Softball Adds Pitcher for 2026 -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Madi Reeves Joins Cards From Miami OH

Photo from GoCards

As hinted at in yesterday's post, Louisville softball had plans of another roster change. Lo and behold, the announcement came pretty quick. Right-handed pitcher Madi Reeves joins the Cards from Miami (Ohio) and will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Reeves earned several awards in her two seasons with the Redhawks including MAC Freshman of the Year, All-MAC First Team, and NFCA All-Region Third Team.

In her young career, Reeves has thrown 40 complete games in 83 outings. She has compiled a 3.36 career ERA and 361 total strikeouts in 418.1 total innings pitched. She led the NCAA last season in innings pitched.

Photo from GoCards

She joins a stacked bullpen alongside Alyssa Zabala, Brooke Gray, Lindsey Mullen, Ryann Sanders, and recent transfer Anna Wise. The long list of experienced pitchers should help relieve any pressure or overwhelming duties from any individual player.

There have been whispers of a key player from last year's team entering the portal, but nothing has been confirmed nor has that player's name been given. We will keep you updated if we hear any more information on this or if it is nothing more than just a rumor.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Picks Up Pitcher in the Portal -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Diamond Cards Add Anna Wise

Photo courtesy of GoCards.com

Louisville softball picked up a pitcher in the transfer portal over the weekend. Anna Wise, a left-handed pitcher from Ohio University, will have three years of eligibility remaining.

As a freshman, Wise earned All-MAC Second Team honors and was named to the MAC All-Freshmen Team. She was one of the top two pitchers for the Bobcats. Wise posted a 2.86 ERA with 64 strikeouts and just 29 walks. She appeared in 30 games, earning 21 starts. 

She will join a bullpen alongside Alyssa Zabala (RHP), Brooke Gray (LHP), Lindsey Mullen (RHP), and Ryann Sanders (RHP). Having a rotation of several experienced pitchers will give Holly Aprile and pitching coach Griffin Joiner quite a bit of flexibility on who to put in the circle and to avoid overworking any single pitcher.

We will see a healthy mix of left-handed and right-handed pitchers next season. In an ever-evolving game that tends to favor offense, having a mix of pitchers can keep batters on their toes. This also can offer an advantage when you want to look at a left-handed pitcher to go against strong left-handed batters.

Softball Championship Set

While we are on the topic of softball, the NCAA Championship is set. In the first game of the day, Texas shut out Tennessee 2-0 in a pitching duel. It was followed up by Texas Tech hitting a walk-off sacrificed fly to defeat Oklahoma 3-2. The Sooners had won four straight softball titles and six of the last eight.

Other Louisville Sports

Photo courtesy of GoCards.com

While we do not cover the men's sports at Louisville, we do want to congratulate Louisville baseball on their postseason success as they have advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals. 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Struggles in NCAA Regionals -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Sends Less Than 50% of Teams to Supers

ACC Softball Logo

Happy Monday to our Cardinal Couple readers out there! Daryl had a big birthday yesterday and celebrated into the evening and asked me to help her out today. We certainly wish Daryl the happiest of birthdays!

The NCAA Softball Tournament was in full swing this past weekend with all 16 NCAA Regionals taking place. Despite having nine teams making the NCAA Tournament, the ACC did not fare so well with only two (maybe three as one game was still playing late last night) advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Photo by ACC

5-seed Florida State won their first two games before Auburn got an upset in the winners bracket. Fortunately, it is double elimination so the Seminoles had a second chance and took down the Tigers in the winner-takes-all game. They outscored opponents 25-9 on the weekend.

11-seed Clemson also advanced , but only needed three games to do so. They went undefeated on the weekend with their final win coming against Kentucky. The Tigers outscored opponents 16-3.

14-seed Duke could not capitalize on hosting a Regional and fell to Georgia. The Blue Devils won their opening round in run-rule fashion before being bested by Georgia in their second game. Duke went on to win in the losers bracket by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to pull off the win. They turned around beat Georgia easily to force the "if necessary" game. Duke scored both of their runs in the first inning and then had to go to extra innings, where the Bulldogs put up a three-spot in extra innings for the upset.

