Softball Drops Game One -- DERBY DAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall 3-1 to Boston College

The Louisville softball team headed to Chestnut Hill for a weekend series with a chance to build on their record as the postseason nears, but they got off to a disappointing start. The Cards gave the Eagles their seventh conference win and just their 12th overall while they fell to 17-24-1 themselves after the 3-1 loss. With just seven games remaining on the schedule, Louisville will need to get more wins under their belts quickly to have a chance at much of a postseason.

The Cards went to bat first and opened the game with a pair of singles. Unfortunately, those singles yielded just one baserunner after Carmyn Greenwood was called out for leaving first early. With a strikeout from Taylor Roby and a groundout from Makayla Hurst, Roby headed to the circle for BC's first inning at the plate. The Eagles managed at double, but it came with two outs, and Roby popped out the next better to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Louisville got to work early with a Cassady Greenwood single. Rebecca Chung followed her with another single, but was thrown out trying to stretch for second. Charley Butler sent a single through the middle to score Greenwood from third and Louisville had the lead. Unfortunately, the Cards could get no more from the momentum as Celene Funke grounded out on a full count and Sydney Bickel struck out. Their lead would be short lived, though, as one-out and two-out doubles from BC in the bottom half tied the game at one.

For the remainder of the game, Louisville would leave five runners on base but score no more runs. Their best opportunity came in the third inning when Hurst and Roby stood on second and third with two outs, but Cassady Greenwood couldn't bring them in. It took BC until the fourth inning to break the tie, but it was another double that gave them the lead, as a one-out hit scored a baserunner from a previous single. In the next inning, the Eagles opened with a solo homer to give them a 3-1 lead, which would turn out to be the final score. The home run ended Roby's day, and Gabby Holloway finished things out by allowing just one hit over the remaining 1.2 innings.

Louisville will try to win the next three games of the series, which starts today. They'll get a double-header underway with the first game at 12PM on the ACC Network Extra. The second game is set to go at 5PM, at which point the Cards will hope to be fighting for a series lead.

Derby Day in the Ville

It's the annual city holiday as the Derby returns to its rightful place on the first Saturday in May. As is tradition, we'll take this week off for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as Daryl mentioned yesterday. It is expected to be a beautiful day, so be sure to enjoy the fresh outside air. Check out Paulie's Handicapping Site (formerly Handicapping Heroes) to make informed bets whether at the track or via your phone. Enjoy yourselves, don't lose too much money, and revel safely and responsibly. Happy Derby!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

For 25 minutes against the top-five Syracuse Orange, Louisville lacrosse kept things close. After that, though, it appeared a bit as if the Cards forgot there were 35 minutes of game left. Ultimately, Louisville did not score for those final 35 minutes, while Syracuse scored a quite a few more times. At the end of the day, a close game turned into a 19-5 blowout. The Cards will get another chance at the Orange on Sunday, so here's hoping for a reversal of the double-header results from the weekend against Boston College.

The game, as I mentioned, did have its positives, as the first segment was fairly close. Syracuse jumped on Louisville's defense early, as the first goal came from Megan Carney just after the two-minute mark. Louisville managed to score just a minute later, with Caroline Blalock's first goal of the day. Meaghan Tyrell would be the next on the board, as she scored her 39th and 40th goals of the season to give Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Louisville was not deterred yet, though, as Caroline Blalock scored again to pull the Cards back within one. It was Blalock's 100th career goal, but it would be the last she would score on the day. 

Syracuse went on a mini 3-1 run over the next five minutes in a strange circumstance that saw all four goals scored by Me(a)g(h)ans. Carney and Tyrell scored for the Orange while Megan Dunn scored her first goal of the season for Louisville. Trailing 6-3, Louisville again showed life by getting a pair of quick goals from Nicole Perroni and Ally Hall. If you're scoring at home, you would know those goals put it at 6-5 with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Given what I mentioned to be the final score, you can probably guess how things went from there. 

