Softball outlasts WKU 3-2 -- LAX closes regular season at Notre Dame -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Hello readers,


It's Daryl here! Tag, I'm it!  Checking back in on a non-Friday. The Bats had a day game this week, freeing up my Wednesday evening to check in with the Cardinals programs. 

The weather is really starting to warm up as we look ahead to Thunder weekend in downtown Louisville.  If you are going down there, please be vigilant and courteous to those around you. We as a community have to look out for each other... This is one of my favorite events of the year!  

Let's see what's going on with the Cards!!


Louisville Softball

Cardinals win!! 3-2 

Louisville got the 3-2 victory on the road vs. in-state rival Western Kentucky University.  The Cardinals fought off the Hilltoppers attempt to come back on them up through the very last inning... when they left the tying run stranded at second base with one out.   

 
Taylor Roby (9-5) picked up the win in the circle and Paige Geraghty went 2-3 at the plate.  

After my struggles to find this one live (user error as usual), once I got my eyes on the game, the Cardinals were able find some offense.   

Louisville broke through in the top of the 4th. to make it on a solo HR from Sarah Gordon and a RBI double for Paige Geraghty. It was 2-0 Cards.  

Hannah File's ground rule double to lead off top of the 5th.  Roby finds the gap in LF to put runners on the corners. File came home to make it 3-0 on a Gordon groundout.   

In the bottom of the 5th WKU struck to put 2 runs on the board after a one out single.  

Cards making some bonehead mistakes in the top of the sixth to try and extend the lead... Winkler pops it up to 1B on the first pitch and then Alexander advances to second on the overthrow to 1B to put a runner in scoring position but then ran into the live ball on the next hit to Short stop for the second out and a great stretch by the WKU first basemen from SS would retire the Cardinal offense.  

WKU gave it one last push in the bottom of the 7th but the Cards shut the Topper attack down one more time, this time behind the pitching of Alyssa Zabala. 

 

I saw my first shift in softball -- for Taylor Roby! 

Louisville LAX

Location: South Bend, Ind. | Arlotta Stadium

April 20th 7 p.m.

TV: ACCNX

The Cardinals are closing out the regular season Thursday evening on the road in South Bend, Indiana facing #7 Notre Dame. The Irish are 11-4 on the season and 5-3 in the conference having won 3 matches in a row and narrowly losing to #5 Boston College 12-11 at home back on April 8th. They are 7-1 at home this season.  ND 6-1 record all-time over the visiting Cardinals.

Over the course of their last three games, the Irish have outscored their opponents 64-15, including a program best road performance of 26 goals at Butler April 10 where they defeated the Bulldogs 26-3...setting a couple of season records. The 23-goal victory was also the largest margin of victory for the Irish this year and their three goals allowed was second fewest in 2023.

In their most recent outing, ND beat RMU 21-6, behind goals from 11 individuals. 

Madison Ahern and Kasey Choma lead the Irish with 49 goals apiece, while Jackie Wolak has 38 goals and 36 assists for a team-best 74 points.  Choma now has tallied a team-high 11 hat tricks in the 2023 season and Wolak has tallied nine.

Wolak is ranked in the top five in the ACC for points per game (4.93) and assists per game (2.40). Her assists per game is also 14th-best nationally while her points per game average ranks ninth.

Louisville is 2-13 to ND in the all time series with the Cards falling 14-15 in April of 2022. Seniors Nicole Perroni and Hannah Morris both had 3 goals for the Cards against the Irish which ruined the Senior Day celebrations. Perhaps the Cards will recall last year's heartbreaker and return the favor on Notre Dame's senior day??

As Always, Go Cards 

~Daryl 

Reflecting Back Over the Last Several Years -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

REFLECTIONS

Remember the Silos? 

Remember the question in job interviews: Where do you see yourself in five/ten years? How many times have we looked ahead to think about where we would be but never actually looked back to see where we came from over that same stretch? In just 10 short (or long) years, things at Louisville, especially with women's sports have changed drastically.

Before we look at how Louisville Athletics has changed over the last 10 years I'll do a quick reflection of myself involved with UofL over the last 10 years.

