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-

Volleyball Sweeps; Softball and Lacrosse Drop Ranked Games -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Volleyball Sweeps 22nd Ranked GT

It was a busy evening for Louisville so let's start with the positive result from yesterday. Coincidentally, it was also the first event chronologically, so I suppose I'll just go in order. The Cards brought Georgia Tech to L&N Federal Credit Union Arena yesterday for a top-25 matchup and sent the Techsters back to the locker room with a 3-0 loss. I'd say they sent them home, but due to ACC pod play this spring, GT actually just had to head back to their hotel and prepare to play NC State today. 

Last night's victory also knocked GT out of first place in conference, as they moved into a tie with Notre Dame at 11-3 in conference play. The win pushed the Cards to 9-2 in conference, giving them the best winning percentage in the league. After some debate in our group chat about how the ACC would actually rank teams, I checked the standings this morning to confirm that the ACC is ranking volleyball by win percentage as most leagues are doing with most sports. Thus, Louisville now sits atop the ACC with an 0.818 conference victory percentage. They'll look to hold onto that lead as the season rolls on.

As for the match itself, Louisville established themselves early, scoring six of the first eight points. It wasn't a huge lead, but forcing the other team to play from behind from the very beginning of the match can be crucial in volleyball. GT was able to cut the lead to just one point at 7-8, but that was the only time they would be within one. Louisville began to stretch their lead as the match opened up, eventually cruising to a 25-18 victory in the first set. The Cards had 15 kills and just five errors on their way to a .260 hitting percentage in the first set. On the flip side, the Yellow Jackets were just nine and five for 0.160. 

In the second, hitting dropped significantly for both teams. In Louisville's case, they managed to stay positive in the set. In GT's case, though, a significant drop meant their number fell into the red. The two teams traded points for the first four points of the set before a couple of Louisville kills were followed by four straight GT errors to give the Cards an 8-2 lead. From there, Tech never closed the deficit to fewer than five points and Louisville easily won 25-15. As I mentioned, the hitting was down, as Louisville went eight and seven. Their counterparts, though, had a bit more trouble as they finished with just six kills and 11 errors. 

The third set saw GT hang closer for a bit longer than the other two as Louisville couldn't quite stretch a big lead and GT was able to cut it to just two points at 10-8. Once more, errors doomed the Yellow Jackets as the Cards won seven of the next nine points, aided by three attack errors and a service error, to stretch the lead to 17-10 and put the match away. The two teams traded points over the remainder of the set, and Louisville won it 25-17. Sweep complete. 

One of the things that is odd about volleyball scoring is that blocks count as errors. It makes sense from the perspective of simplifying outcomes; an attack attempt can only result in a kill, a return, or an error. However, it can give a skewed view of the stat line. Georgia Tech finished with 25 errors over the course of the match, which is a large number. That said, Louisville had 12 blocks, which is also a large number. Amaya Tillman led the way with two solo blocks and five block assists. Anna Stevenson added two solos as well, chipping in three assists. On the outside, Aiko Jones contributed with six block assists. Louisville was huge at the net, and Georgia Tech couldn't quite handle it, often hitting the ball out of bounds to avoid blocks. That is the type of volleyball we have seen Coach Dani Busboom-Kelly want to play and it is beginning to come to fruition more and more often.

Offensively, Louisville was led by Anna DeBeer who finished with 11 kills on 22 attempts. She had only four errors and added three aces compared to two service errors. As a team, Louisville was still negative on serves, with seven aces and eight errors, so that is something that still needs to be ironed out. DeBeer also did all of her offensive work while playing the full rotation, something Louisville fans have become accustomed to seeing from their top players. She led the team with nine digs.

The Cards, as mentioned previously, move into first place in the ACC as they currently sit at 11-2 (9-2). Their next match comes on Sunday against NC State. The Wolfpack stand at ninth in conference, just 7-7 in the league this year. They'll take on Georgia Tech today with a chance to surpass Duke and Florida State or a chance to fall behind Syracuse. A pretty far fall from a few seasons ago when the two teams were playing for first in the conference. Sunday's match is at 2PM and will be available on the ACC Network Extra.

Lacrosse Falls to 4/5 Boston College in OT

Louisville entered last night's match against a top-five Boston College team ranked at 15/16 in the country despite being just 4-4 overall and 0-3 in conference. We'll see what the committee thinks after this weekend where Louisville will be, at best, 5-5 and 1-4 in conference. The Cards dropped the first game of their double-header weekend against Boston College 14-13 in overtime, giving the Eagles all they wanted until the final whistle. 

It wasn't a great start for the Cards, as BC opened the game with three goals in the first two minutes. Louisville finally got off their mark just ten seconds later to make it 3-1, and kept things much tighter through the first half of the first half. Louisville cut the lead to 4-5 with 13:30 remaining in the half before Boston College went on another quick run. Staring down 8-4 with eight minutes to go in the half, Louisville buckled down. Neither team scored for another three minutes before Louisville went on a run we haven't seen against a top team in quite some time.

