Softball takes two and Spring Game a fun affair Saturday

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Cards sweep Longwood 8-0, 7-1. Collins gets
no-hitter.


-Dullahan upsets Hansen in the Bluegrass Stakes


-Spring Football game showcases Teddy's Talent


Louisville softball took two from Longwood yesterday at Ulmer Stadium...Tori Collins getting the first no-hitter of her collegiate career in the first game. 


The Cards go to 37-2 with the win and can get out the broom and sweep the series with a Sunday game at noon today against the Farmville, VA squad.


GAME ONE

Louisville wasted no time getting an early lead against the Lancers. Jennifer Esteban and Katie Keller socked back to back singles in the bottom of the first and Alicja Wolny drew a walk. The bases were covered in Cards for Taner Fowler who singled to bring Esteban home. Jordan Trimble got the Cards fourth single of the inning and Keller scored to make it 2-0 UofL. Hannah Kiyohara got the second base on balls off Longwood starting pitcher Ashley Cornell which allowed Wolny to greet the home plate umpire. 3-0 Cards after one inning. 

Louisville increased the margin to 5-0 in the second. Esteban getting her second single of the game and Keller pounded a double to center next. Wolny drove both home with a single and the Cards were well in command after two. 


Meanwhile, Collins was dominating inside the pitching circle, allowing just one base runner on a walk in the second inning. Louisville added a run in the third when Esteban lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Kayla Soles. 

The Cards ended it in the bottom of the fifth. Soles started the inning with a double and scored on Hannah Kiyohara's triple. Whitney Arion doubled home Kiyohara to make it 8-0 and end the contest because of the "mercy" rule. 


Collins goes to 17-1 with the no-hitter. She struck out eight Lancers in her five innings of work. Four Cards had two hits in the white-wash.


GAME TWO


Once again, the Cards put runs on the board early. After a Kristin Austin single and Esteban walk, Wolny drove in both with a single to give the Cards an early 2-0 lead after one inning.

Wolny would lead the Cards again in the bottom of the second. After Kiyohara walked and Arion reached on a bunt, Austin singled to fill the bags with Cards. Esteban tapped a grounder and Kiyohara beat the throw to the plate to make it 3-0. That set the stage for Wolny's double which scored Arion and Austin. Wolny scored on a Fowler single and the Cards were in control 6-0 as the team went to the third inning. 


Louisville pushed their final run across in the bottom  of the third. Once again, Wolny figured in the tally...singling with two outs and getting home on a Fowler double. 

Sandy Pearsall used both Caralisa Connell and Chelsea Leonard in Game Two...Connell getting the start and win to go to 13-1 on the season. She pitched four innings of one run, two hit ball before giving way to Leonard. Leonard earned her eighth save of the season by shutting out the Lancers over the final two innings and striking out three Longwood batters. 

Sunday is the Cards "pink" game so get out and support Breast Cancer Awareness by wearing your Pink at Ulmer today! 


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DULLAHAN, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, unleashed a furious stretch run at Keeneland Saturday to catch front running HANSEN and win the Bluegrass Stakes by a length. 


It looked like HANSEN had put away challenger GUNG HO as the horses charged down the Keeneland stretch and was well on the way to victory...but DULLAHAN switched from the rail to the center of the poly-turf and gained rapidly on the leader...catching the grey just shortly before the wire and breezing by for the win.


DULLAHAN went off at 3-1 odds. HANSEN was the 6-5 favorite. Sonja long-shot favorite GUNG HO held on for third and HOLY CANDY came from far back to finish a rapidly closing fourth.  


The trifecta (6-4-2)paid $82.25 on a .50 cent wager and the .10 cent superfecta (6-4-2-9) returned $148.92. 


Dullahan               8.40 3.60 3.00
Hansen                         3.20  2.60
Gung Ho                               9.20


Not a bad return on investment. Two trifecta box tickets purchased for $24 returned $164.50. A .10 superfecta wheel cost $24 and returned $148.92. Straight out bets of $4 across the board on Hansen and Gung Ho cost $24 and returned $11.60 on Hansen and $18.40 on Gung Ho. 


We wonder if Hansen is capable of getting the mile and a quarter distance of the Kentucky Derby in first after losing the 1 1/8 mile distance Saturday in Lexington. Or, is Dullahan just that good in the stretch?


We'll know in 3 weeks.


