Softball Falls; Volleyball Beats UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Repeat Upset at UVA

After the big win on Thursday evening, Louisville looked to sneak the series from Virginia last night, but they'll have to wait until today if they want to finish the job. The Cavaliers scored first and poured it on late to break away and ultimately take an 8-2 victory. Louisville will get another chance at noon today. 

Louisville ran a bit of a different lineup yesterday, with Easton Lotus leading off but Char Lorenz following her instead of Chelsea Mack. Lotus bunted out before Lorenz had an infield single. Madison Pickens was next, and the box score gives her a single with Lorenz out at second, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. Sounds like a fielder's choice to me, but so it goes. Pickens stole second but Bri Despines ended the inning with another infield ground ball. Hey... at least the Cards were putting the bat on the ball. 

Brooke Gray got the start and UVA jumped on her quickly. A double down the left field line opened the inning and a sac bunt turned into a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A steal put two in scoring position and a ground ball back to Gray allowed both runners to advance, scoring a run. The trail runner taking the base was what haunted, as the next ball was a sacrifice fly to center. A ground out ended the inning but the Cavs led 2-0. 

Louisville got those runs back in the third. Chelsea Mack, batting ninth, singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Lotus sacrifice bunt. Lorenz got her second infield single and Mack moved up to third. Lorenz then ran herself off the base paths with a caught stealing, which is an interesting choice in the situation. Either way, Pickens singled to score Mack and Despines singled to keep the two-out rally alive. Camryn Lookadoo then hit a sharp grounder to short, but the shortstop missed the throw to second, allowing Despines and Lookadoo to reach safely and allowing Pickens to score, unearned. The defense recovered, with the shortstop herself refielding the ball and throwing Despines out at third. Inning over, but the score was tied again. 

The tie remained to the bottom of the fourth when UVA again grabbed a leadoff double. Instead of a sac bunt turning into a single this time, it turned into an error when the ball wasn't caught cleanly at first. The unearned run was returned, and UVA regained the lead. A fielder's choice erased the lead runner (and the second potential unearned run), but a two-run homer made it 5-2. Gray recovered for a line out to make it two outs, but a single and a walk ended her day. Zabala came on in relief needing to just get one out, but a single to center was booted and two more unearned runs came in to score. A flyout ended the inning, but the lead had grown to 7-2. 

The Cards stranded six runners on base over the final three innings and were unable to cut into the lead. UVA added an insurance run they didn't need to set the final score at 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and nobody out in the seventh, Louisville's chances ended on a strikeout, an infield fly, and a flyball to straightaway center. Ballgame. 

With Zabala having only thrown 1.1 innings yesterday and Sam Booe having come in to throw one of her own, it's anyone's guess who will take the start in the rubber match this afternoon. Louisville will need another strong offensive showing if they want to get a series upset. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

Meske Wins First Battle of the Bluegrass

Does a spring exhibition count as a true rivalry game? You bet it does. At least when we win. If we lose it doesn't count. Makes sense, right? Either way, the Cards took on the Cats in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena last night in their fourth and final spring match in the first season of the Dan Meske Era. Over 1,000 fans were on hand to watch the Cards take the 3-1 victory. We're still selling out the L&N FCU Arena in spring ball. I think the volleyball support is doing just fine. 

The Cards won 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-14 and were led by Payton Petersen and Reese Robins who each had eight kills. Defensively, the Cards were on fire. Kamden Schrand, officially wearing the libero jersey full time, finished with 22 digs, and Nayelis Cabello was close behind with 18. Cabello also contributed three blocks and six kills to go with her 24 assists. Petersen added four blocks and Robins had two. Those four will certainly be names we'll get used to hearing throughout the season. 

Other players that earned shoutouts from the official gocards writeup were Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, Hannah Sherman, Kalyssa Blackshear, Ava Utterback, Hannah Kenny, and Alanna Bankston. There will be a lot of new names to get acquainted with after a fair amount of turnover from last season, but things appear to be just fine after Louisville went 4-0 during their spring season. Last night, the Cards also honored Elle Glock with a special senior day ceremony of her own after Glock decided to forego her final season of eligibility to graduate and depart UofL in May. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on hand today, as house projects keep Daryl away. Given the updates from last time she was on the show, we'll definitely let that slide. Join us as we talk softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and a little WBB. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Softball Splits Double Header at BC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Drop Game 1, Win Game 2 

It's not often that you get a weekend series rubber match on Saturday, but that will be the case when the Cards and Eagles get today's game underway at 1PM. After the schedule change that Daryl mentioned yesterday, the teams played a pair yesterday afternoon, with Louisville scoring more runs overall in the two games but only winning one. 

Louisville's offense wasn't able to support Alyssa Zabala in the first game, though her 100th appearance for Louisville turned into a pretty sparkling start. Zabala played a bit with the strike zone, keeping the ball out of play a total of 12 times, as her five walks weren't great but she struck out seven batters in her six innings (a complete game since Louisville was away and trailed after the top of the seventh). Zabala gave up just four hits and finished with three runs all earned. Boston College struck first, and it was the first inning where Zabala gave up most of the negatives in her stat sheet. BC had just one hit in the inning, but Zabala gave up three walks and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. She had one strikeout. That means, if you're doing the math at home, her remaining five innings had just three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Like I said, it turned into a sparkling start. 

