“The ultimate goal is to win a national championship,” said the coach. “It’s something that we see, we visualize, we dream, we talk about it. But it’s my job and the coaching staff to keep us grounded, to keep us in the moment. We’ll talk about winning a national championship right up until the first game. Then when the first game starts, there’s no need to talk about that anymore.”
McDonnell knows UofL will be a target after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title during its first season in the league. The Cardinals will play such traditional powers as Florida State, Miami and North Carolina on the road, while hosting defending national champion Virginia, Notre Dame and Clemson, among others, at Jim Patterson Stadium.
“I’m sure we have the respect of everybody else in the league,” he said. “We do well when we’re the attacker, when we’re hunting. There’s some great history and tradition in the ACC. We have to be the hunter and have a chip on our shoulder. We were really proud of our team last year, with so much respect for the league. They showed up every day for 10 weekends.”
Outfielder Corey Ray is aware of the expectations, of UofL being picked No. 2 nationally, but he says that doesn’t matter. “It’s the beginning of the season,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good people say we are, how bad they say we are. It doesn’t matter and has no bearing on where we will be at the end of the season. We don’t pay that much attention to the hype.”
Pitcher Zach Burdi says he is excited to be a part of this team. “Between offense, defense and pitching, this is the most well-rounded team that I have played for. We come together as a group, push each other every day to get better, and I think it’s going to be a fun year.”
UofL opens at home against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 3 p.m. Friday, with games starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.