Syracuse turned it on from there, with both offense and defense getting on board. The Orange scored four over the final four minutes of the first half and outscored the Cards 9-0 in the second half. Tyrell and Carney both finished with seven goals apiece, leaving just five to be spread between the rest of the team. Rachel Florek finished with seven saves for the Cards, indicating things could have gotten even worse. 

Paulie got with Coach Teeter after the game to discuss Louisville's performance and the look ahead at the next opportunity against the Orange. The two teams will take the field at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon on the ACCNX.

Check out Teeter's postgame comments here: Teeter on Syracuse 4.16.21

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

Taylor Roby threw a gem and got just enough help from the offense as Louisville knocked off the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils in game one of the four game weekend set. With still three games left in the series, there is plenty of work to do, but after the disappointing end to Louisville's series last weekend, the Cards are happy to get wins wherever they can. The win pulled the Cards to just one game under .500 and they'll need every win they can to improve their standing for a potential postseason run.

Duke opened the game with a fly out but followed it with a one-out single. Kavel stole second to stand in scoring position with one out, but she would move no farther. Roby got the next batter to strike out looking and the third out came on a ground out to first base. In the bottom half, Louisville wasted no time giving Roby some run support. Carmyn Greenwood was first pitch swinging but grounded out to second base. Celene Funke showed a bit more patience and fired the third pitch she saw to straightaway center. It escaped the center fielder, and Funke put on the jets for a one-out triple. That brought Roby to the plate, and Duke chose to pitch to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as Roby shot the first pitch to short where it was mishandled. Roby reached on the error while Funke reached home easily. Duke would escape the first with no more damage, but the Cards led 1-0.

From there, Taylor Roby went to work. Including the first inning, she scattered four hits over seven innings. All four hits were singles, and none came in the same inning. She also gave up no other baserunners, walking and hitting none while Louisville played clean defense to commit no errors. Roby would also strike out five on her way to the complete game victory. She did it all on just 85 pitches. 

Louisville gave her a bit of insurance, which she ultimately wouldn't need, in the bottom of the fourth. Rebecca Chung and Cassady Greenwood opened the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Louisville went to work with two outs. Charley Butler got started with a two-out triple. Maddy Newman stepped up and hit a ball on the ground but it was right to the third baseman. Butler was held at third, but on the play, Newman was able to reach first. The extra batter was all Louisville needed as Sydney Bickel singled to bring Butler home. Louisville led 2-0.

The two teams would score no more runs, with Duke getting two more singles and Louisville getting no more baserunners. As mentioned before, though, Roby was a stud and the two runs were all Louisville needed. The two teams will get back underway today with the first game at noon on ACCNX. Today's action will be a double header, so the Cards will have a pair of opportunities before wrapping up the series tomorrow. Jared was able to get with Coach Aprile after the win, and you can listen to her comments here: Aprile on Duke 4.16.21.

THANKS TO JARED FOR TODAY'S LAX AND SOFTBALL PHOTOS !! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week with plenty to talk about. We had an NCAA tournament win for volleyball and plenty of softball games, in addition to the WNBA Draft and lacrosse and field hockey. As always we'll do our best to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast or replay after the show. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content as well, and subscribe to and rate the podcast to get the word out about Cardinal Couple.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Splits Double-Header with Georgia Tech -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Win Game 1 but Drop Game 2 in Extras

In a late decision made by the two teams, this weekend's schedule was adjusted to try to account for future weather. Yesterday became a double-header day on such late notice that the ACCNX could not carry the second game. I'm pretty sure all you have to do is push a button to make the stream go live, and we know the infrastructure was there because the first game was aired, but that is the reason that was given for the game being unaired. So it goes. 

In the first game, the Cards got started early. Carmyn Greenwood opened with an infield single. Celene Funke knocked a ball into right field to make it back-to-back hits, but Greenwood was thrown out trying to stretch from first to third. Funke, fortunately, was able to make it up to second to at least keep a runner in scoring position. Unlike much of the rest of the season, Louisville was finally able to take advantage with RISP, as Taylor Roby stepped in and blooped a third straight single into left. Funke turned on the jets to get home and the Cards led 1-0. A fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the inning.

