Friday Cardinal Couple --Altered schedule for Softball

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Changes in the Cards softball visit to Jacksonville

-  Tell your statistics to shut up: UofL softball stats  

-  Shoni picks up another honor


Louisville softball is making their way to Jacksonville, FL for the Jacksonville University Tournament. In case you haven't heard...the southeast got slammed by an ice and snow storm that has caused travel nightmares and mucho inclement weather.

Louisville was scheduled to face the Missouri Tigers to open up today. UM has backed out of the event because of the slip-sliding away conditions. (Jacksonville itself is fine...with weather in the mid-fifties and temperatures rising). Getting there is the issue facing Louisville, Notre Dame and North Carolina...other participants in the three-day event besides the Dolphins.

So, here's the update (as of 7 p.m. Thursday night)

Louisville will play their first game Friday at 4 p.m. against Jacksonville. The Cards take on Notre Dame at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and North Carolina at noon. UofL will play Notre Dame again Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Dogsleds and parkas optional.

It's a good early season test for Pearsall's pulverizers. The #23 Cards are seeing two future ACC opponents and Jacksonville is no slouch...going 3-2 in the FIU Tournament last weekend with a win over DePaul and two wins against Maryland.

The Dolphins have a force in pitcher Victoria Brown, who went 2-0 in Miami and belted three home runs. She had six RBI's and her ERA was 0.00 with ten strike outs in 14 innings.

The Cards are 2-0 lifetime against JU. They knocked the Dolphins out of the water last year in this tournament 9-0.


We'll do a preview of UNC and Notre Dame in Saturday's CC.

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Hard-hitting Katie Keller has been named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. The senior second baseman has also been selected to the preseason All-AAC squad. So far this season, KK is batting .333 in five games...fourth best on the Cards squad.

Keller has six hits in 18 at bats...two of them doubles...and has scored four runs and driven in two. She's started all five games.

Newcomers are at the top of the UofL hitting stats. Missouri transfer Kelsi Jones is 7-16 (.438) with two home runs and has scored seven times. Freshman Jordan McNary follows at .400 and Valpo transfer Brittany Duncan gets show money at .364.

Hitting hasn't been much of a problem for UofL. Getting around the bases has...so far. Louisville is batting .252, which is about average...but has only managed to score 19 runs on 34 hits and 20 walks. That's still seven runs better than the opposition...but slightly less that four runs per game.

Three pitchers have thrown out of the circle so far. Caralisa Connell sports an impressive 0.93 ERA, Rachel LeCoq with a 2.84 earned run average and freshman Marissa Becker checking in with 3.15. The hurlers do have 35 strikeouts combined...Cardinal batters have walked back to the dugout on K's 21 times.

Good luck Cards in J'Ville and show the ACC what's on tap for them!

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Awards and noninations for Shoni Schimmel seem to be as commonplace as varieties of green beans in the canned goods aisle of the grocery store....but the Umatilla Thrilla has picked up another one. Here's the release on the latest:

Senior guard Shoni Schimmel was named one of the Top 30 midseason candidates for the Women's Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T. Schimmel joins four UConn players, giving the American Athletic Conference five players on the list. Schimmel was also named to the Wooden Midseason list in January.

The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T is awarded annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year. The voting academy bases its criteria on player performance throughout the season. The Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors narrowed the 50 pre-season watch list down to a midseason team comprised of 30 candidates. From there, four finalists will be selected to the final ballot in March. The Naismith Award winner will be announced on April 7, 2014.

Schimmel was named to the preseason list after being a key player in the Cardinals' success last season. She was named the Most Outstanding Player for the Oklahoma City Regional. She also earned WBCA All-Region honors and first team All-BIG EAST honors.

This season Schimmel is leading the Cardinals in scoring with 17.7 points per game. She also leads the Cardinals in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 38.8 percent. She ranks fourth in the conference in scoring. She leads the conference and ranks second in the nation in three-point field goals made with 3.5 per game. She currently ranks second on Louisville's all-time scoring list with 1,971 points.