NCAA Softball Logo

Virginia was in the region with 8-seed South Carolina. Despite never facing the host Gamecocks, Virginia went 1-2 with both losses coming to North Florida by one run each.

Georgia Tech was in the region with 3-seed Florida. The Yellow Jackets went 0-2, falling to Florida Atlantic and Mercer.

North Carolina was in the region with 7-seed Tennessee. The Tar Heels went 0-2, losing to Ohio State and Miami (OH). I'm sure they would've preferred playing anyone from the other 49 states.

NCAA WCWS Logo

Virginia Tech was in the region with 15-seed Alabama and nearly came out of the weekend still playing. The opened with a dominating win over Belmont before losing to Alabama by one in the second round. They responded by run-ruling Belmont before falling to the Crimsons by one run in the finale.

California was in the region with 2-seed Oklahoma. After a 1-0 win over Omaha to start the weekend, the Bears were run-ruled by the Sooners the next game. Cal would shut out Omaha for a second time to force a rematch with Oklahoma, but had the same result with a run-rule defeat.

Stanford was in the region with 16-seed Oregon. As of 11:15pm ET last night, the winner-takes-all game was going on with the Cardinal holding a 7-3 lead. Stanford had a great start to the weekend by cruising past Binghamton and run-ruling host Oregon. The Ducks turned around with a run-rule victory themselves, forcing the "if necessary game". A Stanford win would place three ACC teams in the NCAA Super Regional round.

Photo by Jared

There was another exciting game going late into the night too, but this one did not involve an ACC team. 1-seed (top overall seed) Texas A&M was upset by Liberty 6-5, meaning the top overall seed did not advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since seeding became a thing in 2005.

There are a few teams of note that were playing in the NCAA Regionals that Louisville faced this season. The Cards fell to Liberty 9-4 in the second game of the season. Louisville defeated Florida Atlantic 4-0 while still down in Florida.

Of the ACC teams in the tournament, Louisville went 3-13 against them this year. The Cards were swept 0-3 by Virginia Tech and Duke. They went 1-2 against Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Cards and Cavaliers met again in the ACC Tournament with Virginia taking the walk-off win.

Photo by Jared

The Cards posted a strong non-conference result, but a 9-15 record in the ACC regular season proved to be the downfall this season. The addition of two new softball teams in Stanford and California has raised the level of the conference. The Cards will need to look at beefing up the roster and making some noise in the ACC next season in hopes to be back dancing in the tournament.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Tournament Starts Tomorrow -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Set to Play at 5:00pm Tomorrow

Louisville softball is set to begin postseason tomorrow. The Cards are the 10-seed in the ACC Tournament and will play 7-seed Virginia tomorrow at 5:00pm.

The path to the ACC Tournament was not easy, especially since only 12 teams out of 15 made the tournament this season following the expansion of the ACC. Three ACC schools currently do not sponsor softball- Miami, Wake Forest, and SMU. UofL faced 1-seed Florida State, 3-seed Virginia Tech, and 4-seed Duke this season. The Cards only played one of the bottom three teams in the conference- Boston College. The other two teams that did not make it our NC State and Syracuse.

The Cards earned the 10-seed with a 9-15 conference record. Florida State (18-3) took the top overall seed with one of their three conference losses coming to Louisville in April. Clemson (19-5) took the second seed, beating out Virginia Tech (18-6) by one game. Duke (16-8) and Stanford (16-8) tied for fourth in the ACC but the Blue Devils won the tiebreaker.

North Carolina (15-9), Virginia (14-10), Georgia Tech (10-11), and California (11-13) took spots 6-9. Behind Louisville in the last two spots are Notre Dame (7-17) and Pitt (7-17).