Louisville was able to find only three hits in the game and they didn't earn any walks. However, they only struck out three times, so it was largely a matter of hitting the ball right to the defense. Char Lorenz had two of the three hits, picking up a two-out double in the first and a triple in the fourth. Madison Pickens further picked on the center fielder after Lorenz tripled to left center by going to right center for a triple of her own and scoring Lorenz from third. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't bring Pickens in after she reached with one out, and the teams headed to the bottom of the fourth tied. 

Zabala gave up a walk in the bottom half but kept the game tied to give the Cards a chance to take the lead late. Louisville responded with a three-up, three-down inning, which was just their second at the time but was the first of three straight to end the game. In the fifth, Zabala gave up a lead-off walk. As they say, walks will haunt, and this one did. A strikeout was followed by a double to put runners on second and third with one out. An infield grounder led to a play at the plate, but with a base open, it wasn't a force play and the runner beat the tag. That set up a sacrifice fly for a second run in the inning and a strike out ended it, but too late. As I mentioned, Louisville didn't get on base in the final two innings. 

The second game looked like it might be a similar story offensively, and BC again scored first. This time it was Brooke Gray with the start and she pitched a complete game of her own. Gray gave up two runs, both earned, on six hits and two walks. She struck out six. The first run of the game came on a BC homer in the bottom of the first, and Gray locked down from there with five straight scoreless innings. 

Louisville was able to find the bases much more frequently in the second game, and good things often happen when they do. The team recorded eight hits and two walks, a marked improvement from the first game. Despite the increase in baserunners, Louisville was unable to find the plate until the fifth inning. In that one, they proved that anyone on the team is a threat on the base paths. Bri Despines walked to open the inning and stole second. She then came around to score on a Jac Hasty single, and Hasty advanced to second on the throw. Hasty's advancement was moot, as Taylor Monroe sent a ball over the fence to score the pair. With nobody out, Louisville turned over the lineup but couldn't score any additional runs. They did lead 3-1, though. 

With blood in the water, Louisville looked to capitalize after a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth for BC by loading the bases in the sixth. The Hasty walk, which came on a twelve-pitch at bat, was with two outs, though, and a fly out came up short of a grand slam to instead record the third out. BC thought they might have new life after surviving the threat as they opened the bottom of the sixth with a single, but Gray responded with two strikeouts and a pop out to end the inning. 

After going down in order in the fifth, the 9-1-2 hitters got to work in the seventh. Ally Alexander opened with a double and advanced to third on a productive ground out from Lotus. Chelsea Mack laid down a bunt single which froze the defense trying to prevent the run from scoring. With all eyes on Alexander at third, Mack advanced to second on what technically counts as a stolen base. Lorenz popped up to set up two outs, but Pickens was up to the moment and hit a double to left to score both runs. 

Gray came back out for the seventh and looked well in control holding a four run lead. She got a fly out to open the inning before giving up her second home run of the day to make it 5-2. A fly out and a foul out ended the game. 

Louisville was there or thereabouts throughout the two games yesterday, and they'll look for the first series win in a hot minute by taking the finale today. The game is at 1PM and will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was just be Paulie and me today in a return to the old days of the show being a two-man game. We'll have basketball news and plenty of spring sports to talk about, so be sure to have a listen. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Softball Falls in Game 1 vs Duke -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Comeback Comes Up Short

Louisville softball fell behind early in the opening game of their series against Duke yesterday, but they made a hard push to come back at the Blue Devils. Unfortunately, the hole was just a bit too deep for them to recover, and the teams will continue the weekend with Duke taking the 1-0 series lead after a 7-5 victory. 

Brooke Gray got the start for the Cards and the Blue Devils welcomed her into the game rather rudely. The leadoff batter laid down a bunt single and advanced to second on a first pitch single into right by the #2 hitter. A foul out gave Gray a chance to recover, but a walk loaded the bases with one out. In the heart of the order, Duke knocked a single into left, scoring two, and the batter advanced to second on what was considered an error by the left fielder. I assume this was a throwing error, but it isn't listed so.... who knows? Another single scored the two remaining baserunners, one being unearned, before a pair of fly outs ended the top half of the first. Louisville trailed 4-0.

To their credit, the Cards tried to respond immediately. Easton Lotus had an unfortunate foul out before Chelsea Mack was, shockingly, thrown out at first on a bunt single attempt. I guess teams are starting to look for that. Char Lorenz singled, and Bri Despines reached on an infield error. Taylor Monroe was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the rally. 

Gray settled in a bit in the second by taking care of a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Unfortunately, Louisville responded with a 1-2-3 inning of their own. They were able to put the bat on the ball, but that doesn't offer much consolation. Gray returned in the third and went walk, flyout, steal, single before her day was ended. Sam Booe came on in a tough spot with runners on the corners and one out, but stepped up herself to help Gray's ERA a bit. After a steal put runners on second and third, a squeeze bunt attempt popped up and Booe flashed the leather to catch it herself. She then put together a seven-pitch strikeout to end the inning.

The bottom of the third was remarkably similar to the bottom of the first, with Lotus and Mack getting out, Lorenz singling, and Monroe taking an HBP to load the bases. The only difference was that Despines walked instead of reaching on an error. Katie Thatcher came in to pinch hit, but Louisville left the bases loaded for the second time in three innings. They still trailed 4-0.

For the good ending to the third she had, Booe's start to the fourth was similarly less than ideal. A pair of singles were followed by a fielder's choice to get the lead runner at third, but a walk loaded the bases anyway. A Duke single scored two and Lindsey Mullen came on in relief. Mullen was able to limit the damage with a strikeout and a fly out, but the lead had grown to 6-0. 

