What do swimming and pushing trucks have to do with 2023 Louisville baseball season? A lot

The Louisville baseball team's 100-meter swimming competition drew some laughter from the Cardinals' swimming and diving team. Historically, no one has come through the program has been a strong swimmer.

But this year head coach Dan McDonnell said junior righthanded pitcher Alex Galvan had the best showing with the fastest time.

“He is tall, long, didn't realize he was that good a swimmer,” McDonnell said of the New Jersey native. “It's usually like a St. X guy or a Bowling Green guy — these guys that grow up in these swim communities — but this year, it was an out-of-state guy, so we’ve got to give him some props.”

The Cardinals’ trip to the pool is part of the annual Omaha Challenge. The two-week training boot camp, implemented by McDonnell when he became U of L’s head baseball coach in 2006, doubles as a competition between teammates. It also includes pushing a truck two miles, shuttle runs every five yards on the football field at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium and team sports like dodgeball and basketball. Players compete against each other in each event, and junior college outfield transfer Haven Mangrum was named the overall winner.

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“There's the physical side, but it's the mental side, the emotional side, and (the) Omaha Challenge event gives us a chance to emphasize those type of areas we're looking for toughness in and gives us a chance to compete right before and after Thanksgiving," McDonnell said.

The toughness built in the Omaha Challenge will be key in achieving the Cardinals’ ultimate goal of making it to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series in June.

“It's a long season, it's tough. It's never easy,” junior outfielder Isaac Humphrey said. “You're gonna get punched in the mouth, so I think going through like a tough, tough couple of weeks like that and learning to really grind through not feeling well, not competing maybe to your best, but you're gonna give it all you got, I think that really just encompasses the whole season in two weeks right there.”

The Cardinals, ranked 11th in the USA TODAY baseball coaches preseason poll, have been one of the best in college baseball throughout McDonnell’s tenure. They've made two trips to Omaha since 2017 in addition to six super regional appearances in the last eight NCAA baseball tournaments. Last year, U of L (42-21-1) got swept by super regional host Texas A&M in a best-of-three series after missing the tournament in 2021.

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“We’ve got a lot of returners ... and we all kind of know how it goes, what we've got to work for," said senior righthanded pitcher Ryan Hawks, who went 5-3 last year with 27 appearances on the mound. “I think we're really prepared for the season.”

The Cardinals returnees include three of their top five hitters in Jack Payton, who hit a team-leading .350, Christian Knapczyk (.346) and Humphrey (.328). Tate Kuehner's return adds a boost to the pitching staff after the lefty posted a 7-3 record in 25 appearances (eight starts) with a 3.57 ERA and four saves over 70 2/3 innings.

McDonnell also tasked the team with reading Jay Bilas’ book "Toughness: Developing True Strength on and off the Court" during the summer and fall then had the freshmen break down different chapters and share their insight over Christmas break, something he'd never done before.

One of those freshmen, righthanded pitcher Patrick Forbes, the 2022 Kentucky’s Mr. Kentucky award winner and Bowling Green native, stuck out to veteran teammates Hawks and Humphries during the Omaha Challenge.

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“I was really impressed with Forbes and (Gavin Kilen),” Hawks said. “They did really well and performed and really showed that they were tough, truly tough. I think they're gonna help us out a lot this year.”

The Cardinals know returning to the College World Series is a process. It requires staying healthy, conditioning and peaking at the right time and maybe even a little bit of luck helps. They hope the Omaha Challenge helps, too.

“You go into the season with this group and you believe they're talented enough, but you’ve still got to come together,” McDonnell said. “You’ve got to go through some ups and downs, and you’ve got to come together as a team. You’ve got to show that toughness that we preach and not get ahead of ourselves. I think they know the goal is to go to Omaha and win a national championship, but it's not something we talk about a lot at the beginning of the year, especially as we're just trying to get off on the right foot.”

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 2023 Louisville baseball season begins with unique offseason drills