Georgia Tech and California will kick off the tournament tomorrow morning at 11:00am. Stanford and Pitt will follow suit at approximately 1:30pm. Following a midday break, Louisville and Virginia will begin at 5:00pm, followed by North Carolina and Notre Dame at approximately 7:30pm.

In the event Louisville defeats Virginia, the Cards would advance to face 2-seed Clemson on Thursday.

Louisville played at Virginia in mid-April. The Cards won the first game 6-5 before dropping the final two games 8-2 and 6-0. UofL did not face Clemson this year.

Cardinal Couple will not have any representatives up at host site Boston College, but will provide coverage here on our website.

(Photos by Jared except for ACC bracket)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Race to the ACC Softball Tournament -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

ACC Softball Standings Remain Tight Down the Stretch

With the regular season down to the final stretch, the ACC softball standings have been starting to fall into place, but there is still just enough softball left to continue to shake up the standings. For Louisville, a Sunday evening upset victory over Florida State helped better the Cards' position and it made the battle for the top of the ACC more interesting.

Currently, Louisville sits at 10th in the ACC at 7-14 (0.333) out of 15 teams. This year, only the top 12 teams qualify for the ACC Tournament, leaving the bottom three on the outside looking in. 

The full ACC standings are as follows:

Florida State 16-2 (0.889)

Virginia Tech 17-4 (0.810)

Clemson 19-5 (0.792)

Duke 16-8 (0.667)

North Carolina 15-9 (0.625)

Stanford 13-8 (0.619)

Virginia 14-10 (0.583)

Georgia Tech 10-11 (0.476)

California 8-13 (0.381)

Louisville 7-14 (0.333)

Notre Dame 7-17 (0.292)

Syracuse 6-15 (0.286)

Pitt 6-15 (0.286)

NC State 6-18 (0.250)

Boston College 5-16 (0.238)

Florida State and Virginia Tech are set to play a series in Blacksburg over the weekend. A weekend sweep by the Hokies would put them in first but even one one by the Seminoles guarantees Florida State an ACC title.

California and Syracuse is another ACC series to keep an eye on. A couple losses by the Orange would work in Louisville's favor.

Louisville visits Pitt to close out the season. The Panthers have work to do to get out of the bottom three and could be fighting for survival.

A few factors that work in Louisville's favor include tiebreakers over Notre Dame and Boston College. The Irish have completed conference play so a tie between them and the Cards would give Louisville an edge. 

NC State has completed conference play so they are the only team Louisville is guaranteed to finish ahead of.

Louisville only needs one win this coming weekend to lock in an ACC Tournament birth. One win would put them ahead of NC State and Notre Dame in the standings and help lock in any type of tiebreaker over Boston College.

(Photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Hosts Western Kentucky -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Hosts Western Kentucky

Following a seven-game road trip, Louisville softball returns home to Ulmer Stadium for a four-game stretch. First on the docket is a rematch with Western Kentucky. The Cards beat the Hilltoppers 3-2 earlier this season in Bowling Green.

WKU is 24-19 on the season including 10-10 in Conference USA. Most recently, the Toppers swept New Mexico State at home but was run-ruled by Kentucky before that.

Only two Western Kentucky players are currently hitting over .300- Maci Masters with a .320 batting average across 125 at bats and Jenna Blanton with a .545 batting average across 44 at bats. They hit .270 as a team with 204 runs scored. Roughly 10% of their total hits are home runs.

From a pitching standpoint, four Toppers have stepped foot in the circle. They have a combined 3.47 ERA this season, giving up 282 hits and 165 runs. They have struck out 196 batters compared to 149 walks.

For Louisville, where the Cards have lacked in power hitting, they have made up for in speed and aggressive base running. The lead the ACC with 89 stolen bases, 2.07 steals per game, and 23 triples. Chelsea Mack and Easton Lotus lead the conference with 18 steals apiece. The 23 triples is also good for third-best in the country. They rank in the top 15 in stolen bases per game.

Louisville is 4-1 against in-state opponents this season and look to improve on that mark tonight. First pitch is set for 6:00 pm and will be aired on ACCNX.

(Photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Softball falls in rubber match at Virginia ---SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOOS HOLD CARDS TO TWO HITS IN SERIES FINALE

courtesy UVA

Louisville  Softball has a tenancy to disappear offensively against top quality pitching and that was the case Saturday in  Charlottesville, as Louisville ran into Virginia pitcher Eden Bigham (14-7) and she limited Louisville to two singles in a 6-0 whitewash of the Cards. 

Basically, although we didn't know it at the time...this one was over when the first Virginia batter (Jade Hylton) hit a home run off of Cards starter Alyssa Zabala (8-8)

And that would be the end of the scoring until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Bella Cabral homered off Zabala, That four tripper, and and another VA run spelled the end for Zabala's appearance in Holly Aprile's mind, and she went with sophomore Brooke Gray in relief. Saturday was not Gray's day, though...as she allowed three hits, three runs and two walks in just 1/3 of a inning. 

With a the score 6-0, the Cards brought in Lindsey Mullen, who was able to get the Cards out of the inning, with two outs registered in just eight pitches. 

And, so, the Cards return home and wait for their next contest, when WKU comes to town Tuesday, April 22nd. 

HAPPY EASTER

To all our readers, a very happy Easter to you, However you choose to spend it, enjoy this holiday and if the Easter Bunny is kind to you, well, that's just a bonus...friends. (I like Reese's Cups, in case...) 

Paulie

Cards Softball to face IU in Bloomington -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Cards Look to Get on Win Streak with Visit to IU

Louisville Softball looks to end a four game losing streak this season and also a four game losing streak to Indiana when they visit IU for a Wednesday match up. 

It's a 6 p.m game, but will only  be available for viewing on the Big Ten Network Plus, unless you make the trip to Bloomington to watch it live. Big Ten Network Plus is a "pay for" channel and not automatically provided to Louisville viewers on cable or free on the Internet. . 

Louisville is 20-16 overall on the season and seems to be in a cycle lately where they win their non-conference matchups and lose their ACC games. UofL has lost four in a row to the Hoosiers, but won six in a row against them before that, and are 20-7 in the history of the series. 

IU enter the contest 26-10. 

Louisville had their two game series against Oakland cancelled due to expected (and received) inclement weather and the skies did unload on the Louisville area, with a lot of road and streets down by the Ohio River still unpassable. Schools in the Louisville area are still on "NTI"  as of Wednesday. The Cards did fall to UK 8-3 back on April 2nd in their last game. Games scheduled against Oakland were cancelled over last weekend and the kickoff to Derby festivities in Louisville, the huge fireworks and air show Thunder Over Louisville, was also canceled this year, since the Great Lawn, where any gather to view the event,  is still underwater. 

For Louisville on the softball diamond..., it seems to be a situation where the Cards can't get across the plate very well lately. Virginia Tech outscored Louisville 27-7 in their three game series back on March 14-16. UNC outscored the Cards 31-15 in the series at Chapel Hill, and UofL hasn't had a 10 run plus offensive performance since they bombarded NKU back on March 18th in Highland Heights. 

UofL isn't a team that is built on the long ball, either.  The have just 19 home runs on the season, while giving up 37. Char Lorenz is the only Card with more than five home runs on the season..,the redshirt freshman from Munster, IN. has six on the season and also leads Louisville in RBI's. 

Cards pitching isn't awful this year, but Holly Aprile has used seven pitchers in 36 games and they have a combined ERA of 4.37 per game. . Alyssa Zabala is still the "ace" of the staff, at 8-5...the other two regular starters are Sam Booe (4-3) and Brooke Gray (5-6). 