Hannah Morris got things started with an unassisted goal with four and a half minutes to go, her second of the game. From there, the Cards went on an 8-1 run over the next 21 minutes, spanning across the halves, to take a 12-9 lead with just seventeen and change remaining. Louisville's run included six straight goals and four straight to open the half. They had taken control and looked like they might be on their way to a huge win. 

Unfortunately, that's when BC woke back up. The Eagles scored four straight goals of their own, taking a 13-12 lead and giving the impression that they refused to lose this game. Louisville was on their heels, on the road, and on the ropes against a top-five team. But they responded. Allegra Catalano scored an unassisted goal with 4:22 remaining to tie the game and set up a very tense closing four minutes. Neither team was able to find the goal and they headed to a golden goal overtime. 

Despite Louisville's best efforts, they were unable to close this one out in the end. The play-by-play for the overtime period shows just two events: session start and BC goal. The first shot of the period found the back of the net for Boston College's Charlotte North, her 25th goal of the season. To that point, Louisville had done a great job defending North, as she had been unable to score and had just three shot attempts for the remainder of the game. The one shot on goal was all it took, though, as that goal meant the final whistle.

Though this one ended in a tough loss, it was a very strong showing from Louisville. They showed resiliency in the face of mounting pressure as the lead grew, and they showed their own ability to go on a big run. These lessons will serve Louisville well for the remainder of the season, and they'll get their first opportunity to showcase them in a rematch with the Eagles. Louisville and BC have the first draw tomorrow at 11AM on the ACC Network Extra. 

Softball Drops Game 1 to Virginia Tech

Has anyone seen Louisville's offense? It's been missing for about two weeks now. Louisville hasn't scored more than two runs since their 3-0 victory over WKU on March 13th. They've only achieved the two run mark once in those five games, and, counting last night, have been shutout twice. Oh, and they're 0-5 in that time. To Louisville's credit, they've generally held opposing teams to low offensive outputs as well, but timely hitting has been the issue. The Cards' opponents have it, and the Cards don't. 

Louisville started last night by going toe-to-toe with VT for the first four innings. The Hokies threatened in the third, getting two runners into scoring position with one out, but Taylor Roby induced a lineout and struck out the next batter to escape the jam. Roby was pulled from the circle to start the fourth, but Jen Leonhardt took command of the ball with a purpose, setting the Hokie batters down in order.

After Louisville once again stranded a runner on base in the bottom half of the fourth, things unraveled defensively. What was that I said about timely hitting? Virginia Tech used a throwing error on a fielder's choice along with three hits to score three runs. Fortunately, a groundout left two runners on base. Virginia Tech only had four hits for the entire game, just one more than Louisville, but three in this inning were the difference. Louisville didn't have any innings with more than one hit, nor did they have any hits with a runner on base. 

The Cards were unable to threaten offensively in their remaining three innings at the plate and fell in this one 3-0. We've seen Louisville succeed this season at the plate. Despite many of their best offensive games coming against lower-tier competition, that doesn't completely explain their inability to hit against the pitchers they have seen so far in ACC play. Whether it is a change in approach at the plate that needs to be instilled from the coaches or just more time in the cage, something has to click for the hitters themselves. Coach Holly Aprile has shuffled the lineup more than once to encourage some type of hitting renaissance, but has seen no success so far. 

Whatever the problem is, it's relatively new. Prior to this stretch, in games not against SEC opponents, Louisville failed to score at least three runs just once: the 4-0 loss to Miami (OH), after which Coach Aprile appeared that she might lose her entire mind. The Cards have the offensive pieces to get things going once more, they just need to figure out what it is that needs to change to get there. That effort begins today as they host a double header against Virginia Tech, with first pitch in the first game scheduled for Noon on the ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back for a busy week in the booth as we have plenty of spring sports to talk about, in addition to the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville advanced to the Sweet 16 (if you didn't know that then welcome to your first Cardinal Couple article), and currently sit as a higher seeded underdog in their matchup against Oregon. We'll breakdown everything that happened over the last week and look ahead to the games to come. Tune in to the show on the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel at 11AM to hear us live, or check out the rebroadcast or the podcast following today's recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Additional photos from Jared Anderson at lacrosse and softball below.

Softball Falls at Bama, Women's Golf in Moon Invitational -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

BAMA TAKES TWO FROM SOFTBALL CARDS 

The Louisville Softball squad began their 2021 season with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Sunday -- facing the #8 ranked Crimson Tide team in a double header. The Cards fell 5-0, 4-0 to Bama.  The teams played in 39 degree weather, for the opening pitch,  at Bama's Rhodes Stadium on campus. 

GAME ONE: 5-0 ALABAMA 

Taylor Roby drew the start for Louisville in the pitching circle and the Crimson Tide touched her for three first inning runs on four singles. In addition to Roby , the Cards starters were:  Celene Funke in center, Maddy Newman at second, Carmyn Greenwood in left, Taryn Weddle as the designated hitter, Cassady Greenwood behind the plate, Charley Butler in right, Madison Ciaccio at first, Sydney Bickel and Jenna Servi at third. 

Claire Jenkins' two RBI single made the score 3-0 after one.  Roby would go three innings for the Cards, allowing an additional run in the bottom of the third when Alabama scored on a groundout with a runner in scoring position. Roby faced 17 batters during her time in the circle, allowing four runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three.

Jen Leonhardt relieved Roby to start the fourth inning allowed a single to Elyssa Brown and then a double to lead off the inning by KB Soles that scored Brown, to make it 5-0. Leonhardt blanked the Crimson Tide the rest of the game, going three innings, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out three, while facing 12 batters. 

The Cards managed just one hit against UofA hurler Montana Fouts, a Leonhardt single -- and Fouts struck out 11 Cardinals. 

GAME TWO:  ALABAMA  4 - LOUISVILLE 0 

Louisville started Leonhardt in the circle for game two, and didn't switch up the starters too much from the first game, putting Makayla Hurst at first base.  

The squads battled through 2-1/2 scoreless innings before' Bama got on the board in the bottom of the third, with a RBI ground out scoring Elyssa Brown .  Louisville head coach Holly Aprile brought in freshman pitcher Gabby Holloway to relieve in the fourth inning, after Leonhardt allowed a two-run homer and RBI single. Leonhardt finished her session allowing three runs on two hits, while walking two and facing 14 batters. 

Holloway gave the Cards three solid innings of pitching to close out the game, allowing just one run on three hits. Alabama had just five hits in the second game. 

Louisville had three hits in the second game, two of them by junior transfer from Utah, Hurst. The Cards did  have bases loaded opportunities to score in the third and fifth innings, but coild not push a run across the plate. 

Louisville is scheduled to play next in an ACC pod weekend, in Raleigh, NC -- where they'll face Virginia and the Wolfpack. 

WOMEN'S GOLF

The Louisville women's golf squad opened their 2021spring campaign hosting the Moon Golf Invitational in Melbourne, Florida yesterday and Hana Ryskova had a strong first round for the Cards, with a 3-under-par 69 at the Duran Golf Club. 

The Cards ended the day in 8th place out of 15 squads on the first day of the three-day event.  Lauren Hartlage finished with an even-par 72, Mairead Martin fired a 1-over-par 73 -- while Agustina Gomez-Cisterna carded a 76 and Margot Bechaderque ended with a 79. 

The Cards finished the day with a combined two-over-par 290, which puts them ten strokes back of first-round leader South Carolina. 

Play resumes today at 8:10 a.m. 

ACC WBB

Just three games in ACC WBB play yesterday: 

-- Wake Forest downed Clemson 72-65.  Ivana Raca led four Demon Deacons in double figures with 20 points. 

-- North Carolina got a win over Pitt 81-72. Center Janelle Bailey totaled 22 points and 10-11 free throw shooting for the Tar Heels. 

-- FSU won the battle of Florida yesterday, beating Miami 67-59. The Seminoles built a 35-21 first half lead and went on to improve their record to 8-5 overall, 7-5 in the ACC.  

                                                       ----------------------------

Have a safe Monday -- the snow is the story in Louisville today and the roads are already rough as of 9 a.m., with more on the way.Stay in if you can! 

paulie

 

Softball Picks Up Transfer -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Picks Up Transfer Leonhardt

Louisville softball announced yesterday they have added an arm to the bullpen.  Jennifer Leonhardt joins the Cards for her final season of eligibility.

The right-handed pitcher spent her first three seasons at the University of Southern Indiana, located near Evansville.  Leonhardt is a native of Louisville, having graduated from Fern Creek High School.

UofL has not played the Division II school.  However, USI is in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with Bellarmine.

In 2018, Southern Indiana won the NCAA DII National Championship.  They entered the CWS as the 8-seed and went on an undefeated Cinderella run.

Leonhardt was named the 2018 NCAA DII Softball Championship Series Most Outstanding Player.  She finished the postseason 12-1, 1.35 ERA, .152 opponent batting average, and 96 strikeouts.  She was also named 2019 GLVC Pitcher of the Year.

Although, the 2020 season was cut short the Louisville native held a 7-3 record, 1.63 ERA, .174 opposing batting average, and 76 strikeouts.

Besides success in the circle, Leonhardt also excels behind the plate as a left-handed batter.  She had
a .386 batting average, five doubles, two home runs, and 16 RBIs.

Leonhardt, who has graduated and plans to attend UofL School of Dentistry,  joins a cast that includes Taylor Roby,Chardonnay Harris, Paige Schindler, Taja Felder, and Payton Hudson as pitchers.  That's a heck of a "circle crew" that is sure to help lead the charge for a successful 2021 season.


Manatee Shut Out Impact

The Manatee Squeeze scored three runs in the first three innings and had a huge top of the seventh with four runs -- blanking the Impact 8-0.

The two-hit shutout featured another sizzling performance from Jenna Greene in the circle. She's 6-0 on the season and the Manatee are 9-3 in the FGCL, which is good for second place.

Cardinals Jordyn Wolfe went 1-2 from the plate and drew two walks against Impact pitching. Paige Schindler drew a walk and struck out in two at bats.

Everyone have a happy Tuesday and Go Cards!


Jared