Softball Faces UK and Syracuse at Ulmer This Week
Louisville softball is coming off a stellar weekend, as Paulie mentioned yesterday after they wrapped up another run-rule over Pittsburgh. The Cards have just four home games remaining on the calendar, with those all coming this week.
It's rivalry week for the diamond sports, as Louisville baseball and softball will both welcome the Wildcats to town this week. Baseball will be tonight at 7 with softball facing off against the SEC squad tomorrow at 6. The Cards won the first matchup of the season in Lexington just about a month ago, taking an exciting 8-7 comeback win over the Cats in nine innings. Louisville scored three runs in the top of the seventh on March 25th to force extra innings.
UK has not had a great time since then, as the Cats have been in the midst of an abysmal run in SEC play. UK opened their SEC season with a win over Auburn on March 6th. They have not won a conference game since and sit at 1-20 in league play. UK is 24-5 in non-conference games, which gives an indication of how strong their SEC schedule has been. They have a win over #13 Stanford, and they have not lost a non-conference game (other than the first outing against Louisville) since a 9-0 defeat against #15 Oregon on Valentine's Day. Louisville certainly shouldn't take this game for granted.
After the Cats, Louisville brings in Syracuse for their final scheduled home weekend of the season. The Orange are just 17-19 overall this season and just 4-12 in conference play. They have had a handful of games canceled, as you might suspect from an outdoor spring sport in Syracuse, New York, but they have managed to win one series. They beat Boston College in two out of three games. Their other two wins are against Pitt and Notre Dame. The Orange will play a double header today in Buffalo before heading to Louisville.
After this weekend, the Cards hit the road for the final series of the regular season against NC State. The Wolfpack are 6-11 in conference play, so that should be another chance, along with this weekend, for Louisville to pick up a few more wins. As it stands, Louisville is third in the ACC behind Duke (18-3) and FSU (15-3). The Cards (13-5) are narrowly ahead of Stanford (15-6) on win percentage. Louisville will need to score a handful of wins (six would be nice) over the next two weekends to stay in the top four seeds of the ACC tournament, as Virginia Tech looms at 12-6 and has UNC at home this weekend with Syracuse on the road to close. The ACC Championship will be in Charlottesville May 6 through May 9.
The Cards will need an almighty end to the season (plus a bit of luck) to earn the chance to return to Ulmer after this weekend. A top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament would mean Louisville would host a regional round, but there is a lot of ground to cover for that to happen. The Cards are currently 32nd in NCAA RPI. Duke is the highest rated ACC team, and they're just 13th. Even a stunning run to the ACC Championship would make it difficult for the Cards to climb that high.
Nevertheless, Louisville is having a great season, and not being one of 16 regional hosts won't take the shine off of that. All the Cards can do is take care of business and finish the season strong. The rest will take care of itself.
Until next time, Go Cards!
Case
images via GoCards.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your comments here. We ask you be respectful of other posts, no matter how ridiculous they may seem to you. After all, it is CARDINAL COUPLE.
Any attempts to advertise a product or other website here in the comments section without the prior consent of CARDINAL COUPLE will result in a bill rendered for advertising services and possible legal action. We're serious. No more bots.
Now, have your take...