Lpuisville is currently tied for 12th place in the ACC Standings, at 20-16 and 3-9 in ACC play, tied with Boston College. 12 teams make the ACC  Tournament this year, a single elimination format. The CARDS have four (3) game series left against ACC opponents...at Boston College, at Virginia, hosting FSU and at Pitt, to end the regular season. 

paulie

Cards Fall in Lax and Softball -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Second Quarter Dooms Lax Cards

A rough day on Floyd Street for two Louisville women's sports squads Saturday

Louisville lacrosse couldn't overcome a porous second quarter as they fell to #4 Stanford 15-2. The loss drops the Cards to 5-7 on the year and 1-4 in the ACC.

It took less than two minutes for the Cards to score, but it would be their only lead of the game. Stanford would score a couple quick goals. Louisville would hold Stanford scoreless over the next eight minutes before another goal by the ACC newcomers right before the end of the period gave them a 3-1 lead. The second quarter was all Stanford as they outscored Louisville 8-0. The Cards trailed 11-1 at the break and were facing an uphill battle with a running clock.

The third quarter, while quick with the running clock, was rather uneventful. Stanford added a pair of goals to go up 13-1. Stanford added a couple more goals with a Louisville score sandwiched in the middle.

Lauren Figas and Reese Whiteman scored the two goals for the Cards, who were limited to just 18 shots on the day.

On the defensive end, J Pleck recorded nine saves with 15 goals allowed. She now has 107 saves on the year. Ashley Osborne recorded her 100th ground ball of the season. 

Louisville returns to action on Tuesday at noon when they host Liberty.

Softball Silenced Against Duke

Louisville softball's lone run came with two outs in the seventh inning in a 5-1 loss to #19 Duke. Duke takes the series lead 2-0 with the final game of the series slated for today at noon.

Duke was able to capitalize on a pair of Louisville defensive miscues to score a run in the top of the first inning. The Blue Devils were able to add another run in the third, but the damage was limited with multiple runners on base at the time. A solo home run and a pair of hits plated two more runs for Duke. They added an insurance run in the seventh for a strong 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, a double by Ally Alexander and walks by Maddi Grant and Madison Pickens loaded the bases with one out. Easton Lotus was able to send a ball deep to left center to drive in a run, but the rally came too late.

Alexander and Pickens combined for four of Louisville's six hits. The Cards left seven runners on base. Duke pieced together five runs on 10 hits but the Louisville defense stranded nine Duke runners on base.

Alyssa Zabala got the start in the circle but took the loss after allowing four hits and three runs. Sam Booe came in for the back half of the game and allowed six hits and two runs along with a pair of walks.

The Cards drop to 20-14.

WBB Elite Eight Set

UofL women's basketball at Lacrosse

The last of the Sweet Sixteen games were played yesterday and the NCAA Women's Elite Eight is set.

2-seed TCU and former Cardinal Hailey Van Lith took down 3-seed Notre Dame 71-62. The Irish had one of their worst offensive performances of the season .

1-seed Texas survived a scare against 5-seed Tennessee and won 67-59 in the battle of the orange teams.

2-seed UConn took down 3-seed Oklahoma and former Cardinal Payton Verhulst. Paige Bueckers went off for a career-high 40 points.

1-seed USC and former Cardinal assistant coach Beth Burns took down 5-seed Kansas State and former Cardinal Zyanna Walker 67-61 in a battle that came down to the final seconds.

Today's games feature 1-seed UCLA vs 3-seed LSU and 1-seed South Carolina vs 2-seed Duke.

(All photos today by Jared)

Happy Sunday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball's Step Up From Last Season -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2025 Softball Shows Improvement from 2024 Season

The 2024 Louisville softball season ended with a bit of disappointment as the Cards finished 27-25 with no ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cards finished 11th in the ACC with only the top 10 teams making the conference tournament. They lost seven of eight ACC series but were only swept once.

One of the biggest downfalls to last season was a total of 14 losses coming by two runs or less or in extra innings. While it is uncommon to be on the wrong end of most of your close games played in a season, every once in a while you come across an extra unlucky year. 

Last year's team started 8-0 and found themselves 12-2 before stepping foot inside Ulmer Stadium. They went 5-4 in the first couple weekends at home.