This time 10 years ago I was preparing to enter freshman year as a Cardinal. I was still a UK fan at that time. It's crazy to think my UofL fan blood has only been around for 10 years and my involvement with their sports even shorter!

(...cleans up pretty well...)

I was getting ready for band camp with the Cardinal Marching Band- my first ever Louisville game as a student or in band was a Louisville vs Kentucky football game. Oh, the irony. In that same stretch of few weeks, I had joined the Cardinal Pride Pep Band and my earliest memory of a women's sport was volleyball. What freshman boy wouldn't be in awe over Katie George?

In that span of 10 years, I quickly switched my allegiances to Louisville, spent many years in the band, attended hundreds of games, traveled the country to cheer on the Cards, worked as a student on campus, changed majors, graduated, changed "big boy" jobs, and somehow became deeply involved in Louisville Athletics media. I went from having my first camera and taking some pretty poor quality photos at games that you can find in really old posts on here to newer cameras (I just bought another new camera two days ago) and slightly better quality photos. Many of the action photos you see from recent games have my handprint on them.

But let's move onto Louisville Athletics in the last 10 years. Overall, the Cards were still one of the top schools in the Big East. The Big East days would come to a close before the Cards spent a year in the AAC and have since been a more notable name in the ACC for the last several years.

Tom Jurich was still Athletic Director. We have since seen Vince Tyra come in to replace him, followed by Josh Heird being named as the newest successor earlier this year.

No new sports have arrived to campus in the last 10 years, but many stadiums and facilities have had nice overhauls. Lacrosse got a press box. Field hockey just got a new turf. Volleyball moved from Cardinal Arena, to the KFC Yum! Center, back to Cardinal Arena, now known as L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. Soccer moved from Cardinal Park to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium. Basketball was just familiarizing itself with its new home at the KFC Yum! Center. Softball got a makeover with seating.

Women's basketball added three more Final Four appearances in the last decade. They have hoisted the ACC trophy four times through the regular season or conference tournament. They have had two ACC Player of the Year awards and have had numerous players go to the WNBA. Multiple assistant coaches have gone on to become head coaches or associate head coaches at schools such as Mississippi State, EKU, and USC.

Field Hockey earned its first ever trip to the Final Four. It has also won an ACC Championship and is one a few ACC schools to ever go undefeated in conference play in a single season. The wall of All-Americans grew significantly.

Golf has seen coaching changes. Whitney Young is in her third season at the helm. Her predecessor, Courtney Trimble, was brand new 10 years ago. The Cards became a near-lock for the NCAA Regional Championships each year including reaching the NCAA Championship final in 2018.

Lacrosse saw a transition from its first ever head coach to its current head coach in Scott Teeter. The Cards have spent plenty of time in the Top 25 over the last decade and has even grown enough to include primetime TV games at Cardinal Football Stadium. The presence of international players on the roster has grown a lot in that timespan.

Soccer saw a move from Cardinal Park to Dr Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium, lauded for being one of the premier collegiate soccer-only facilities in the country. The Cards have seen multiple NCAA Tournament appearances as well as a handful of players drafted to go pro. Two players were named to their respective conference Offensive Player of the Year with Emina Ekic in the ACC in 2020 and Christine Exeter in the AAC in 2013. There was also a beautiful 2-1 overtime victory over #1 North Carolina in 2015.

Softball saw its first ever coach Sandy Pearsall retire after having built the program from the ground up and being in charge for almost 20 years to seeing the hire of Holly Aprile. Ulmer Stadium had an overhaul with seating since that time and just revamped their lights to include nighttime UofL red lights recently. They have been to five NCAA Regionals in the last 10 years.

Swimming and Diving went from no women's championships to seeing two different women's athletes earn NCAA titles. Kelsi Worrell won back-to-back titles in the butterfly. She became the first woman in history to swim the 100-yard butterfly in under 50 seconds. Mallory Comerford raised the NCAA Championship trophy three times in her career at Louisville. She even tied with Katie Ledecky in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Arthur Albiero has continued to help Louisville Swimming and Diving became highly decorated. Louisville also saw a big jump in its diving program and even sent a diver to the World Championships this past summer.