After helping her own cause in the top half, Roby came out in the bottom of the first and went to work from the circle. That first inning saw just one runner reach on a two-out walk. A groundout ended the inning. Through six innings, Roby was extremely effective, allowing a total of five baserunners. The biggest GT threat came in the sixth, when they put a pair of runners on base, but a double play ended the inning. 

In the midst of Roby's great start, Louisville's offense decided after a couple of quiet innings that they didn't want to stop after just one run. In the fourth, the Cards woke back up. Roby led off with a walk and was pinch run for by Jordyn Wolfe. A popup gave the Cards one out but they wouldn't be deterred. Wolfe stole second and then reached third on a wild pitch. Taryn Weddle grounded in the infield and GT tried to make the play at home, but Wolfe was too quick. Weddle reached first on an RBI fielder's choice. Charley Butler stepped into the box and pulled a 1-2 pitch down the left field line and over the fence for a two-run homer. Rebecca Chung flew out, but a pair of two-out singles chased the Georgia Tech starter, bringing in a new pitcher for the turnover of the Louisville order. Carmyn Greenwood welcomed the new pitcher to the field with a two-RBI double, before Funke grounded out to end the inning. Louisville led 6-0.

It was good that the Cards decided to add some insurance. I mentioned that Roby was excellent through six innings because it was the seventh where things got dicey. The Louisville defense opened the bottom of the seventh with an error and Roby followed that with a walk to put a pair of runners on. Concerning, but not too much threat, since Louisville had a six run lead. A popup and a strikeout tamped down concerns even more as the Cards were now one out away from closing the game out. Georgia Tech wasn't ready to quit yet, though. A single loaded the bases and Roby plunked the next batter to score an unearned run. Left fielder Cameron Stanford (not a friendly last name for Cards fans at the moment) then stepped in and crushed a two-out grand slam. All four RBI were unearned thanks to that opening error, but unearned runs count the same on the scoreboard. It was now 6-5. Coach Aprile made the decision to bring on Gabby Holloway to secure the last out, which she did with some effort, inducing a full-count groundout. Cards win 6-5.

In the second game, it was the Yellow Jackets who decided to score a first inning run. Holloway, already warm from her save, got the start in game two. The Cards opened the game by going down in order, but not before giving the GT pitcher some work. Despite just three batters coming to the plate, Louisville forced Blake Neleman to throw 19 first inning pitches. Those 19 ultimately wouldn't make too much difference for Neleman, as she would go on to throw 145 total as she pitched a complete 11-inning game.

Holloway walked the first batter for GT, who would end up being the only baserunner of the inning. Fortunately for GT, they didn't need other baserunners to score her. Louisville was unable to successfully "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" on the next batter as Roper stole second. Roper used her speed to impressively advance to third on a groundout to the left side, and came home on a two-out passed ball. A groundout ended the inning with the Techsters ahead 1-0.

Both pitchers continued their impressive game, each allowing only a couple of base runners as the innings wore on. In the fourth, Louisville took advantage of the fact that one of those baserunners was Celene Funke. Funke opened the inning with a triple, but was very nearly stranded. Fortunately, a pair of popups were split by a groundout, which was productive enough to send the speedy center fielder home. Louisville tied it at one.

I would say neither team would threaten again until the seventh, but that would only be partially true. Louisville didn't threaten in the top half as much as they just acted. Roby led off the inning with a home run to give the Cards a 2-1 lead, but the rest of the order couldn't manage more than a single to end the inning. Still, it was enough to give the Cards a late chance to win.

Unfortunately, Georgia Tech had some more seventh inning luck in store. The Jackets opened with a single, and the next batter hit the ball right back to Holloway. Her throw was errant, allowing runners to stand on first and third with nobody out. Jenn Leonhardt came on to pitch. Another passed ball scored the tying run and put the winning run on second base before Leonhardt picked up three straight outs to end the inning. Free softball time. 