Louisville's offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth. After a groundout, Maddi Grant doubled to center and Riley Janda came on to pinch run. Ally Alexander hit a grounder straight to short, which is not really what you want with a runner on second, but the traffic on the base paths meant everyone ended up safe. With runners on the corners, Duke shifted into a five infielder set up, which Easton Lotus punished with a two-run triple to left. A groundout meant the Cards were down to their final out, but Lorenz stepped up with her third straight single to score Lotus. Not to be outdone, Despines got tired of reaching only first while at the plate, so she smoked a two-run homer to right center. Monroe couldn't pick up her third HBP of the game, but Louisville left the fourth down just one run: 6-5.

Unfortunately, the Cards wouldn't score again. Perhaps if they had one more inning, they could have had a five-run eighth, but that's not the way it goes. In their remaining three trips to the plate, Louisville mustered just one walk and one single, not in the same inning. Duke was largely held in check, as well, until a solo home run in the top of the seventh. That set the final at 7-5. 

Both teams were able to find success on opposing pitchers, but Louisville would have hoped for a bit more consistency at the plate and a bit more stability from the bullpen. Mullen pitched the best of the Cardinal hurlers yesterday, finishing with just three hits, one run, and a strikeout in 3.2 innings. Booe, as I mentioned, started out well but ended up giving up three hits, two runs, and a walk with one strikeout in her one full inning. Gray got dinged around in the first, but was helped out immensely by Booe in the third. She finished with five hits, four runs (three earned), two walks, and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings. 

Louisville's offense managed eight hits, two walks, and two HBP, and they scored all five of their runs on one pitcher. The Cards struck out four times, and although eight runners left on base doesn't seem like too terribly many, the fact that six of the eight were with the bases loaded is definitely painful. Char Lorenz continued to show why she's batting third, getting three hits in four at bats and Despines reached base three times as well. 

The Cards and Blue Devils will continue the series at 2PM today, with today's game airing on ACCN proper. Louisville will look to pick up a ranked win and fight for another series victory, while Duke tries to finish off the series and climb back to where they think they should be in the ACC standings. 

No CCRHP This Week

I know that last week I said we'd probably be back this week, but sometimes things go sideways. Our hosts are still a bit scattered, and some things have been abnormal, as you may have guessed from the column schedule. We appreciate your patience and continued support and we'll get the podcast back in your feeds as soon as we can. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Softball Gets Late Winner in Bowling Green -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Wednesday, folks. Let's start with a brief note on recent transfer portal news. While some of yesterday's revelations look to have immediately called Jared's Tuesday column about WBB returners to question, we don't typically trade in incomplete information here at Cardinal Couple. We'll address any major WBB news when its official, but for now, portal announcements don't serve to promote the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. 

Softball Takes 3-2 Victory Over WKU

In a bit of an oddity yesterday evening, WKU hosted a "Red Out" for the visiting team. WKU softball promoted the event, encouraging fans to wear red, only for WKU to take the field in traditional home whites while Louisville softball wore their red tops with red pants. Go Big Red, indeed. The Cards struck first and last in this one, breaking a tie in the sixth inning for a 3-2 win. 

Coming off of a discouraging Saturday and Sunday in Chapel Hill, Louisville headed down I-65 for their fourth in-state matchup of the season. WKU entered the game at just 15-13 overall, but they've played some tough competition already. Their losses include a pair to UK, a pair to Georgia Tech, and a pair to ranked Liberty. The Hilltoppers were coming off of a road trip to El Paso, where they went 1-2 against UTEP, so they may have been a bit more travel weary than the Cards. In the end, Louisville prevailed to improve to 4-0 against in-state competition this year. The Cards will really put that record to the test next Wednesday when they bring the Wildcats into Ulmer. 

Louisville took the plate first yesterday and got to work. After Easton Lotus had an unfortunate foul out on a 2-0 pitch, Chelsea Mack laid down her 2-0 attempt for a bunt to third. At this point, that's an automatic single. She likely would have stolen second, but she was helped out by a wild pitch to advance. In stepped Char Lorenz batting third. A note on Lorenz: other people have noticed her. This is good because she's pretty hard to ignore. Softball America issued their midseason lists and Lorenz was ranked as the top freshman in the ACC. Pretty good. It was a timely announcement, as Lorenz singled up the middle to score Mack and give Louisville the lead. She advanced to second on the throw to the plate, and she came around to score when Bri Despines doubled in the next at bat. Despines advanced to third on a throwing error, but Louisville couldn't continue the scoring rally. The Cards grabbed their gloves with a 2-0 lead. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start and took one batter too long to settle in. The WKU leadoff hitter smoked a double to open the bottom half of the first and advanced on back-to-back sacrifice flies to score. A walk and a ground out ended the inning, and Louisville maintained the lead. It looked as though they would immediately extend it, as Taylor Monroe tripled to lead off the second inning. After a line out, though, Ally Alexander hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that Monroe misread, taking off for home. The WKU shortstop threw to the plate instead of first and Monroe was tagged out. That was made doubly unfortunate when Lotus singled with two outs. The Cards couldn't bring a runner around, but they still led 2-1 heading into the home half. 

Zabala got a bit more comfortable in the second, working around a leadoff HBP to avoid any runs in the inning. Louisville went down in order in the third, and Zabala continued to show resilience. She was having a bit of trouble finding the zone, but her pitches were working to fool the WKU batters. Alyssa gave up two walks and a wild pitch in the third, but she also picked up a pair of swinging strikeouts, adding to the one she had in the second inning. 