BODEMEISTER ran away and hid from the field in the Arkansas Derby with Mike Smith on board...winning by almost 10 lengths. Trained by Bob Baffert, who also had second place finisher SECRET CIRCLE, the chestnut 3 yr. old went off at 2-1 odds. "The Bode" is now Paul's pick to win the Derby. 


Well played, sir.

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Over 15,000 attended the Spring game

The Louisville Football Spring Game on Saturday was a fun afternoon of pre and post game tailgating and the precision passing of sophomore UofL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.   

Poobah in disguise in a blue shirt and seen here calling
security to have Sonja locked up. 

The format featured Bridgewater and the first string offense and defense and Will Stein and the second string offense against the second string defense. It was Louisville against the Cardinals and Stein's squad got a 21 point advantage to begin the game. 

Poobah has gathered several devout followers
but the "Chair of the Divine (Miller) Lite" has
not been filled yet. 

WE were impressed with Teddy's accuracy and his hookups with former Ballard great DeVante Parker and Louisville Trinity grad Scott Radcliffe. It also looks like Louisville will have no shortage of capable and talented running backs this year. Senorise Perry, Dominique Brown, Jeremy Wright and Corvin Lamb will all keep defenses honest with their carrying skills. 

Tillie the Tour guide proved to us later that she
knows how to display the "L" the correct way. 

The rain early Saturday morning was a bit depressing weather...yeah it was ominous as we prepared to go over to Papa John's. Rained on us, in fact, pretty heavily as we made the drive to Floyd and Central. Just as we reached the I-65 cutoff for Eastern Parkway, though, the raindrops stopped and the rest of the day turned out beautifully. 

Upon arrival, we met up with CARDINAL COUPLE readers and staff members Tillie the Tour Guide and Tom the Transportation Captain. WE discussed shortening Tom's title to something like Tranny Tom or Tom the Trans-Sport but the motion was tabled when the "Tillie-ritas" (her EXCELLENT version of Maragarita's) came out.  

Poobah  details the events surrounding his trip to remove
Bobby Petrino from Fayetteville and his subsequent addition
of four Guatemalian engineers to his palace staff. 

The couple of hours before kickoff seemed to fly by. Plenty of Cardinal fans stopped by our tailgate staging area to say "Hi!" and, fortified with delicious food and beverage...we were prepared to make the walk inside PJCS and get an early look at the 2012 Football Cards.

Cardinal Couple readers and good friends Bill and
Barbara Hancock offer to take Sonja away from our
tailgate area and put her in a secure and safe area.

The crowd wandered inside in typical tawdy and casual Louisville fashion as the contest began. A brief second quarter rain sent some to the parking lot but most just sought higher, covered seating or braved the short shower out. It was 24-14 at the half and public address Sean Moth was covering the contest from field. He got Cards engaged in a side-to-side chant of "Go...Cards" and it could be a popular cheering tactic when the regular season arrives. 


Louisville has the potential to be great this year on the gridiron but needs to bolster the thin offensive line ranks. Two O-Line Cardinals suffered injuries early in the first quarter...but neither injury appeared to be serious and both are expected to be ready for fall practice. 

Popular Louisville Sports Report and local media impresario
Howie Lindsey stopped by to exchange greetings with our
group and take photos. He is seen here reacting to our shouts
that the stadium is in the opposite direction. 

Teddy's team defeated Stein's Squad 27-24 in the Spring Game but just because the contest was over didn't mean that the parking lot festivities were through. 

Several K.B.'s are hidden in this group of
Poobah disciples. They must be sought out,
revealed and eliminated.  

Plenty of Cardinal fans fired up the grills and brought the coolers back out for post-game discussions, bean bag toss and tailgating. We also were blessed with a group-consciousness vision and apperance of POOBAH. He appeared before us in his red chariot of fire, sacramental beverages magically appeared with this vision and he spoke of things relevant, forecasted future events and appearing with him our...the legendary "five horse" BABS. She brought word of her encounters with the evil Kitchen Biotches...the demons that have brought us all pain, suffering and bloating.


Poobah also revealed his dislike of a certain type of steak and told parables of the epic "battle of the mulch" and his "against all odds" winter campaign and victory...armed with only a rope and plastic garbage can lid. He then magically disappeared again and we departed as well shortly thereafter, honored and a bit humbled with this unexpected revelation. 


A great afternoon for football, fun and friends. WE arrived home a few hours later just in time to see Hansen's disappointing defeat on television and several hours later...were fast asleep after a full and rewarding day of gridiron and socializing.  
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