Needless to say, we approve of this message and have just one more request for #23...help get this group of Birds a National Championship trophy that Coach Walz can sit in his office next to his jar of Geno's spaghetti sauce.   

paulie
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Thriller at Lacrosse -- Cards down OSU 12-11

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SUNDAY CARINAL COUPLE

- Lacrosse pulls huge upset over OSU 12-11

- Softball splits in second day of J'Ville Tournament

- Cards WBB faces DePaul in YUM!


It was huge. It was totally awesome.

Simply said, it was the biggest win in the history of Louisville Lacrosse.

On a bitterly cold day in the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium, Louisville overcame a 10-8 deficit with 14:16 to go in the second half and defeated #13 Ohio State University 12-11 Saturday afternoon.

It was originally 13-11. What we don't understand about Lacrosse is how a referee can take a point away because of a stick/net inspection. Kay Morissette scored a seemingly brilliant gola with 6:46 left in the game to put the Cards up 13-11. Then, as the teams line up for the face-off after the "goal", a referee inspects Morissette's stick and net and decides there is something wrong with it. Two point Cardinal advantage gone. Kay's score erased.

 Seriously?

Whatever. These refs were biased against Louisville for the majority of the game, so...it wasn't surprising. Good teams find a way to win, though and Louisville did.

Louisville held on to the 1-point advantage and goes to 2-0 on the season with the win.

The Cards overcame a 5-4 halftime deficit to take a 6-5 lead shortly after the second stanza started.

No...wait...the refs take another goal away from Louisville. Back to 5-5. Maybe Nikki Boltja was chewing gum in class. Maybe they didn't say "Mother, may I.." after scoring.

Whatever. I don't understand Lacrosse rules yet. Maybe I will someday. The refs seem to make stuff up as they go.

Anyway, fast forward to the second half. Cards down 10-8 after OSU's best player (Jackie Cifarelli) gets her first score of the game. That's how well the Louisville defense was playing. 14:16 to go. Colleen O'Malley gets Louisville within one. Nikki Boltja ties it 90 seconds later. After OSU goes back ahead 11-10...the clock stops for some reason, the refs catch that...but it them becomes B.S.T.

Boltja Standard Time.

Nikki scores to tie it with 9:17 (maybe) left. Nikki puts Louisville ahead 12-11 with 7:31 left.

Nikki, I think I love you...

See Cardinal fans go nuts. See Louisville shut out OSU the rest of the way. See the team and fans go nuts as the final seconds tick off and celebrate. See the squad rush over to thank the students, parents and fans in the bleachers.

This was beautiful. 

I talked with Julie Hermann minutes after the upset.
Beaming, incredulous and thrilled after the win, she told me about the dedication. Three seniors coming into her office early in the spring and telling her that Lacrosse was going to thrive. Pleading with her to not give up on the program. Asking her not to give up on them. They were changing the attitude, the meaning of Louisville Lacrosse.

I've never seen Julie Hermann cry. She looked pretty close to it today. A look of happiness. Full of pride. Happy Julie.

One proud mama.

Walking the field after the win. Pride. Joy. Reflection.

Kelly Young looked pretty close to tears,too. A signature win. A team she so strongly believes in. Her pride in Boltja, O'Malley, Oliverio, the freshmen. Everyone. 

Her girls, her brood. A renewed dedication to team, to the Louisville Lacrosse brand. A satisified and happy coach.

I've seen coaches thrilled over wins. Young's look of rapture and excitement will stay with me a long time. I recorded her comments on the sidelines. They don't do justice to the gleam I saw in her eyes. I won't forget that for a very long time. Sometimes, words just don't express what vision can. Picture worth a thousand words stuff.

I saw a masterpiece today.

Job well done, ladies. Louisville Lacrosse has arrived. Get on board, Cardinal fans. The CSX tracks run right behind the Lacrosse Stadium. It's doubtful either of the trains that rolled by Saturday afternoon during the game could have matched the power and steam of the Cardinals.