Track and Field went from sharing Cardinal Park with soccer to having full rights to the venue. They also partnered with the City of Louisville to add an indoor track and field venue in downtown Louisville so the program would have the option to host both indoor and outdoor meets. The field program has become one of the top in the country and the Cards saw their first women's outdoor individual champion when Gabriela Leon won the pole vault this year.

Volleyball has gone through quite a bit of change. Anne Kordes was early in her stint at Louisville as the Cards' sixth head coach in program history and was in the midst of winning four conference titles in six years before Dani Busboom Kelly came in behind her. Volleyball had gone from playing in Cardinal Arena on campus to transitioning to the KFC Yum! Center before a huge revamp and renaming of Cardinal Arena, now L&N FCU Arena, became the permanent home for Louisville volleyball. Under Coach DBK, Louisville has one multiple ACC championships and has made three Sweet Sixteen appearances, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four. The Cards became ranked #1 for the first time in program history en route to a 32-0 start to the season.

                                                     *****************************

Here at Cardinal Couple, Jeff, Case, Daryl, and I have all joined Paulie's ranks as writers and contributors. Ten years ago, the writers were Sandy, Jenny, Paulie, Sonja, Phil and David Watson.  Our time on "live" radio transitioned from a basement on a hill in Crescent Hill, to a studio/house in the Mellwood area, seeing that radio station closing and us transitioning to the ever-popular podcast format. The ACC Pick Em and NCAA Pick Em have both grown into popular events that have become highly competitive. 

Things change over time and it seems like things have grown for the better over the last 10 years. With many bright moments ahead in Louisville Athletics, it's nice to take a moment just to look at how far things have come in the last 10 years and the insane amount of accolades and accomplishments have happened in that span.

Hopefully we can look back in another 10 years and see plenty more to brag about in that stretch.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball News -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball News

Dead season still offers news here and there for us to report on and Louisville softball provided some for us recently.

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge returns and will be held in the middle of February, which is early softball season. The Cards will held down to Georgia Tech where they will face Illinois and Wisconsin twice each. Georgia Tech will also face the Illini and Badgers twice each, totaling eight games over three days.

Louisville last competed in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in 2020 against Wisconsin and Michigan. The Cards went 1-3 in the event that year.

The Cards also announced the addition of a new player this week. Paige Geraghty comes to Louisville after two seasons at Auburn.

The outfielder will help replace the loss in starting left fielder and All-American Carmyn Greenwood and the departure of speedy pinch runner Sydney Bickel.

Geraghty played in 70 games over the last two seasons at Auburn and appeared in two NCAA Regionals. Last season, she scored 15 runs, recorded three stolen bases, and had a 1.000 fielding percentage to help power the Tigers to a 40-17 record.

The rising junior was ranked #21 in her graduating class coming out of high school by Extra Inning Softball.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Golf Regional Day Two -- Walz Presser -- ACC Softball Tournament Begins Today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S GOLF STILL IN FOURTH PLACE

The second round of the NCAA Women's Golf Louisville Regional was completed yesterday and Louisville remained in fourth place out of the 18 squads participating. 

The Cards shot a even-par 288 to stay at 6 over par for the Regional and are five stokes back of leader Florida State as the squads prepare for the final day of the Regionals today. 

Hana Ryskova and Lauren Hartlage had nice rounds for UofL at the UofL Golf Club in Simpsonville yesterday -- Ryskova touring the course with an 18-hole score of 70. She is in 10th place overall with a two-day total of 143. Hartlage had an even par 72 yesterday and sits just three strokes back of the leader ( Christin Eisenbeiss -- FSU) with a two-day score of 141. 

Another Cardinal golfer, Molly Lyme has a two-day total of 147 for the Cards. Margot Bechadergue and Carly Haines are also competing for the Cards. 

Louisville tees off at 9 a.m. this morning. The top six teams advance to the NCAA Championships. 

Louisville head women's golf coach Whitney Young recapped the second day:

"Today we got off to a little bit of a rough start. However, we stayed patient and ended up finishing well, which will give us confidence going into Wednesday.  Overall, we have put ourselves in a good position but we must continue to capitalize on our good shots and eliminate mental mistakes."  : 

WALZ PRESSER

Louisville head women's basketball coach Jeff Walz met with media yesterday via Zoom and caught us up on what's been going on with the Cards since the NCAA Tournament. 