Neleman continued her dominance in the circle, holding Louisville to no more than one baserunner per inning. Two of those were Taylor Roby, both on walks, as the Yellow Jackets did not want to pitch to her anymore. To her credit, Leonhardt was able to match Neleman's effort for a few innings. Unfortunately, the eleventh inning put an end to that. Roper reached on an error to open the inning, but that baserunner wouldn't matter as Stanford fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before sending the next one over the left field fence. Walk-off winner.

Louisville and Georgia Tech are scheduled to continue the weekend series tonight at 7PM, a first pitch time that was just announced this morning. Tonight's game will be carried on the ACCNX. Louisville would really like to pick up a couple of more wins in this series before the schedule gets tough again over the next couple of weeks.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back again this week with plenty to discuss as always. The condensed seasons have kept us busy this winter and spring, and that hasn't ended just because basketball season wrapped up. We'll talk field hockey, lacrosse, and softball, while also touching on news from basketball and the NCAA Volleyball Tournament draw. We might even have another rant about NCAA inequities as the organization couldn't make it a month without stepping in it once more. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the rebroadcast or podcast following the show's ending.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Falls Short, Tennis Narrowly Wins, and More -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Drops Two to Open ACC Play

With the podded system created for ACC play this season, softball will see a lot of double headers. Fortunately for them, that means they'll get plenty of opportunities to show their abilities in back-to-back games in a way they didn't yesterday. Taking on NC State to open their conference season, Louisville softball fell 8-4 and 4-3 to put them at 0-4 on the season. There is plenty of time to recover, have no doubt, as the Cards are right back in action today, starting with a match against Virginia at 11AM before getting another crack at the Wolfpack at 3PM. Both games should be on the ACC Network Extra. Let's take a look at yesterday's results.

Cards Let Wolfpack Snag Big Lead; 8-4

Acting as the home team, Louisville took to the field first and promptly gave up a two runs in an inning that included an opening walk, a pair of steals, and a double. After getting out of it, Taylor Roby, who started in the circle, was able to reset the game for herself when she hit a two-run homer to score herself and Carmyn Greenwood to tie the game. Both teams saw a walk but stranded a runner in the second, and the NC State opened up the game. They scored two in the third, two in the fourth, and a single run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to build an 8-2 lead. Louisville tried to claw back in the sixth, but could just scratch across two runs, stranding runners on second and third with a strikeout. That saw the inning end at 8-4, which is how the game would end an inning later. The Cards would get Celene Funke and Roby on base in the seventh, but could do nothing to advance them around to score.

7th Inning Rally Falls Short; 4-3

The second game flipped the dugouts and got off to quite a different start. Louisville got a one-out double and a two-out walk but couldn't bring either runner home and so headed to the bottom half with no runs. It looked like they'd start NC State off the same way, retiring the first two batters on a line drive and a strikeout, but a two-out walk was followed by a wild pitch to put a runner on second. A single scored her, and a two-out homer gave NC State a 3-0 lead leaving the first. After NC State's two-out fireworks, neither team threatened much until the bottom of the fifth when NC State loaded the bases with two outs. A ground-out ended the inning. 

In the top of the sixth, Louisville's offense returned when Taylor Roby hit her second home run of the day and of the season. That made it 3-1 and a bit more in reach, but the Wolfpack returned the favor with a lead-off home run of their own in the bottom half. The next batter reached on an error, but a caught-stealing was followed by a pop-out and a strikeout to end the inning. Louisville did their best to extend the game in the seventh, albeit with some help from NC State. Payton Hudson walked to open the inning but was followed by two quick outs. NC State had a chance to end the game on a grounder by Carmyn Greenwood, but an error put runners on first and second. Roby singled them both in to make it 4-3. Cassady Greenwood also reached on an error to put runners on first and second (odd coincidence), but Charley Butler's fly to right didn't have the juice or placement to get to the ground or out of the fence. A catch ended the game.