Louisville tried to play small ball in the fourth after Jac Hasty singled to open the inning, but she was stranded at second after a sacrifice bunt was followed by two quick outs. Zabala had a fairly quick inning in the bottom half, giving up a full-count single after two fly outs and ending the threat with a pop out. Louisville went down 1-2-3 for the second time in the fifth inning, and Zabala returned to the circle for her fifth inning of work. In hindsight, Coach Holly Aprile might have considered pulling the trigger on relieving her a touch sooner. WKU opened with a double, and the Cards responded with an intentional walk to create a force out at any base. When a single loaded the bases, Aprile made the call to the bullpen and Brooke Gray entered a tough situation. 

Unfortunately for Zabala, Gray surrendered Zabala's win chance in the first at bat, giving up a four-pitch walk to score a run, tying the game and leaving the bases loaded. Fortunately for Louisville (and Zabala's ERA), Gray locked in after that. She struck out the next two batters to flip the situation from very bad (bases loaded, nobody out) to a fair bit less bad (two outs, force out at any base). A fly out ended the inning with the score tied 2-2. 

With the middle of the order due up, Louisville responded immediately. Despines laid down a first-pitch bunt up the first base line and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hasty singled for the second time in the game, and Aprile chose to hold Despines at third. Riley Janda came in to pinch run for Hasty and immediately stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Monroe worked a strong at bat, fouling off strike three twice for an eight-pitch walk. Ava Venturelli pinch hit with the bases loaded and one out but fouled out. With the potential rally in danger, Louisville was bailed out by a wild pitch, with all three runners advancing 60 feet and Despines scoring the go-ahead run. Alexander ended up walking to reload the bases, but Lotus grounded out to end the threat. 

WKU tried to match Louisville's efforts in the bottom half, with the leadoff batter attempting a bunt up the first base line. She was thrown out, which was good because the next batter singled. Gray responded by forcing a fly ball, walked a pinch hitter in the DH spot, and forced another fly out to end the inning. Louisville's 2-4 hitters went down on just six pitches in the seventh, but Gray was up to the task. She answered the quick top half with an efficient bottom half, using just 12 pitches herself to force two ground outs and a pop out to end the game and earn herself the win. 

Louisville's offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, but that was largely due to a good outing from WKU's Rylan Smith. She threw 120 pitches in the complete game, giving up three earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and a pair of wild pitches. She struck out four. Zabala and Gray combined for 145 pitches, six hits, six walks, one WP, one HBP, and five strikeouts. The Cards left seven runners on base, including an uncharacteristic three from Lotus. Granted, those all came in one at bat. 

Louisville (20-12) returns home this weekend for a series with Duke. The Blue Devils are 21-12 so far this season with a 4-5 conference record. They went 2-1 against Clemson and Syracuse before being swept at home this past weekend by 9th-ranked Florida State. Duke was outscored 33-17 in the series, but they took the Seminoles to the wire on Saturday, losing 12-11. The Blue Devils will face East Carolina today before catching a flight to Louisville to start the series Friday. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Drops Two to Virginia Tech -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fight Back in Game Two, but Lose 10-0, 5-2

In anticipation of today's weather, Louisville and Virginia Tech agreed earlier this week to move the game scheduled for today to Friday for a double header. In the end, the two teams ended up playing fewer innings yesterday in two games than the Cards did Sunday against Notre Dame in one. Louisville was run-ruled in the first game before keeping the score close but just out of reach in the second. The two teams will play again tomorrow at noon in the series finale. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start in Game 1 against the VT ace, Sophie Kleiman. Kleiman ended up with a very nice day, which doesn't bode well for Cardinal hitters. She threw five full (a complete game) and gave up just two runs and three walks. She struck out two and had one wild pitch. One of Louisville's hits was a double (Taylor Monroe), but Kleiman threw just 71 pitches, meaning the Cards faced an average of 3.7 pitches. That's not going to put a pitcher under too much pressure. 

Zabala got out to a great start, striking out the first two batters she faced and getting a fly out for a one-two-three first inning. Unfortunately, the second inning went quite a bit worse. Zabala walked the first two batters and gave up a single to load the bases with nobody out. Here's where things got weird, and the big inning wasn't all on Alyssa. The next batter singled to center field, which would have scored one, maybe two no matter what. Chelsea Mack booted it in center, though, being charged with a fielding error and allowing a third run to score and the batter to make it all the way to third. Earned vs unearned runs are weird, and ultimately it probably wouldn't have mattered, but all three runs were charged to Zabala, despite the fact that one probably scored as a result of the error. Whatever. Louisville trailed 3-0. 

But wait, there still weren't any outs. Zabala rectified that with another pair of back-to-back strikeouts, and it looked like the Cards might escape a bad situation (bases loaded, nobody out) with less damage than previously anticipated. Not so lucky. Having struck out in her first at bat, the Hokies' leadoff batter stepped up and hit a first-pitch homer to score two runs and stretch the lead to 5-0. Zabala induced a ground out to end the inning, but her day was done. Final line: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. She threw an average of 4 pitches per batter faced. Tough days happen.

Louisville got their first baserunner on a Bri Despines walk, and a fielder's choice and wild pitch saw Taylor Monroe standing at second with one out. Nothing came of it, though, as a pair of infield ground balls ended the inning. Lindsey Mullen stepped into the circle for Zabala, but Virginia Tech wasn't done scoring yet. Mullen got two quick strikes on the first batter she faced, but plate discipline and quick hands saw the at bat extend to a full count after nine pitches (four fouls). On the tenth pitch, Mullen kept it in the zone, but her defense rewarded her with a throwing error that allowed the batter to reach. That proved costly when, after a fly out for the first out was followed by another two-run homer. A double put a runner in scoring position, and she advanced to third on a dropped third strike. Louisville got the out at first for the strikeout and then stranded the runner at third with a grounder. 

