Starting 5: Racing Louisville wins 3rd straight, St. Xavier wins volleyball title and more

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Racing Louisville FC’s Jordan Baggett scored a goal in Wednesday’s win over Kansas City. Baggett recorded her first assist in her first start for Racing on Wednesday.

Racing Louisville FC is finding its groove.

After grinding through a brutal schedule to start the season, going 0-2-4 against some of the best teams in the NWSL, the club has won three straight.

Sure, it helps Racing has won those games against two of the worst teams in the league in Chicago (3-0 win May 12) and Kansas City (3-2 win Wednesday, 2-0 win Saturday), but they count all the same as Racing seeks to pull its way out of the bottom of the league standings at 1-2-4 (the first win against the KC Current came in the Challenge Cup).

Racing, which became the first club in NWSL history to roster players from six different continents this season, has gotten contributions from new places of late. Midfielder Jordan Baggett recorded her first assist in her first start for Racing on Wednesday after she was traded to Louisville in April. And a week ago, Parker Goins scored her first professional goal and Wang Shuang became the first Chinese player to score in NWSL history against Chicago.

Racing Louisville FC is back at home for one week with a match against NC Courage at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Can Racing move forward? How new general manager hopes to help the team after abuse scandal

Around the city: St. Xavier boys volleyball wins title; Cincinnati Reds call up Matt McClain, Brandon Williamson

It's been a busy week for Louisville teams.

Trinity and St. Xavier met in the KVCA boys volleyball state championship Wednesday, with the Tigers winning in straight sets. St. X's latest title, which ended with a nasty cross-court kill in the third set, caps a good couple of weeks for the sport, which a week prior got word it could become a KHSAA-sanctioned sport by the 2025 spring season.

KHSAA to sanction new sports: Boys volleyball and tennis, boys and girls lacrosse could soon be sponsored

It was also a big week for a pair of Cincinnati Reds prospects.

Electric shortstop Matt McLain, who had terrorized Triple-A pitching all season (.348 batting average, .474 OBP, 12 home runs) with the Louisville Bats, made his big league debut Monday and went 1-for-4 with two runs scored. The next day starting pitcher Brandon Williamson made his debut and tossed an impressive 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run in a 3-1 victory in Colorado. He retired 14 straight batters at one point and struck out six.

McClain is expected to stick in MLB, but the Louisville Bats still have Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Elly De La Cruz, although both could be called up this season as well.

Performance of the week: Kentucky's Keaton Daniel three-peats in SEC track and field championships

Senior Keaton Daniel added to his storied Kentucky career last week, winning his third straight SEC outdoor track and field championship men's pole vault title. Daniel vaulted 18-6.5, his best of the season. He won gold as a junior with a vault of 18-2.5 and as a sophomore with a school-record 18-8.25. Those previous two years he finished second (2021) and third (2022) in the NCAA outdoor championships.

The 2023 NCAA outdoor championships are June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.

High school recruiting: Florida basketball offers Lyon County's Travis Perry

Kentucky's all-time leading scorer in high school basketball, Lyon County's Travis Perry, added to his recruiting haul with an offer from Florida on Wednesday. He's now at 19 Division I offers.

Historic moment: Travis Perry breaks Kentucky high school scoring record in Lyon County's win over Newport

Mark your calendars

• Louisville City FC plays two matches this week, starting with a home matchup against FC Tulsa at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The club is on the road Saturday for a 7 p.m. match against Indy Eleven.

• LouCity star defender Josh Wynder is in the U-20 World Cup along with former teammate Jonathan Gomez. The World Cup began Saturday, with the United States beating Ecuador, 1-0, on a game-winner from Gomez. You can watch Team USA take on Fiji Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET and face Slovakia at 2 p.m. on Friday. Both games will be on Fox Sports 2 and Telemundo.

• The surging Louisville Bats, who have clawed their way back near .500 after going 9-17 in April, are on the road this week for a six-game series against struggling Syracuse beginning Tuesday.

• U of L men's tennis is competing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018. Three players, Etienne Donnet in singles and Natan Rodrigues and Fabien Salle in doubles, will compete starting Monday at the University of Central Florida. The Cards qualified as a team for the 14th time — they lost in the regional final May 7 — and this season marks the third time in program history they earned bids in the team, singles and doubles championships.

Taylor Roby: How former Bullitt East standout pitcher became Louisville softball's 'anchor'

Play of the week: South Oldham wins boys lacrosse semifinal at the buzzer

South Oldham boys lacrosse is heading to the Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League state championship. And it took an epic buzzer-beater to do it. The Dragons beat Eastern 13-12 on Wednesday, clinching a berth in Monday's title game at 7 p.m. against state power St. Xavier. They scored on a last-second shot from outside the 8-meter circle.

According to The Oldham Era, it's the first time South Oldham has made the state championship game. The Tigers, meanwhile, have won 15 state titles and four in a row. They beat Trinity 13-7 in Wednesday's other semifinal.

Girls lacrosse state championship: Sacred Heart Academy routs Eastern to win fifth Kentucky state title

Each week we'll highlight what's going on in and around Louisville, from high school to pro sports, in our "Starting 5." Got a story to tell or a play of the week? Tweet at us @CJ_Sports or email us at jadams@gannett.com. You can follow assistant sports editor Jake Adams on Twitter @jakeadams520

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Racing Louisville winning streak, Cincinnati Reds call ups, St X title