Boltja had four goals for the Cards, O'Malley four, Cortnee Daley two and Faye Brust and Monica Negron one each.


-Paulie

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Softball splits in the the second day of the Jacksonville Classic. A tough 1-0 loss to OSU in eight innings...the Cardinal bats falling silent after 16 runs the day before.

Transfer Rachel LeCoq pitching her Cajun heart out...giving up a run in the top of eight...tiebreaker rules in effect. The Cards fall short...runners on the corners and one out. Can't score. Bats...funny how they come and go.

Bats woke up in the second game against Jacksonville. A 9-0 fun-fest. Three hitter for Caralisa Connell, the same amount of hits LeCoq gave up.

Louisville finishes the Jacksonville stay tomorrow...facing Stony Brook for the second time... at 7:30 p.m.


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Quentin Voigt's preview of Lady Cards WBB against DePaul tomorrow at 1:30 in the YUM! below:

RING, RING, RING, Riiiiiiiiinnnnnggggg !!!

Time to attack! No quarter surrendered, no quarter asked!

Doug Bruno, head coach of DePaul has probably been worried about this game since he was miraculously able to vanquish UofL in Chi-Town on January 5th. The loss he should have accepted then - would have not built the fervor apparently building within CardNation for the beat-down of epic (EPIC, I repeat) proportions, destined to be visited on the Blue Demons. Sunday. 1:30 p.m. The place: One Arena Plaza (the KFC YUM! Center) , Louisville, KY.

Herr Bruno's squad features 5'8" Brittany Hrynko, a sophomore who's getting 15.6 ppg, dished out 129 assists this season and grabs 4.8 rebounds a game. She went for 21 points, 7 assists and 4 steals last time against the Cards. Will Anna Martin be a factor? We'll see if the knee will let her play. She had 22 against Louisville in the previous meeting.

Jasmine Perry is a talented forward for Dougie. He says:

"Jasmine Perry is one of the best players in the state of Indiana. Jasmine will bring great athleticism to campus and is a excellent rebounder, defender and shooter. Jasmine is also the total package in that she is an honor student that will help carry on DePaul's tradition of striving for success  --both on the court and in the classroom."

A just bit of praise for the young lady that adds 14.1 a game for DePaul's offense. She was 6 for 6 against Louisville earlier this year and hit 3 for 4 from the charity stripe.

And then there's Katherine. The leading rebounder in the BIG EAST. Katherine Harry gets the boards. She defends well, too...holding UofL's posts to 1 for 3 from the field last time out.

I believe in SPEED! Speed kills, in time. Ask Muhammad Ali, he proved it time and time again. The Lady Cards have the speed to beat DePaul today. Witness UK stepping on the accelerator earlier this year and demolishing DePaul by 32 in Rupp.

Running with purpose, shooting with the cold eye of an assassin, owning every rebound, valuing the ball. Attack them, attack them....and attack them! Go Cards. Give them "L"

- Quentin Voigt

I do think the Cards can win today. A lot of it will depend on the heart and effort that they display. It's an emotional game today. Monique Reid's grandmother passed away a couple of days ago. A grandmother to the team. To Mo, who might play today. To all who were fortunate enough to know her. A beautiful lady.

Will UofL use that emotion? Will last year's scenario play out...Louisville loses in Chicago, wins the second match-up in Louisville. The only game this year where Louisville outrebounded an opponent and lost.

"Why is it, Coach...that I must play when
the women are playing also. Please explain
this to me. I am not happy, sir. Not at all."

Who will show up for this one? The men's team plays at 1:00 on ESPN. Walz wants 12-13,000 there. We'd like to see that, too. Anything over 9,000 is a big boost to Louisville's WBB chances today. In case you're out-of-town and can't attend, the WBB game is on ESPNU.

It's 'go' time for Walz and the Cards. Five games left before the Hartford Invitational.

As I said in an earlier column this week...

Whatcha got left, Cards?

(Today's game is a "wear Pink" in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Pink 'em up! See you there! We'll have post-game coverage later today. Go Cards!)

-Paulie


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