The Cards got another leadoff walk in the fourth, but it came to nothing, and Izzy Harrison replaced Mullen in the bottom half. Harrison's day was short-lived, as she threw nine pitches and saw runners standing on first and second after a pair of walks. Ryann Sanders came in to relieve her and got a ground out to short, but it was too slow to turn a double play, with both runners advancing. That set up a sac fly for VT and the second runner came home on a single before Sanders got a ground out to end the inning. 

Char Lorenz got Louisville's first hit in the bottom of the fourth, but she was erased immediately on a caught stealing attempt. Monroe had her double in the same inning, but no one was on base to take advantage, and a ground out ended the inning with no damage done by the Cards. VT hit their third homer of the day in the top of the fifth to make it 10-0 and set up Louisville's last stand. Ally Alexander coaxed a two-out walk, but the game ended on a fly out. Yuck. 

Sam Booe got the start in game two and Virginia Tech picked up where they left off. Booe was rocked immediately, giving up a lead-off home run, a single to follow, and a two-run homer to end her day. She threw 0+ IP, 16 pitches, and that was that. Brooke Gray came on in relief, and pitched the remainder of the game, finishing with a pretty strong showing. Gray ultimately threw 104 pitches and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 ER, and had 6 strikeouts. Gray gave up a walk to the first batter she faced, but she and Despines combined for a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double-play. A single preceded a double, but it was a hard liner into right so the run couldn't score. Gray got a strikeout to end the threat. 

Louisville's offense started much better than in game one, with Easton Lotus singling to lead off for the Cards. She, of course, stole second, but Chelsea Mack's bunt attempt was popped up to the catcher. Lotus advanced to third on a passed ball, but it didn't really matter since Char Lorenz sent a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence to score them both. Despines was hit by a bitch to keep the rally going, but the inning ended on a 4-6-3 double play. 

Gray got a quick 1-2-3 inning in the second to bring Louisville to the plate with a chance to tie or take the lead, but it proved to only be the start of a long scoreless run by both teams. The Cards and Hokies played the next five innings with no runs. Gray was nails in that time, giving up just a walk in the third and a pair of singles in the fifth, begging her offense to get one back to reset the game. Her opposite in the circle, Emma Lemley, was just as efficient, though. Louisville had a walk in the second and another in the fourth, but didn't have a real chance to score until the fifth. 

In the bottom of the fifth, still trailing 3-2, Maddi Grant opened with a ground out, but Jordan Williams followed with a single. Ally Alexander put a grounder in play, but it was right back to the pitcher, who turned and fired to second to get the lead runner. Needing a two-out rally, Easton Lotus choked up on the bat with two strikes and fired a single straight back up the gut. Alexander advanced from first to third on the hit, and Lotus followed her by stealing second. With the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position, Mack worked a full-count before striking out swinging. 

Gray had another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, but Louisville's offensive magic had run out. Another two-out rally may have been on the books, but Monroe was called out for leaving first base early after walking to end the inning. VT broke their stupor against Gray the old fashioned way in the seventh, leading off with a bunt single. Gray responded with a strikeout, seeming to stay on track, but a homer to left (I wonder which way the wind was blowing yesterday.) made it 5-2. The Cards had no answer in the seventh so that was that. 

Virginia Tech is a very good team, and Louisville had a much better showing in the second game of yesterday's double header. After the rest day, the Cards are likely to see another outing from Kleiman or Lemley tomorrow, so the offense will need to find an answer. First pitch is at noon, and the game will be on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on this week's show, with Paulie, Daryl, and me holding down the fort. We'll have some exciting softball to chat about and some less exciting softball and lacrosse to cover. We'll also look ahead to Selection Monday for the NCAA tournament, so be prepared to get your brackets in for the NCAA Pick 'Em challenge. Going forward, we'll be without the live show, but we'll still have the podcast available in the normal places when the show posts around 1PM. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Wins Home Opener -- WBB Senior Day Tonight -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Open Home Season With Blowout Win

Louisville softball had a warm welcome home, both figuratively and literally, as they defeated crosstown rival Bellarmine 10-0 in five innings. Temperatures broke into the 70s for the first time of the 2025 calendar year and the Cards couldn't be stopped with aggressive baserunning.

The Cards pieced together 10 runs on 10 hits while capitalizing on a pair of Bellarmine errors and multiple obstruction calls.

Brooke Gray got the start in the circle for the Cards, earning her third win on the early season. In her three innings of work, Gray surrendered two hits but maintained a shutout. Izzy Harrison came in relief for the final two innings, striking out six and walking one.

Louisville jumped out front early. After Chelsea Mack and Bri Despines found ways to get on base and advance to scoring position, Char Lorenz drove both runners in. The Cards recorded four successful steals in the first inning.

With two outs in the second inning, Louisville pieced together a four-run rally with Easton Lotus, Bri Despines, Chelsea Mack, and Madison Pickens crossing the plate.

Louisville did more damage in the third inning before recording any outs. Maddi Grant led off with the only triple of the game and was followed by a double by Ally Alexander. Easton Lotus followed with a single and the Cards found themselves threatening to run rule the Knights.

In the fourth inning, UofL pieced together two more runs to add a little insurance. The inning was highlighted by a 10-pitch at bat for Taylor Monroe, who capped it off with an rbi double.

