Softball Defeats NKU; Lacrosse Faces Xavier -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Sink Norse in Six 15-4

Coming off of a tough weekend against Virginia Tech, Louisville needed a get-right game. Taking on the Norse of NKU (entering at 11-13), the Cards had a chance for just that. Louisville scored early and often, putting up three runs in the first before scoring in every inning but the second (and non-existent seventh) en route to a run-rule drubbing of the team up I-71. As an aside, I also spent the day in Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, but my day was less enjoyable than the Cards'.

The Cards opened with an Easton Lotus triple followed by a walk. Stop me if you've heard this one before: Chelsea Mack then stole second. With a pair in scoring position, Bri Despines brought both home on a single. Not to be repetitive, but Bri Despines then stole second. The steal turned out to be academic, as a double from Char Lorenz likely would have scored Despines anyway. After a strikeout, Lorenz ran herself off the basepaths with a caught-stealing at third. Ally Alexander was stranded at first after a single, but Louisville led 3-0. 

Alyssa Zabala was given a get-right opportunity of her own, and she started off hot with a line-out to left followed by a pair of easy grounders for a 1-2-3 inning. Two quick outs in the top of the second meant Louisville faced an uphill battle to score, but Lotus and Mack tried with a single and a bunt single to advance. A ground out stranded them both. Zabala's strong start continued with a strikeout, another outfield liner, and a fly to center field. Six-up, six-down. Cards still led 3-0. 

NKU made a pitching change to start the third and Lorenz welcomed the new pitcher with her second double of the day. Taylor Monroe advanced her with a sacrifice bunt, and Alexander's second single came with an RBI. Maddi Grant took an HBP, followed by a pop-out. Another bunt single, this time from Madison Pickens, loaded the bases, but a ground out ended the threat. Cards extended their lead by one to 4-0. 

Zabala looked to be cruising to another quick inning when started with a ground out and a pop out. Unfortunately, things weren't as they seemed, and NKU found a groove against the Cardinal ace. With two outs, the Norse rallied for single, walk, RBI single, RBI single before a ground out ended the inning. Louisville's lead was trimmed to 4-2, but they still didn't seem in much danger. 

The danger was lessened even more when the Cards took to the plate. Chelsea Mack singled (and stole second), and Despines doubled to right. Mack was pinned by the chance that the ball could be caught, and she was surprisingly slow to react to it falling. She made the safe play to stay at third, which turned out to be smart when Lorenz hit her third double in as many at bats. Monroe and Alexander both flied out to left before Grant realized it might be better to go to the right. She homered to right center to tack on two more runs and Louisville's lead had ballooned once more, this time to six runs at 8-2. 

Zabala's struggles continued in the fourth, as she opened with a pair of singles. A strike out broke up the hit parade, but only briefly, as two more singles scored another run. Katie Thatcher inherited a tough situation with the bases loaded, but she worked a strike out for the second out of the inning. A wild pitch moved every runner up 60 feet (including one to home), but a ground out ended the inning. From there, Louisville would go on to score, giving Thatcher the win. I still haven't quite figured out the softball win statistic, so I can't explain this one. In my view, Thatcher didn't inherit the tying runner on base, and Zabala pitched more than half the game, so Zabala still should have earned credit for the win. Whatever. 

The Cards scored seven more runs over the next two innings, and Thatcher continued to hold NKU without any more runs. The result was an 11-run lead after six innings, which promptly ended the game an inning early. Louisville's offense came from starters and substitutes alike, including a three-run homer from Riley Janda. Janda's home run was the freshman's first of the season (and her collegiate career). It was also part of a 21 hit effort from the Cards, who also walked three times and struck out only twice. With the hit-by-pitch, Louisville put up a team on-base percentage of .694. That's the type of offensive output that will win you games, even with nine runners left on base. 

The wild pitch in the fourth was Thatcher's only blemish. She threw two more hitless innings, needing a total of just 25 pitches for her two and two-thirds. She didn't add any more strikeouts, but didn't walk anyone either. It was a very good showing. Zabala, despite the flurry of hits, had an ok outing. She was chased, sure, but she was fairly unhittable right up until she wasn't. Her dominance will be back, of that I have no doubt. 

Of Louisville's 21 hits, nine went for extra bases. Five doubles, two triples, and two homers. Spicy. They added four steals to their season total, and had just one CS. Char Lorenz was the star, going 4/4 with five RBI, but it's hard to overlook 3/3 with a walk from Mack, 4/5 with 3 RBI from Despines, or 3/5 with two runs (and stranded thrice) from Lotus. Further down the order, Pickens and Alexander went 2/3. It was a team effort, and we'll look to see the success continue when the Cards head to Chapel Hill for a three-game set with North Carolina. 

Lax Looks for Non-Con Boost

ACC Lacrosse is a gauntlet. Louisville was reminded of that fact over the course of their last three conference matchups. The Cards were respectable on Saturday against the top-ranked Eagles in Chestnut Hill, but they still came away with another big loss. Like the midweek following the UNC loss, Louisville will make a short road trip to face a beatable non-conference opponent. On March 5th, that was Vanderbilt, who the Cards took down 13-9. Today, it is Xavier. 

The Musketeers are just 1-6 so far this season, having beaten Gardner-Webb last week (did you know they sponsored WLAX?) before losing their most recent game to Wofford (did you know they sponsored WLAX?). This will be Xavier's second game against an ACC foe this season, having lost 16-9 in Durham at the beginning of March. Despite the relatively close mark there, the Musketeers have lost big to Akron (15-6), Cincinnati (18-11), and South Florida (20-4). Their closest losses to Bucknell (12-8) and Wofford (14-12) have come, along with the 13-5 win over GW, in the last four matches. They're joined, though, by that clunker in Tampa. 

This will be the second meeting between Louisville and Xavier in lacrosse, with the Cards having won the first last season 15-7. It is only Xavier's third full season as a program, and they are working to build off of a pair of 4-win seasons to open the history books. Louisville will look to play spoiler to those aspirations this evening as the Cards try to return to .500 on the year. Tonight's match will get underway at 6pm and be available on FloSports. 

NCAA Tournament Pick 'Em 

With just a couple of days left, don't forget to get your entries in for the Cardinal Couple NCAA Tournament Pick 'Em. Paulie and I will be keeping track of the scores, and the first and second-place finishers will be treated to brunch at Cracker Barrel or First Watch. Sending your entry is simple. Just tell us who wins each game in the comments. Provide a points total for the national championship as a tiebreaker. Formatting is largely up to you, but here are my and Lindsay's picks as examples.

Case

Spokane 1

UCLA, Richmond, Ole Miss, Grand Canyon, Florida State, LSU, Harvard, NC State

UCLA, Ole Miss, FSU, NC State

UCLA, NC State

UCLA

Spokane 4

USC, Miss State, Kansas State, UK, Murray, Oklahoma, So. Dakota State, UConn

USC, UK, Oklahoma, UConn

USC, UConn

UConn

Birmingham 2

So. Carolina, Utah, Alabama, Norfolk St., WVU, UNC, Vanderbilt, Duke

SCar, Alabama, UNC, Duke

SCar, Duke

Scar

Birmingham 3

Texas, Illinois, USF, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Louisville, TCU

Texas, OSU, ND, TCU

Texas, ND

ND

Final Four

UCLA, ND

UCLA - 161

Lindsay

Spokane 1

UCLA, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Baylor, George Mason, LSU, Michigan State, NC State

UCLA, Baylor, LSU, NC State

UCLA, LSU

LSU

Spokane 4

USC, California, Kansas State, UK, Iowa, Oklahoma, So. Dakota St., UConn

Cal, K-State, Oklahoma, UConn

K-State, Oklahoma

K-State

Birmingham 2

So. Carolina, Indiana, Alabama, Maryland, WVU, UNC, Oregon, Duke

SCar, Maryland, UNC, Oregon

SCar, UNC

Scar

Birmingham 3

Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Louisville, TCU

Texas, OSU, Michigan, Louisville

Ohio State, Louisville

Ohio State

Final Four

K-State, Scar

South Carolina - 142

To date, these are our only two entries. Lindsay and I like brunch, but at least make us work for it!

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Summer Softball -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Zabala and Thatcher to Play in FGCL

Alyssa Zabala

NCAA Softball may be just about over for the 2024 season now that we are one game through the national championship series, but summer ball is just getting started. The Florida Gulf Coast League is back for another season and Louisville players Alyssa Zabala and Katie Thatcher will be playing for the Manatee Impact.

The number of teams and summer schedule has not been released yet. Last year, there were approximately 20-22 games for each team played between a handful of teams. All games were played in the Bradenton area. 

Zabala just finished her sophomore season for the Cards. In her second year, the Miami, Florida native took over the role as the ace. She led the team in appearances, wins, and strikeouts. She also ranked highly both in the conference and nationally in wins.

Katie Thatcher

Thatcher recently finished her freshman season at Louisville. Hailing from Rock Falls, Illinois, she played more of a reserve role for much of the season, often filling in as a pinch hitter. Her second career home run was a walk off against ranked Duke. Late in the season, Thatcher began filling in as an outfielder.

We do not have any information on streaming games, but you can check out the Florida Gulf Coast League website here...(when it is updated)... with the 2024 information.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards Drop Series Opener; Ulrich Keeps Dominating -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Can't Close Out Tigers in 6-5 Loss

Louisville softball held a 1-0 lead for four innings before surrendering that lead in the fifth. They scored four runs in the bottom half to take a 5-3 lead into the final frame. Unfortunately, visiting Clemson (ranked 22/21) added another three spot in the seventh which the Cards couldn't answer. Louisville fell 6-5 in the last home series opener of the season.

Alyssa Zabala got the start in this one and it looked like things might get sideways quickly. A single opened the game and a walk put two on. Zabala and the defense got out of the jam with an infield popup and a double play, though, and the offense went to work. Daisy Hess popped up to start, but Chelsea Mack beat out an infield single. Frizell grounded to short, but Mack was again too fast for the Clemson defense, who didn't even try to get her at second. Bailey Richardson made that pay off with a double down the line (confirmed fair on review) to give Louisville a 1-0 lead. 

Clemson won a challenge to open the second, getting an out call at first overturned, but Zabala got the next three batters out on just eight pitches. The Cards put two on base with singles from Katie Thatcher and Maddi Grant, but couldn't add to their lead. The third inning saw Clemson put together a massive threat, loading the bases with nobody out. Their third hit came on what was likely a sacrifice bunt attempt, but the Cards couldn't get the out. Again, Zabala and the defense buckled down with a three pitch strikeout and another double play, but their luck appeared to be wearing down.

The Cards and Tigers traded 1-2-3 sides in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, but Thatcher's second single of the day prevented a third straight 1-2-3 offensive effort. The top of the fifth got off to about as rocky a start as possible. Zabala threw six pitches, none were swung on, and the Tigers loaded the bases. HBPs bookended a four-pitch walk, but Coach Holly Aprile decided to ride her ace. A foul out to left acted as a sac fly to tie the game, but it looked like the Cards might escape with minimal damage after a flyout gave Clemson two outs. A double ended that hope and scored a pair to make it 3-1. 

Louisville's offense responded in the bottom half, though, with Goff singling to open the side and Hess drawing a walk. Mack laid down a sac bunt, but a fielding error allowed her to reach and scored Goff unearned. Mack stole second to put two in scoring position (Hess also advanced on the error), and Frizell singled to score one. Pickle Winkler was called on to pinch run, and she stole second to put two in scoring position once more. Richardson hit a grounder to short, but it was sharply hit and Mack was out at home. On the throw, Winkler and Richardson both advanced, so the Cards had two in scoring position for the third straight at-bat. Vanessa Miller finally took advantage, singling down the line to score the pair and give Louisville the lead back at 5-3. A pair of fly outs ended the inning. 

After the shaky fifth, Zabala returned to the circle and got four outs, with an error giving Clemson their only runner. Louisville's offensive outburst also came crashing back to earth with a 1-2-3 bottom half. That brought up the seventh, with Louisville holding a 2-run lead and looking for a big upset to open the series. Zabala gave up a full-count walk and a single before striking out a batter to leave two on and one out. Clemson was on their fourth run through the lineup. It's very unclear to me what leads to Aprile's pitching decisions. In this case, Zabala was left in, and a double scored a run and left runners on second and third with one out. The go-ahead run was standing on second. Still, Zabala was left in. An intentional walk loaded the bases to set up a force at any base and increase the chances of a double-play in the infield. A sac fly tied the game and a single to center gave the Tigers the lead. Aprile finally pulled Zabala and Brooke Gray got a fly out to strand two and end the inning. Clemson led 6-5.

Louisville's offense, needing a run with the 2-3-4 batters due up, went down in order on ten pitches and the game was over. Ultimately, Zabala was saddled with a loss she didn't really deserve. Yes, she's the one that gave up the runs, and her final line (9H, 6R [all earned], 4BB, 2K, 2HBP, 101 pitches) isn't pretty, but there were ample opportunities to put in another arm to close this game out. I understand sending Zabala back out to open the seventh after she showed she still had it in the sixth, but banking on her getting out of a fourth major jam at that point was a genuinely bad call. 

In a game that the Cards pretty much needed to win (and had in hand), they instead lost their third straight and moved to 25-22 (6-13). They basically have to win out and have a strong showing in the ACC tournament to get a shout at an at-large bid in the NCAA tourney. They'll get started in game 2 against Clemson today at 1PM. Today is Senior Day, so be sure to get out early if you're wanting to take in the festivities.

Jayden Ulrich Sets New Records

Photo by Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics

After her incredible performances in the indoor season, Jayden Ulrich is back in action at Cardinal Park in the Clark Wood Invitational. Yesterday's events saw Ulrich break her own program record (twice) in shot put with throws of 18.08 and 18.27 meters. The previous record, which Ulrich set earlier this year in Texas, was 18.00m, narrowly beating Emmonnie Henderson's 17.98 from 2017. Yesterday's throw of 18.27m also sets a new high-mark at the event and the venue. Ulrich now holds a top-six throw in the country, and she will be looking to add to her hardware collection this summer. 

Also performing well on the first day of the event was Alessandra Rodriguez, who became the 7th Cardinal woman to break the 2:10 mark in the 800m. Rodriguez beat it by the slimmest of margins, setting a 2:09.99 personal best while earning an event victory. Lucy Fellows came fourth in the invitational long jump with a leap of 6.05m. It's the second time the freshman has exceeded six meters in the event. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We look to have three on the horn today, as Jared and Daryl are out this week. Neither is running the marathon or the mini, as far as I'm aware, but perhaps they're stuck in perpetual traffic on the wrong side of third street (a perennial nightmare on campus). There aren't a ton of positives from the results of the week, but we'll still bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. If Jeff's computer woes are finished, 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

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RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Splits in Pitt -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Take 1 of 2 in Double Header

Louisville softball entered a weekend series with a chance to get back to near .500 in conference against the struggling Pitt Panthers. Instead, they'll head to a rubber match Sunday after gifting Pittsburgh their first conference win of the season in Game 2 of yesterday's double header. The Cards won Game 1 3-2 before allowing nine runs in the second game to fall 9-4. They'll have today off and will wrap up the series at 1PM tomorrow afternoon. 

Game 1

Louisville looked poised to jump on the Panthers early when Daisy Hess singled to open the game and Chelsea Mack walked behind her. Unfortunately, Riley Frizell grounded into a double-play and Gabby Holloway's flyout in the cleanup spot ended the inning. Instead, it was the Panthers who took the lead in the first. Alyssa Zabala, who ultimately settled into a very good game, hit the first batter she faced, and the runner stole second to put someone in scoring position with no outs. Zabala got a pair of pop outs, one on a failed bunt attempt, to put the inning nearly to bed. With two outs, the runner was moving on contact, which was not great when the cleanup hitter sent a ball to center field that was dropped. An unearned run scored and Louisville trailed 1-0.

The top of the second again saw Louisville put two runners on base, but both were stranded on a fly out and a strikeout. Pitt homered to open the bottom half of the inning to put the Cards in a 2-0 hole, but Zabala went 1-2-3 afterwards to limit the damage. As I mentioned, Zabala turned in a very good outing following the bad luck in the first. After giving up the HBP and a walk in the first and the solo home run in the second, Zabala went the final five innings with just three hits, no walks, and no HBP. She didn't allow another run, meaning she gave up just the one earned on the homer, and she came away with the win. It's easy to see why Coach Holly Aprile can get drawn into the trap of leaving pitchers in overlong. They give her good reason to think they'll get out of jams when needed. 

Pitt ultimately didn't threaten again. Their three hits were scattered across innings, and two of the three were erased by double plays. The sixth saw a "ball don't lie" situation after the leadoff batter reached. The second batter bunted, and Zabala fielded it cleanly and fired to second. Louisville tried to get the double play but couldn't turn it to first in time. They challenged runner's interference, but the call stood that the runner was safe at first. The next batter lined it straight to second, who tossed it to first to double up the runner who couldn't tag in time. 

That left Louisville's offense. Where we last saw them, they trailed 2-0 entering the third. As they rolled back to the top of the order, Daisy Hess again gave the Cards a golden opportunity, doubling to open the inning. Louisville's hitting woes with runners in scoring position continued, though. For the third straight inning, they failed to capitalize on having a runner on second with one or no outs. The fourth gave them another shot. Vanessa Miller was plunked to open the inning, and Bailey Richardson shot one right back at the pitcher to pick up an infield single. Ally Alexander stepped in and laid down what was likely intended to be a sacrifice bunt, but reached first to load the bases with nobody out. 

Kylie Goff was first pitch swinging, but fouled out to shallow right. Katie Thatcher was called on to bat for Paige Geraghty and worked a single through the left side on a 2-strike count. As Miller came home to score easily and Richardson followed her, the left fielder booted it just long enough for Alexander to try her luck and rounding the bases. As she got caught in a run down, Thatcher wisely moved up to third. Alexander was called out at the plate, and the call stood after review. Hess couldn't score Thatcher from third with two outs, but Louisville had tied it at 2. 

The Cards put runners on the corners in the top of the fifth, but it was with two outs. A flyout ended the threat. Another HBP to open the inning greeted Louisville in the top of the sixth, and small ball paid off with another error. After Alexander reached, Goff laid down another sacrifice bunt that turned into more for Louisville. This time, Pitt's 1b airmailed the throw, sending Alexander all the way to third. Geraghty fouled out trying to bunt (Why? There were runners on the corners with no outs.), but Goff stole second anyway. Daisy Hess flew out to center field and picked up a sacrifice fly RBI when Alexander scored an unearned run. Another review double checked that Alexander tagged up, and confirmed it, giving Louisville the lead. With the chance to add insurance in the seventh, Louisville went down 1-2-3, but it didn't matter as they took the 3-2 win. 

Game 2

Remember how I said Aprile sometimes leaves her pitchers in overlong? What if I told you that it sometimes extended over multiple games? Alyssa Zabala was called on to take the circle again in the second game and it... didn't go great. After Louisville left two on in the top of the first, Zabala once more plunked the first batter for Pitt. This one didn't come around to score, though, so the two teams left the first 0-0. 

The Cards again put two on with nobody out in the second, and again, they failed to bring a runner home. Alarming trend in yesterday's games... That's when things went sideways for Zabala. After she got a groundout to open the inning, Pitt's Esparza homered to score the first run of the game. You're thinking, "Ok, Zabala hit Griggs to open the first game and gave up a homer to Esparza in the second and then settled into a great game." I'm here to tell you, it didn't go that way again. A single was followed by an error that scored a run, and another home run scored two more. Louisville trailed 4-0 and they wouldn't recover. 

After another uneventful offensive side for Louisville, Zabala gave up a single to open the third and got the hook. Sam Booe kindly allowed the runner to come around after a sac bunt and another single to tag Zabala with her fifth run of the game. The two teams went 6 up, 6 down in the fourth. In the fifth, trailing 5-0 and running out of outs, Louisville found some offense. Chelsea Mack fouled out to open the inning, but Daisy Hess doubled with one out. Ally Alexander singled to put runners on the corners before Riley Frizell flew out. How Hess didn't score on the single or fly out is unclear to me, but Vanessa Miller made it moot when she sent the first pitch of her at bat over the right field fence. Cards now trailed just 5-3. 

Louisville's rally was short lived. The fifth inning went single, single (throwing error), passed ball, strikeout (whoo), three-run homer, single, pitching change (Holloway), double, RBI single, ground out, fly out. Woof. Louisville trailed 9-3 to a team that averaged just under three runs per game entering the second half of the double header. Gabby Holloway opened the top of the sixth with a home run, but the Cards left the bases loaded again to leave the inning down 9-4. Louisville loaded the bases again in the seventh, this time with one out, and couldn't score a run. The Cards left 11 runners on base in the game. 

Another opportunity to get back on track comes tomorrow.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

There will be three on the call today, as Daryl attends to wedding planning and I woke up feeling quite unwell. Paulie, Jeff, and Jared will hold down the fort and bring you all the joy and excitement of the week that was (including a Spring win for volleyball yesterday). 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

Anchor (podcast host): Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Spotify: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Newcomers in the New Year; Part 1 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

New Faces in Spring Sports

The turning of the calendar page to January means all kinds of things. For example, now I can officially ignore the oversized planner that spanned the 2023-24 academic calendar in favor of the more compact 2024 planner that I bought in November rather than only unofficially ignore it. It also means that we'll start to think about spring, despite winter beginning just over two weeks ago. Funny how your brain works, right?

While we're just getting into conference play in basketball, spring sports will be on us in hurry, so let's take a little bit to look at the new names we'll need to get used to in softball and lacrosse this season. This will be a two part series, as I'll cover softball today and lacrosse on Saturday. 

Softball Sees Big Turnover

The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away. Last season's softball team saw quite a bit of the taking, so a fair bit of giving was needed to fill the spots. Right out of the gate (we're going to go in number order because it's easiest to compare the rosters) we see a change. 

Wearing 00 for Louisville in 2024 will not be Cassie Grizzard, as she transferred to Virginia Tech. Instead, it will be Izzy Harrison, the junior transfer from UK. Harrison is a right-handed pitcher who made 10 starts in 27 appearances for the Wildcats. She threw 47 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. The Franklin, Indiana native was 3-3 in decisions at UK, with a 6.40 ERA. She threw two complete games. Harrison is a one-way player, as she saw only one at-bat in her two seasons with the Cats. Louisville needs to replace a lot of pitching, so we'll hope that Holly Aprile can calm Harrison down in the circle to reduce the number of walks and runs allowed.

Brooke Gray is the big name here. Gray comes in as the KY Gatorade Softball Player of the Year and Kentucky's Miss Softball. Gray was the MVP of the 2022 and 2023 state tournaments, both of which Ballard won. In her final two seasons with Ballard, Gray was 57-0 and struck out 687 in 376 innings. Her ERA was 0.82 as a junior and 0.81 as a senior. Gray is among the most lauded incoming freshmen that Louisville has had in any sport, especially as a hometown hero. Gray will join Alyssa Zabala as the two leaders on the pitching staff, as the Cards have to replace starts vacated by Taylor Roby. Gray can't help fill the void in the batter's box, but she should be a sight to see in the circle. Oh yeah... and Gray wears #1.

We won't dwell on the missing number 2 here, as Paige Geraghty retains the 3 (it's Sarah Gordon, the star catcher who transferred to Georgia. You remember her. Let's not talk about it.) We got one whole player before a new face showed up again. Bailee Richardson transfers in from Georgia State and wears number 4. I wrote a bit about Richardson at the time that her transfer was announced, because it was the summer and news was gold. Richardson was the team leader in RBIs (33), doubles (8), home runs (9), and slugging percentage (.551). In that article, I prognosticated that Richardson would slot in next to her former teammate, Daisy Hess, on the left side of the infield. With Easton Lotus at second, that would still seem a safe bet. I also suggested that might move Ally Alexander to catcher. We'll talk more about that in a bit.

After Pickle Winkler, we say goodbye to the number 7 as Hannah File graduates, but we haven't gotten rid of the 8. That's right, someone will step into the very big shoes left by Taylor Roby and wear the 8. Ava Venturelli is a freshman outfielder from Taunton, Massachusetts. You may remember that Louisville needs an outfielder as Korbe Otis also departed. Venturelli (a few times typing that and she might just become Ava) was a three-peat champion in high school and was nominated for the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. She was named the 20th overall recruit by Extra Innings and was No. 71 in the Extra Elite 100. Venturelli hit .479 with a .565 OBP as a senior and had 9 home runs and 35 RBIs. Her power was down a bit, but perhaps because she was being walked after hitting .457 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs as a junior. 

Two more newbies come after Vanessa Miller. Chelsea Mack is a sophomore transfer from UK, joining Harrison as a player changing allegiances. Louisville's new #10 was a role player for UK, as she saw just 13 at-bats last season. She was used as a pinch runner effectively, as she stole 8 bases and scored six runs. One of each of those came in UK's win over Louisville. Mack hit .231 with three singles and had one strikeout. Experience is hard to come by as a freshman, but I think that the outfielder could find a spot in this lineup.

Char Lorenz

Jac Hasty

Next is one of the reasons I'm confused about Louisville's infield. Jac Hasty is a C/INF from Chesapeake, Virginia. Hasty joins Kiley Goff (39) and Char Lorenz (42) as incoming catchers, so I'm just going to talk about them all here. Goff seems most likely to win the spot. She's a senior transfer from Maryland who started her career in her backyard at Purdue. She's from West Lafayette. In her freshman season, she started 40 games and played in all 44. She was second on the team in runs and hits and led the team in triples. Last season with Maryland, she started 54 games, primarily as a catcher. She led the team in runs and led the Big Ten in thrown out baserunners. On the base paths herself, Goff was 18-22. Pretty good. Hasty and Lorenz, both freshman, will have their work cut out for them against a veteran like Goff, especially one with her numbers already in college. Both freshmen come with success of their own in high school, so we'll keep an eye on how this battle plays out. 

Kiley Goff

For the first time after Hasty at 11, we have two players back-to-back that are returning, both of whom I've already mentioned (12-Lotus, 13-Zabala). Riley Frizell is the next newcomer at 14, and she transfers in from Missouri. The infielder (wait, there are a bunch of those) started in 49 games for the Tigers last year, 28 times at 1B and 21 times at DP. We'll have to get used to a regular designated player without Roby playing two ways every other game. As a junior, Frizell hit .216 with five doubles, a triple, five homers, and 22 RBI. Her OBP ticks up a bit to .284, but her .665 OPS isn't stunning. Where she excels is on defense. Frizell finished with a .977 fielding percentage as a freshman, dropped slightly to .962 as a sophomore (only 2 errors on 53 chances), and then posted a 1.000 fielding percentage last year with 213 putouts and five assists. Louisville needs consistency on defense. Perhaps Frizell can help provide it.

Had Frizell worn 77 like she did at Mizzou instead of 14, we would have had six uninterrupted players, so the next four (Forsythe, Holloway, Hess, and Alexander) are veterans on the team. Katie Thatcher wears 24, replacing Mikayla Hurst in the number. (I didn't mention it earlier, but Jac Hasty inherits the 11 from Taja Felder.) Thatcher is a utility player that bats and throws left-handed. The freshman from Rock Falls, Illinois is an on-base machine, as she hit .553 as a senior. She turned 57 hits in 51 runs and 42 RBIs while only hitting 9 homers. Though not listed as a pitcher on Louisville's roster, Thatcher was 19-3 with a 1.81 ERA and 214 strikeouts last year. She was named to the first team all-state team last year and was first team all-conference in the last two. Thatcher was named the 2023 Sauk Valley Player of the Year.

Maddi Grant wears 25, Sam Booe wears 51, and I've already talked about Kiley Goff and Char Lorenz. That means that Lindsey Mullen (28) is the last newcomer (players only) on the squad. Mullen is a freshman from Leesburg, Virginia and is a right-handed pitcher. We'll see whether or not she plays both ways at UofL, but Mullen added a .469 average and 8 homers to her sparkling 0.39 ERA last season. She also struck out 193 batters in 89.2 innings. Mullen was the 4C Co-Region Player of the Year last year and helped her team to the state quarterfinals. Lindsey will join what looks to be an impressive bunch of arms to try to solidify what has been a sore spot for the Cards of late, despite strong individual performances. 

In addition to the players, Holly Aprile's coaching staff sees a bit of a shakeup this year. Griffin Joiner remains the first assistant, but the rest of the staff (with the exception of an undergraduate manager) turns over. Bryce Neal and Casey Bonk are out as assistant coach and director of operations and Aprile brings in two assistants as well as a new ops director in response. Bryan Sabatella comes over after two seasons as the hitting and infield coach at Utah Tech and DeeDee Morris joins the staff after 8 seasons as an assistant at Mount St. Joseph University. Morris joined the Mount after a year as a Graduate assistant at her alma mater, NKU. Jeremy Randolph is the new director of operations, coming to Louisville after two years in the same role for the UCF baseball team. Randolph played most of his collegiate ball for Wright State before moving to Alabama as a graduate transfer. Randolph led the Tide in appearances (22) and saves (9) in 2019 before being drafted by the Cardinals in the 26th round. He joined the staff at UCF after one year in the minors. 

All in all, the Cards welcome 11 new players to the roster and say goodbye to just seven. It should be an exciting season this year as Louisville looks to build on an NCAA Regional appearance from a year ago. The Cards will get underway in just over a month as they kick off the season at the FGCU Classic on February 9th.

As I mentioned, tune in for the continuation of this miniseries on Saturday when we look at lacrosse.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

All photos are official player portraits from gocards.com.