Tennis Opens Conference Play with Victory

Louisville hosted Syracuse yesterday for their first ACC match of the year. This has been a place in the past few years where things have fallen apart for the Cards, but a strong showing early could boost their morale going forward. Fortunately for Louisville, their doubles play may be the spark they need for the remainder of the year. They opened yesterday's match by winning the doubles point, clinching that portion of the match for the sixth straight time. They've played six matches. The Cards won the doubles point pretty strongly as well, finishing 6-1 and 6-2, while leading 5-4 in the unfinished match.

On the singles side, things got a bit more interesting. The Cards jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with wins in the first two singles matches to finish. Then, Syracuse won the next three matches, all coming back from a 1-0 set deficit to win in three sets. At 3-3, it came down to Rhea Verma, who narrowly lost her first set on a tiebreaker. She went on to win 6-1, 6-2 to give Louisville the fourth point they needed and a victory in conference play. That moves the Cards to 4-2 overall, and they'll be back in action tomorrow at 11AM against Boston College.

More Roundup

The swimming team claimed eight top-8 finishes and a bronze medal in the 400 medley relay to move into third place in the team standings. At 683.5 points, they're 105 points clear of fourth-place VT but sit 196 points behind NC State in second. Virginia is in their own class with 1047 points. The Cards will have a chance to hold onto third and try to chase down the Wolfpack as the final day of competition begins with prelims today at 11AM. The finals are schedule for 7PM and the entire event will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball will have to wait another week to get their spring season started as their match with Lipscomb has been canceled. The ASUN, in an effort to get more conference games played, shifted their schedules around, landing a conference matchup on this weekend for the Bison. Louisville's match was seen as lower priority, so they got the boot. The Cards will now start the spring season next week against Notre Dame as they move straight into conference play.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Well we were all wrong when we spent last week lamenting what we suspected to be the end of Louisville women's basketball's regular season due to Covid-19. We'll endeavor to be more correct this week on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as we recap the win over Pittsburgh as well as all of the other news and events in Louisville women's athletics this week. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for our live show or check out the replay or podcast following the recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Busy Friday Sees Wins, Swims, and Broken Records -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Sweeps Friday at Bama Bash

It hasn't been an easy start for Holly Aprile's squad this season. The Cards got a ranked win in their opener before losing six straight. Louisville snagged a win over Wisconsin last week to break the streak but fell again to ranked Michigan the next day. Louisville looks to turn things around this weekend, and they started that attempt with a pair of wins yesterday. Louisville shutout both Penn State and Wichita State to move to 4-7 on the season. The Cards will get another shot at Wichita State this morning before a pair of games against power house (and host) Alabama. The Crimson Tide is a perennial title contender and is currently ranked 13/10 in the polls. The Cards will have their work cut out for them. 

Harris No-Hits Penn State

In the first game of the day, the Cards got off to a promising start in the top of the first inning. Louisville got runners on first and second with two outs after a Maddy Newman walk and a Cassady Greenwood single. That would be the end of the rally, though, as the Nittany Lions got out of the jam. In the bottom half, Chardonnay Harris walked the second batter on four pitches, and Claire Swedburg stole second to give Penn State a runner in scoring position with two outs. Harris got a swinging strikeout on the cleanup hitter to keep the game level.

The next two innings saw twelve up-twelve down as both teams were held in check. Taylor Roby broke the tie with a lead-off home run in the top of the fourth. After a pair of outs, Carmyn Greenwood doubled and Charley Butler singled her home to give the Cards a 2-0 lead before a strikeout ended the inning. Harris once again sat down the side in order. 

In the top of the fifth, Louisville's offense continued the rally. The Cards used seven singles, a walk, and an error to bat around the order and score seven runs. After blowing open a 9-0 lead, Harris picked up two groundouts and a pop-out to finish the game due to five-inning run rule. As the walk in the first inning was the only baserunner allowed, Chardonnay Harris picked up the no-hitter. The no-hitter was Louisville's first since Maryssa Becker in 2014.