This season, Louisville is off to a 16-7 start and already matched the number of ACC series wins from last year with one. They have also looked better early on at home, going 6-2 in the first two weekends with the only losses coming to Northwestern and Notre Dame, the former having made the NCAA Tournament last season.

The high-powered offense has scored eight or more runs nine times this season and has even posted double-digit runs five times. Defensively, UofL has allowed three runs or less 16 times this season. They have not surrendered double-digit runs but Liberty and Purdue both dropped nine runs against the Cards.

As we have mentioned on the weekly podcast and in past articles, a key factor to the early success of this team is speed and aggressiveness. From top to bottom, Louisville has a lineup full of players who can kick it into second gear at a moments notice. On the basepath, Louisville set the program record for number of successful steals in a game with eight against Bellarmine. They also have a game with seven successful stolen bases. Advancing runners into scoring position has created more R.B.I.'s and scoring opportunities that may have been absent last year.

In terms of power hitting, five Cardinals have hit a home run so far this season: Char Lorenz (4), Bri Despines (2), Ava Venturelli (1), Katie Thatcher (1), Madison Pickens (1). While this number is low, the Cards have made the most of their home runs, registering wins in all of them.

The Cards are back in action and remain at home when Eastern Kentucky makes a visit to Ulmer Stadium on Wednesday at 5:00pm. After that, the Cards will host Virginia Tech over the weekend.

(Softball photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Season Swiftly Approaching -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Travel to Florida Next Week

Louisville softball is swiftly approaching the 2025 regular season. Similar to past seasons, the Cards will spend a majority of February in warmer weather, this time playing 16 games in three and a half weeks in Florida. Only six of those opponents made the NCAA Tournament last year and none of them advanced beyond the NCAA Regionals. For a fairly young team, playing lighter competition early can be beneficial, especially due to the caliber the ACC will bring.

Notable returners and upper classmen include junior pitcher Alyssa Zabala, senior infielder Ally Alexander, senior infielder Maddi Grant, and junior outfielder Chelsea Mack. Zabala is in line to be the ace again this season and will have plenty of help from other pitchers such as Sam Booe and Brooke Gray. Alexander suffered a hand injury for part of last season, but has been the utility player for many infield positions over the years. Grant has been an on-off player in terms of starting or playing a reserve role, but her bat picked up quite a bit during the back half of last season. Mack, who transferred in from Kentucky a couple years ago, is expected to take control of center field again and will be a speedy base runner on offense.

Last year’s Louisville team had some offensive woes, scoring three or fewer runs in 22 out of 52 games played. Softball is often a high-scoring game so you want to aim for higher than 0.5 runs per inning each game. The Cards gave up six or more runs (double the three runs previously mentioned) 16 times last season. Some pitching and infielder woes helped contribute to allowing high scores, both things we hope to see cleaned up this season.

In close games where the score differential was two runs or less or went to extra innings, the Cards went 10-14. While they were able to find a way to win in 42% of those games, you want to see that number far higher. It is good to be competing in those games, especially against tough teams such as Duke, Clemson, and Florida State, but the best teams find a way to pull a win out. If the Cards found a way to turn half of those close game losses into wins and went 17-7, their overall record would have been 34-18, a good enough mark to make the NCAA Tournament. Sadly, 27-25 kept the Cards on the outside looking in.

The hype has been pretty high so far this season so we will see what Holly Aprile and her crew are able to do to help propel Louisville back into the postseason.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Super Regionals Set -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SOFTBALL GOES ON...WITHOUT LOUSVILLE

Louisville softball may not be in the 'Big Dance', but that won't stop the NCAA Tournament from continuing on as normal. After a wild round of Regionals, including some upsets, the Super Regionals are now set.

#1 Texas vs #16 Texas A&M

The top seeded Longhorns had no trouble in the opening rounds of play, going 3-0 and outscoring opponents 26-2. They have the comfort of remaining home for a little while longer.