Louisville finished the game 8-for-9 on steals with the only unsuccessful attempt coming in the fourth inning. The Cards had five multi-base hits and had no strikeouts on the offensive end.

The Cards remain home to host the Cardinal Classic this weekend. They will play five games from Friday-Sunday. 

Cards WBB Host Clemson for Senior Day

Photo by Go Cards

Senior Day for Louisville women's basketball has already arrived. The Cards will face off against Clemson at 6:00pm for their final home game of the regular season. It will be aired on tv on ACC Network.

Prior to the game, Olivia Cochran, Merissah Russell, Jayda Curry, and Ja'Leah Williams will be recognized in the Senior Ceremony. Cochran and Russell are both five-year players at Louisville. Curry has been with the Cards for the last two seasons while Williams used her final year of eligibility at Louisville this season.

Clemson, under first year head coach Shawn Poppie, is 13-14 this season. The sit near the bottom of the ACC at 6-10. The former Clemson had coach, Amanda Butler, is on the Louisville coaching staff as an assistant

Photo by Go Cards

While the Tigers don't have a ton of strengths, they have been efficient with their three-point shooting and have had strong bench scoring. Loyal McQueen is one of the best point guards in the country, averaging 5.0 assists per game. Hannah Kohn has proved to be one of the best three-point shooters nationally with 75 made threes and nearly three per game.

Louisville leads the all-time series, 12-3. All 12 wins have come since the Cards joined the ACC. Last year, Louisville went down to Littlejohn Coliseum and won 81-64.

WALZ PRESSER 2/26/25

(Softball photos by Jared)

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Sweeps Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Wins Pair of 5-1 Games

Louisville softball is playing in the Joan Joyce Classic this weekend, and they opened the event with a pair of games against Villanova and Minnesota. After dropping their second game last Saturday against Radford, the Cards demolished Cleveland State on Sunday and entered the weekend 3-2. After yesterday's matching 5-1 victories, Louisville moves to 5-2 with their Saturday game underway at 9am and two games tomorrow. 

In the opener, Louisville played host against Villanova and Alyssa Zabala got the start. She walked the third batter she faced, but struck out the fourth to end the inning. Louisville came to the plate and decided to functionally win the game right out of the gate. Easton Lotus walked, stole second, and then took third on a wild pitch. Bri Despines ended up getting three more out of the zone and walked as well. Like Lotus ahead, she also stole second, leaving a pair of runners in scoring position for Char Lorenz to bring them home on a single. 2-0.

Lorenz wasn't able to be the third Cardinal in a row to steal second, as she was thrown out, but Madison Pickens took her spot after a hit by pitch. Maddi Grant doubled to put runners on second and third again, but Katie Thatcher popped out to give the Cards two outs. Taylor Monroe doubled both runners in, and Ally Alexander followed with another double to score Monroe. Chelsea Mack moved Alexander to third with a bunt single, but the inning ended on another caught stealing attempt. That gave Louisville a 5-0 lead on five hits, two walks, a hit by pitch, and no errors. Pretty good. 

Unfortunately, the Cards were only able to pick up one more walk and two more hits through the remaining six innings. The walk and one of the hits were strung together in the third, but nothing came of them and every other inning was fairly sad. Fortunately for Louisville, Zabala was strong in this one, pitching four innings and giving up just the one walk to go along with three hits. One of those hits was a solo home run in the fourth to score Villanova's only run. She struck out four. Sam Booe relieved Zabala in the fifth and pitched two innings with two hits, two walks, and a strikeout. Booe was replaced by Ryann Sanders for the seventh inning, and Sanders went three-up, three-down. 

Game two saw Louisville win with the same final score but in a rather different manner. Like the first game, Louisville functionally won in the first inning, but they didn't expend all of their offensive output in one go. Louisville was the away team and Easton Lotus opened the game with a single. In an effort to play a bit of small ball, Despines laid down a bunt to move her to second, but Minnesota's pitcher was willing to be a little more generous than that. An errant throw saw both runners go 180 feet rather than just 60, and the play ended with Lotus back in the dugout after scoring an unearned run and Despines standing on third. Despines would go on to score on a fielder's choice RBI by Pickens. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start again, though she would only go 2.1 innings in this one. Brooke Gray relieved Zabala after Alyssa gave up six hits and a run with two strikeouts. After Louisville scored a third run in the top of the third inning (Lorenz walked, Pickens walked, Grant productive groundout, wild pitch to score), Minnesota followed a ground out with a double and two straight singles to score their first run of the game. With runners on first and second and one out, Gray was called on to end the threat, which she did with a strike out and a pop out. Gray would go on to give up four hits and one walk and struck out three in her 4.2 innings. Louisville led 3-1 after three. 

Louisville put a runner on base in the fourth on a single and in the fifth on a walk, but they weren't able to bring either batter around. The Cards looked to be in for a big inning in the sixth when Taylor Monroe reached on an error to lead off and Jordan Williams singled to follow. The good vibes ended pretty quickly, though, when Monroe was thrown out trying to stretch the Williams single into two bases. A ground out gave the Cards two quick outs, but a Chelsea Mack single brought in Williams, who had moved to second on the throw out of Monroe. A fly out ended the inning with the Cards up 4-1. 

Louisville scored their final run on a two-out rally in the seventh. Madison Pickens singled to keep Louisville's inning alive and Maddi Grant rewarded her with an RBI triple. Louisville led 5-1 going into the final frame, and Minnesota looked like they'd consider putting up a fight. After a fly out, the Gophers found a gap for a double and followed it with a single to put two runners in scoring position. Gray was able to buckle down, though, and nab a strikeout to mean any out would win the game. A fly out to center did just that. 

All in all, it was a pretty good afternoon for the Cards. If there's one thing to clean up, it would be to not give up so many hits. While they spread just five against Villanova, they gave up ten to Minnesota and were lucky to not give up more runs. Part of that was not luck, as I'd be remiss to not mention a pair of web gems from Ally Alexander at third base. In one game, she had a leaping grab on what looked like a double if it got over her, and in the other she had a diving stop toward short before popping up and firing to first for the out from a knee. Pretty good stuff at the hot corner. 

Louisville is back in action with one game today against Minnesota, which is going on at the time of publication, and they'll play two tomorrow against Purdue (1:15) and host FAU (4). The Owls are ranked 25th in the country. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'm out this week for some home improvement items and Jared remains away. Daryl, Jeff, and Paulie will still bring you plenty of show with an exciting week for WBB and good showings from softball and lacrosse. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Concludes Season with Win -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Photo by NBC / Getty Images / Justin Casterline

Happy Monday!... or something like that. The Monday after Derby weekend should be recognized as a holiday due to the fact we could all use an extra recovery day. Over 107,000 in attendance for the Kentucky Oaks, over 156,000 in attendance for the Kentucky Derby, and a record number of bets placed worldwide means it was another successful Derby season here in 'The Ville'.

Paulie had some solid picks for those of you who partake in those types of events. Sadly, I ended up in the hole just a little bit- an Andrew Jackson and an Alexander Hamilton, but that's the risk you take. A head bob at the finish line may or may not go your way and this year did not go my way.

As you can tell, this is not Paulie. He and Sonya made a quick trip up to Cincinnati early this morning so he made a call to the bullpen for the day.

Softball Goes Out with a Bang, Wins Big

It may have come a day late and a dollar short, but Louisville softball earned a win yesterday. The Cards took down Boston College 11-4 in the series finale to conclude the regular season 27-25. They were one game away from qualifying for the ACC Tournament (they finished 11th in the conference), and as Jeff mentioned yesterday, the Cards are considered eligible to make the NCAA Tournament but realistically have little chance of getting in.

Louisville wasted no time in putting a run on the scoreboard. Daisy Hess and Bailee Richardson led the game off with back-to-back walks. Riley Frizell hit a single to the outfield, which scored Hess. Boston College evened the score later that inning with a solo home run.

In the third inning, Richardson's second walk came at an opportune time due to a Vanessa Miller home run later in the inning. The Cards did give up a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Louisville answered in the top half of the following inning to regain the lead 4-3 thanks to a solo shot by Gabby Holloway.

Singles by Hess and Richardson and a walk by Frizell loaded the bases in the sixth inning. Holloway's sac fly helped the Cards push the lead to 5-3 before the Eagles hit a home run that same inning to bring the score within one.

The seventh inning proved to be a good one as the Cards put up a six spot. Kiley Goff and Mia Forsythe opened the inning with back-to-back singles. A Jac Hasty fielder's choice ended up with Goff out at third but runners still on first and second. Hess came up and made the most out of her final collegiate plate appearance, hitting a three-run home run. Keep in mind that the Cards held a one-run lead entering the inning so this "touch 'em all" gave Louisville a four-run advantage. Richardson and Frizell walked after that and were driven in on a double by Miller, who then was able to advance to third. Holloway hit another sac fly to plate Miller.

Brooke Gray was able to complete the full game in the final inning with many thanks to a game-ending play at the plate. The win is Gray's fourth of the season.

It was a great final game for Louisville's eight seniors. Their stats are as follows:

-Daisy Hess (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB)

-Bailee Richardson (1-1, 1B, 4 BB)

-Riley Frizell (1-3, 1 RBI, BB)

-Vanessa Miller (2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI)

-Gabby Holloway (1-2, HR, 3 RBI, BB)

-Paige Geraghty (2-5)

-Kiley Goff (1-2, BB, HBP)

-Mia Forsythe (1-4)

-Bailee Richardson's four walks in the game tied a program record.

-Mia Forsythe recorded her first hit of the season.

-Kiley Goff was hit by a pitch for the 21st time this season, ranking second in program history.

-Riley Frizell led the team with 13 home runs and 49 rbis.

-Daisy Hess led the team with 34 walks this season, ranking fifth in program history.

-Vanessa Miller led the team with 13 stolen bases this season while also posting career bests with 11 home runs and 39 rbis.

This season certainly didn't end up how we had hoped, but the Cards did get wins against ranked opponents in Arizona, Duke, Florida State, and Clemson. Errors and not being able to close out games were the two big killers. The Cards lost 14 games by two runs or less or in extra innings. Louisville finished the year with 59 defensive errors and a .960 fielding percentage.

Cardinal Couple has reached out about potentially interviewing some of the graduating seniors in the coming weeks. We hope to hear back with good news soon!

Tune back in tomorrow to see what insight Paulie will offer for us.

Happy Monday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Softball Loses To EKU -- -- Ja'Leah Williams to WBB from Miami -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 EKU SOFTBALL JUMPS EARLY ON CARDS FOR 6-2 WIN

 

Louisville Softball surrendered six runs early yesterday and could not make up the deficit  in a loss in Richmond, KY  to Eastern Kentucky University Tuesday afternoon. Cards freshman Brooke Gray (3-4) got the midweek start for the visitors, but was met with six runs on four hits in the bottom of the second. 

Meanwhile, at the plate, the Cards were stifled early in the game, but did try to mount a couple of rally attempts to get back in the contest late in the contest.

The first one occured in the top of the sixth, when the Cards loaded the bases with just one out. Kiley Goff beat out a infield grounder for a single and Daisy Hess reached on a slow throw on a fielders choice. Chelsea Mack delivered a single to load the bases for Lousville, but EKU ace Maddi Rutan (19-2) got a pop out and received a spectacular fielding stop from EKU second baseman Madison Scott to end the Cardinals threat. 

The Cards would also threaten again in the seventh and plate their first runs of the contest when Bailee Richardson reached on a single and came home on Maddi Grant's home run to center. The Cards left the scoring there,,though, with a line out  and a fly out,

Louisville (24-19) returns to conference play Friday, when they travel to North Carolina. 

A tough road loss to a surprisingly good EKU squad, that has a sparkling 33-5 record

JA'LEAH WILLIAMS HEADED TO LOUISVILLE WBB

Cards WBB picks up one of the the better defensive guards in the ACC from last season with upcomng senior Ja'Leah Williams announcing she will join the Louiisville squad from Miami for the 2024-25 season

Williams has been a key contributor to Katie Meyer's squad for the past three seasons and averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 30 games last year for the Canes. 

Her addittion will help fill the void in the Cards guards game, with the graduation of Syd Taylor, Nina Rickards and Kiki Jefferson.

paulie

 

Cards Experience Tough Road Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Shut Out in Series Opener 

Louisville softball headed to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech this weekend and got off to a rocky start. While the Yellow Jackets are decently ahead of the Cards in the ACC standings, their overall records are very similar. On paper, it should be a relatively even series. GT didn't care much about paper yesterday, as they stung early and often against the Cards en route to an 8-0 five-inning run rule. All eight runs for GT came in the first three innings, with seven coming in the second and third. 

Alyssa Zabala started in the circle for Louisville, and it was not her day. Zabala walked the first two batters, induced a pop-up, then plunked the clean-up hitter to load the bases. A pair of ground outs ended the inning but a run came home to score. Another walk started the second and a sac bunt moved the runner into scoring position. Back-to-back singles scored a run and then a home run scored three more. A fourth (sixth, in a way) straight hit earned Zabala the hook and Brooke Gray came on to pitch. Gray hit the first batter she faced, but picked up another two outs to get out of the side. 

Louisville got their first runner on base in the third with a Maddi Grant double to open the inning, but two runners were left on base after Daisy Hess took a 2-out walk and Riley Frizell struck out. Gray returned to the circle and got GT's first batter of the inning out for the first time in the game. Unfortunately, a pair of singles were followed by the Yellow Jackets' second three-run homer of the game to set the score at 8-0. Two more quick outs ended the inning but the rout was on. 

Louisville's fourth saw them put two in scoring position via walk, HBP, and fielder's choice, but a flyout had split the runners and the Cards couldn't initiate a two-out rally. After Gray got out of the fourth with just one single, Louisville was down to their final three outs, needing at least one run to extend the game. Katie Thatcher came on to pinch hit for Chelsea Mack and was walked on four pitches. A sac bunt (down 8-0, really?) moved Mack (who took the base back from Thatcher) to second, but Louisville couldn't bring her around to score. 

There isn't much else to say about this one. Cards need to rip off the rearview and face today's game with a clean slate. They'll be back in action today at 2PM before wrapping up the series tomorrow at noon. Both games will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Lacrosse Falls in Tight Road Finale

Scott Teeter's squad was in Durham yesterday for their final regular season road match of the year. The Cards took on Duke and held a slim 7-6 lead heading into halftime. Louisville was unable to hold onto that lead, unfortunately, as a three goal deficit in the third quarter gave Duke the gap they needed. The Cards tied the Blue Devils 10-all in quarters 1, 2, and 4, but lost the third 4-1, setting the final margin at 14-11. 

Kokoro Nakazawa was the leader for the Cards, tallying five of their 11 goals. She scored the first two goals of the game before Nicole Perroni gave Louisville a 3-0 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter. Coincidentally, Louisville's goal scoring in the game was nearly palindromic. Maggie McMahon scored the fourth goal for the Cards, and their final four goals went McMahon, Perroni, and Kokoro x2. The three central goals were scored by Izzy Seikel, Kokoro, and Negai Nakazawa. 

Maddie McCorkle matched Kokoro with five goals for Duke. The Cards were on the back food the whole game, and Sara Addeche did well to keep the game as close as it was. Duke outshot Louisville 39-26 and won the shots on goal battle 25-17. I'll save you the math: Addeche finished with 11 saves. Part of the Cards' woes was the fact that they were dominated on draw controls. Duke led that category 21-8 and took all eight DCs in the second quarter. Louisville won 5/7 in the first quarter before winning just three for the remainder of the game. If you are on defense immediately, you're going to be under pressure a lot. 

Duke was ranked #25 in the country coming into the game, so a road matchup was always going to be tough. The win moves them to 10-6 (4-4) while Louisville is now 7-9 (2-6). All 10 teams make the ACC tournament, and Louisville is currently the nine seed. The Cards hold the tiebreaker over Clemson, but lost to VT, so would need the Hokies to lose their last two games to jump them. The best the Cards can do is get to 7th with a victory over Notre Dame in the season finale. That last game will be Thursday at 12pm in Louisville Lacrosse Stadium. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four on board for this week's show, with Daryl occupied by her obligations with the Louisville Bats. We'll still have an exciting show lined up, with joy and excitement to cover despite the losses. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case