Offense Picks up Where it Left Off Against Wichita State

Following the seven run fifth inning that ended the game against Penn State, Louisville's offense was more than ready to keep playing. After Taylor Roby worked out of a runner in scoring position in the top half, Louisville's hot offense once again stepped to the plate. Celene Funke walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Maddy Newman then walked and stole second, giving Louisville two in scoring position with no outs. Roby promptly brought them both home with a single. After a Cassady Greenwood bunt single, Charley Butler came on to run for Roby. A double steal put runners on second and third and a Carmyn Greenwood bunt single scored one. Louisville then executed another double steal to score another run and a Rebecca Chung groundout scored the final runner. Louisville put two more on base after a single and a hit by pitch to bat around the order, but Funke flied out to end then inning.

Louisville would go on to score a run in the second and two runs in the fourth to carry an 8-0 lead into the fifth, where Roby would sit down the Shockers' batters and win in the second straight run rule game. Roby gave up just two hits and a walk, while giving up no runs. Meanwhile, every Louisville batter to step to the plate reached base one way or the other. 

The Cards will see if they can keep their hot offense rolling today as they open the day with another game against Wichita State at noon. Their first game with Alabama is scheduled for 2:30PM and will be available via WatchESPN (SECN+).

Swimming in Third at ACC Championships

Heading into the final day of competition at the ACC Women's Swimming Championships, Louisville sits in a comfortable third place. The Cards (747.5) are nearly two hundred points ahead of fourth place UNC (567) but almost 150 behind second place NC State (888). Virginia leads by a mile at 1001.5 points. In addition to their solid team standing, Louisville has currently had multiple swimmers set pool times that qualified for invites to the NCAA Championships last season. We'll take a look at the potential NCAA qualifiers once conference championships have wrapped up and invites have gone out.

Lacrosse Falls in Tough Match at #14 Michigan

Louisville Lacrosse hit the road to take on a ranked Michigan team yesterday and put up a fight for much of the game. The Cards had to weather a storm as the Wolverines opened with a five goal run over the game's first ten minutes. Louisville bounced back and Shayla Scanlan's hat trick goal with six seconds left in the half made it 7-6 Michigan. The Cards would fight again in the second half, opening the half with a game tying goal from Paige Richbourg. Scanlan would go on to tie the game at 11 with 11:30 to go but that would be Louisville's final goal of the game. As they opened, Michigan closed, scoring four goals over the final seven minutes and shutting out the Cards to claim a 15-11 victory.

Despite the loss, Louisville showed great will and toughness in their second ranked game of the season. The Cards saw a lot of lopsided losses last year and appear to be holding their own much better this season. In addition to the spread out scoring, 11 goals from six players (Scanlan, Richbourg, both Blalocks, Hannah Morris and Brenna Shanahan), Rachel Florek set a program record for saves to keep the Cards in the game. Florek finished with 17 stops, preventing what could have been a very ugly outcome for the Cards. Louisville moves to 2-2 on the year and will head down I-65 on Tuesday for a matchup against Vanderbilt at 4PM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After taking last week off, we're back with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today at 11AM. Jared and Paulie are both traveling this week, so Jeff and I will be holding down the fort, but we'll have plenty to discuss. With basketball getting into the big time part of the season and softball and lacrosse both being underway in earnest, we'll have no lack of topics to discuss. Join us as we go live on YouTube or catch the replay of the show any time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Wins; Track and Field and Golf Busy -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Come Back in Chestnut Hill

After handing Florida State their first conference series loss since 2012, Louisville softball was rewarded with a mid-week break before heading northeast for a three-game set with Boston College. In the first game of that series yesterday, Louisville saw the struggling hosts (13-24, 3-10) jump out to a 2-0 lead through four innings.

After holding everyone at 0 runs in the fifth, Louisville decided that they didn't want to lose to the Eagles. The Cards put up 5 runs in the top of the sixth inning and added another 4 in the top of the seventh for good measure. Boston College was unable to score anymore runs and a 2-0 lead turned into a 9-2 loss for the home team.