The Aggies didn't cruise along quite as easily as their in-state rival, but Texas A&M did finish 3-0 and outscored opponents 15-2. Their only scare was a 1-0 victory over Texas State.

#8 Stanford vs #9 LSU

The Cardinal had quite a scare and needed the if-necessary game to move on. After surviving Saint Mary's 8-6 and Mississippi State 2-1, Cal State Fullerton cruised past Stanford 8-1. In the winner-takes-all game, the future ACC school scored all four of their runs in the third inning to win 4-2.

The Tigers had little trouble in the Regionals, outscoring opponents 18-1 to go 3-0.

#5 Oklahoma State vs Arizona

After cruising to a 6-0 win in their first game, the Cowgirls then defeated Kentucky 6-2 and Michigan 4-1 to advance.

The first unseeded team on this list, Arizona, had an eventful 3-0 Regional. They run-ruled Villanova to start the weekend and then defeated host #12 Arkansas 2-1 to advance to the final. The Razorbacks never made it back to the winner's side and Arizona won the Battle of the Wildcats against Villanova.

Note: Louisville defeated Arizona at Ulmer Stadium this season.

#4 Florida vs Baylor

Florida coasted along to wins of 6-0, 9-1, and 9-1 to take the Regional title. Former Louisville Cardinal Korbe Otis tallied three hits on the weekend.

Another unseeded team, Baylor, came away with some upsets to move on. The Bears defeated Ole Miss 3-1 to start the weekend before enjoying plenty of excitement against #13 Louisiana for three straight games. Baylor won the winner's bracket game 8-0 before the Ragin Cajuns came out of the loser's bracket to win the second match-up 13-0. In the winner-takes-all game, the Bears held on for a 4-3 victory.

#3 Tennessee vs #14 Alabama

The only excitement for the Volunteers came on a three-run home run that became a two-run home run after the batter passed one of the base runners while rounding first. Other than that, Tennessee went 3-0 while outscoring opponents 21-0.

The Crimson Tide went 3-0 on the weekend but had a couple close games in the mix. The began their weekend sneaking past USC Upstate 1-0. They followed that up with a 6-3 nine-inning game against Southeastern Louisiana. Alabama had a rematch with the Lions in the final game, but didn't need extra innings in a 12-2 win.

#6 UCLA vs #11 Georgia

The Bruins outscored the opponents in their three games 25-7. The only close game came during a 7-6 walk-off win against Virginia Tech.

The Bulldogs spent much of the weekend backed into a corner. They opened the tournament with an 8-0 win over UNC Wilmington before being stunned by Liberty 7-3. Georgia won back-to-back games against the Flames 14-5 and 3-2, including a walk-off in the final game to survive and advance. Former Louisville Cardinal Sarah Gordon went 0-6 in a reserve role.

#7 Missouri vs #10 Duke

The Tigers are the only team on this list who lost their opening game and had to play five games in three days to move on. After falling to Omaha 3-1 in the first game of the Regional, Missouri got back in the winner's bracket with a 5-1 win over Indiana and a 4-1 win over Washington. They then relied on late game heroics to defeat Omaha 5-1 (all five Missouri runs scored in the seventh inning) and then a 1-0 walk-off in the ninth inning to advance.

The Blue Devils got better as the weekend continued. After opening play with a 6-1 win over Morgan State, Duke then defeated South Carolina 8-0 and 10-1 to move onto the Super Regional.

Note: Louisville went 1-2 against Duke this year.

#2 Oklahoma vs #15 Florida State

The winner of the last three national championships, the Sooners continue their search for a fourth straight title. They cruised past Cleveland State 9-0 before being challenged by Oregon. Oklahoma won 6-3 and then later held on to beat the Ducks 3-2.

The Seminoles needed late game heroics to defeat Chattanooga 3-2 in their first game and then settled down. They defeated UCF 5-1 and Auburn 10-4 to move onto a rematch of last year's national championship.

Note: Louisville went 1-2 against Florida State this year.

Hopefully we will be reporting on Louisville playing in a Super Regional next year.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared