the offense or the pitching staff. Let's take a look inside the numbers of the offense.

Leftfielder Isaiah Howes leads the team with a .392 average, 18 homers, and 67 RBI. The 11th round draft pick of the Yankees has been th e big bopper in the lineup, including hitting a grand slam in Sunday's series clinching win against Oklahoma State.

Centerfielder Boomer Whiting is a prototypical leadoff guy if I've ever seen one. He's hitting .367 with an OBP of .468, and I'll save the best for last. He's stolen 73 bases this season! That's many more than some teams across the nation. He's a threat everytime he gets on, and really causes havoc for the opposing pitcher/catcher.

Second baseman Logan Johnson is one of those seniors that every team needs in their lineup. He's a gritty, hard nosed player that has hit .364 this season with 13 homeruns and 59 RBI.

First baseman Daniel Burton has hit .309 with 7 homeruns and 54 RBI on the season. Perhaps his best numbers come in the field, where he has committed only four errors at first base.

DH Jorge Castillo rounds out a group of five regulars that have hit .300 or higher on the year. Castillo hit to the tune of .307 with 7 homers and 61 RBI this season.

Shorstop Chris Cates is, well, just that, short. Cates is the shortest player in Division I baseball, coming in at 5-foot-3. Not only has the senior hit .294 this year, but he's got a rocket arm in the field, unlike other short players we've seen like St. Louis' David Eckstein. Cates really fields well.

Rightfielder Pete Rodriguez all of a sudden has some power in that bat of his. After not hitting a homerun all year coming into this past weekend, Rodriguez launched two homeruns, to go along with his .292 average and 24 RBI.

Catcher Derrick Alfonso hs fared well, hitting .278 with five homeruns and 31 RBI. Although he's made 13 errors this season, Alfonso also has four pickoffs to his credit.

Finally, third baseman Chris Dominguez has put up good numbers as far as homeruns and RBI but has struggled in the average department. Dominguez hit a couple of big homers against Mizzou and launched one against Oklahoma State, but he's still got some stuff to work on to improve that .262 clip he's hitting at.

As a team they're hitting .312 with 70 homeruns and have scored 483 runs this year. Taking a look at averages, the team has averaged 7.1 runs and 11 hits per game this season. But to show how hot they have been the last couple of weeks, let's go inside their regional and super regional numbers.

Runs/Game Hits/Game
Regionals 9.2 14.6
Super Regionals 10.3 14.0
Both Weekends 9.6 14.4

As you can see, they are averaging 2.5 runs more per game than they did compared to their season numbers, and are pounding out more than three hits more per game. Ladies and gentlemen, this offense is on fire from top to bottom.

Pitching:
Every coach will tell you that it's all about the pitching at this stage of the year. The team that has enough arms, will win. Well, Louisville certainly has a good crop of those. As a team, they have the fifth lowest ERA in the nation, at 3.02. But guess what? They are going to be going up against the team with the fourth lowest ERA in their first game, when they face Rice, whose ERA sits at 2.83 on the season. Either way, Louisville should be able to match the Owls in that first game when they send ace Zack Pitts to the hill. Pitts is 10-3 with a 2.23 ERA and opponents are hitting only .217 against him this season. He was flat out filthy against Oklahoma State this past weekend, and could give that Rice lineup a lot of trouble.

Hitting fellow starter Justin Marks is no easy task either. Marks is 8-2 with a 2.54 ERA, and opponents are just hitting .188 against him. That is a ridiculous number for a guy that has thrown just about 100 innings this season.

If the Cardinals have a lead, you'll see one of the best in the nation when it comes to closers. Trystan Magnuson has appeared in 35 games and has logged nine saves, with an ERA of 1.09. He blew the save against OSU that could have sent the Cards to Omaha a day sooner, but all can be forgotten now since they are here anyway.

Overall:
I think Louisville is going into this experience saying to themselves,"Why not us?" They've played so well the last couple of weeks, and head coach Dan McDonnell has done such a great job in his first year, it is hard to find yourself not rooting for this team just because of that Cinderella feel they have. Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson said that if L'Ville doesn't get intimidated and doesn't feel in awe of the whole Omaha experience, they have a good shot at doing very well there.

I'd have to agree. Yet still, they will run into the best team they faced all year when they play Rice on Saturday. The way they've played lately, there's no reason to think the Cardinals won't be able to at least put up a fight against the Owls and the rest of the squads in Omaha. Either way, it should definitely be fun.