Megan Hensley got the start and was okay through her three innings. She allowed just one hit, but walked three and allowed a run. She was lifted at the beginning of the fourth for Taylor Roby. Roby allowed a run as soon as she entered, but also allowed just that one run and one hit. After Roby bookended a strikeout in the sixth inning with a pair of four pitch walks, Danielle Watson came in to get the last out of the sixth with runners on first and second. Presumably to save her arm for the rest of the series, Watson was pulled after her one out performance with the Cards holding a 9 run lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Roby finished the game out with a 1-2-3 inning and that was all she wrote.

Though the Cardinals' offense didn't cross the plate until the sixth inning, a Louisville batter reached base in every inning prior except for the fourth. All told, the Cards would finish with nine hits and draw four walks. However, they did strike out six times collectively and left eight runners on base.

Louisville was not led by the usual suspects, as Maddy Newman and Charley Butler picked up 6 of the 9 RBIs. Newman finished 2-3 at the plate and drew a walk, while all of Butler's RBIs came off of a bases loaded double. Kyra Snyder also had a big day at the plate, going 3-4 and knocking in a run. Sidney Melton had an unusual day to forget, going just 1-4 at the plate and drawing a walk, but leaving 4 on base. 

The Cards will look to take the series and set up a potential sweep in game two of the series today at 1PM. Louisville will hope to have a bit more consistent bats in today's game. The game is listed on ACC Network Extra, so if you aren't down at the Waterfront for Thunder Over Louisville, tune in at home. If you are down at the Waterfront and have unlimited data, feel free to tune in on your phone, or keep up on Twitter.

Golf Holds Strong but Falls Short

The Cards are down in Georgia for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Invitational and are taking on tough squads from mostly the SEC. Louisville dropped a pair of team matches yesterday in an individual match play format to a pair of ranked SEC teams.

The first came against #6 Arkansas, with Louisville earning a pair of wins from Mairead Martin and Lauren Hartlage, but ultimately falling 3-2 overall. The second loss came after Louisville battled to an all-square finish with wins from Margot Bechadergue and Olivia Cason and a draw from Delaney Shah. Ultimately, Florida was granted the win on overall margin of victory after an unfortunate 6 and 5 finish from Lauren Hartlage. Louisville got back on the course this morning just after 8AM.

Strong Opening for T&F in Louisville Invitational

Louisville swept the hammer throw in both competitions yesterday and had three finishers in the top six on the women's side. Makenli Forrest took home first place and was followed by Carsen Cassell and Halee Hudson in fifth and sixth. Forrest's first place throw was nearly 10 meters further than Cassell's fifth. No other results from the women's side were listed for yesterday, but the competition continues today.

Ionescu Takes Wooden Award

The Cards WBB star Asia Durr was one of the finalist for the Wooden Award, which is player of the
year, but the honor went to Oregon's Sabina Ionescu. The junior decided early in the month to return to school instead of trying her luck in the WNBA Draft.

Ionescu winning was a surprise to many, including Ionescu -- who sat there open-mouthed in amazement when her name was called. Many thought Durr or possibly nominee Megan Gustafson from Iowa would get the nod.

Just goes to show that we don't always get what we want, but Durr had a huge season and it is an honor just to be named in the final five.  The other finalists were Tearia McCowan and Napheesa Collier. Jeff Walz was in L.A. with Durr for the awards ceremony.

Durr, who was selected #2 in the recent WNBA Draft, is headed to New York to play for the Liberty and many experts think it'll be a great fit for her.

Someone make sure and notify Matt Bevin.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As Jared mentioned yesterday, he's out of the studio today, but we still have plenty of show to bring you today leading up to the Thunder Over Louisville Air Show this afternoon. Paulie, Jeff, Daryl, and I will talk plenty of softball, lacrosse, WNBA draft, and more on this week's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. As always, the show begins at 11AM on WCHQ FM and will be available on 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and on Facebook Live. Tune in and join us, won't you?

LINK: www.wchqfm.com

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-