You can see and listen to the presser at the link below:

 

LINK:  JEFF WALZ PRESSER

The highlights: 

-- All of the 2020-21 staff are back and eager to get to work 

-- He is excited about the addition of Emily Engstler and Chelsie Hall from the transfer portal. He likes the added strength it gives Louisville on the boards and at guard. 

-- He's also excited about Payton Verhulst and Sydni Schetnan coming in as freshmen. He thinks both could battle for minutes. 

-- Ahlana Smith is practicing with the Puerto Rican National team right now. 

-- He thinks Hailey is poised for a great sophomore year and thinks she'll continue to be more assertive on the court. 

-- He's excited for Dana Evans at Dallas and all the Cards on WNBA rosters. He's also been in touch with injured Angel McCoughtry and says that her mind frame is good despite the injury. 

-- Monique Reid was on the champion Egyptian team and Sam Fuehring was named the MVP of the German league she's in. 

-- Olivia Cochran is with the USA 3x3 squad, travelling as an alternate and practicing with them. 

ACC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT BEGINS TODAY

Seeds #7 thru #10 compete in the first round of the ACC Softball Tournament today out at Louisville's Ulmer Stadium. 

#8 Syracuse and #9 Georgia Tech take the field at 1 pm. for the first game.  The winner advanced to face #1 seed Clemson tomorrow at 11 a.m.  After the #8 vs. #9 seed play-in, it'll be #7 NC State vs. #10 North Carolina today. The winner of that one moves on to face #2 seed Florida State tomorrow. 

Louisville is the #6 seed in the Tournament and will go up against #3 seed Dule at (on around) 7:30 p.m. Thursday night. 

The weather is forecast to be clear, with temps reaching the high 60's today and dropping into the mid 40's at night. 

We'll have full coverage of the event, with our Jared Anderson serving as a photographer at the games. I haven't heard anything about my media credentials yet, so, I'll probably drive down to campus today and see if I got one of not. 

The ACC Network will have today's games.

Ticket Information
Single Game Adult - $5
Single Game Youth - $3

Children 2 and under – Free

ACC students with college ID – Free

Attendance Policy: Due to COVID-19 guidelines, seating inside the stadium is reserved for participating school pass lists, but the berm is open for general seating. Tickets may be purchased in advance online, or at Ulmer Stadium on the day of the game.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

paulie

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Field Hockey and Softball

 Softball Wins Big

Louisville scored in every inning of their game against Georgia Tech yesterday.  Eventually winning it on the run rule, 10-2 in the 6th inning.  Meanwhile, GT would only put up single run innings in the 1st and 6th.

Carmyn Greenwood is settling in to her lead-off hitting position well, and did so yesterday with a single on the first pitch.  A steal to take 2nd positioned her to score the run on Makayla Hurst's single.

Maddy Newman was the scorer in the 2nd inning, getting it started by using her speed to beat out the throw at 1st.  Sydney Bickel walked to push Newman to 2nd and then, back at the top of the lineup, Greenwood fired the ball out to left field, giving the quick Newman time to reach home.

UofL put a crooked number on the board in the 3rd.  Taylor Roby singled, followed by Makayla Hurst taking a shot beyond the fence in right center field.  That makes six homers for Hurst for the year, and brough the score to 4-1.

Celene Funke used her speed, and took advantage of an error to reach, and then of course stole 2nd, which is nearly a given for Funke.  She then had it somewhat mooted by a pair of walks to Roby and Jennifer Leonhardt.  Charley Butler used an infield single with the bases now loaded to bring Funke home.

Moving to the 5th inning, the other Greenwood sister got it started.  Cassady doubled and then scored on a hit by Maddy Newman.  Newman then advanced to 2nd thanks to a Bickel sacrifice bunt.  Carmyn Greenwood then struck a well hit ball to left field.  After the bounce, Newman advanced to 3rd and while GT was trying to get her out there, Greenwood moved onward to 2nd.  Now with two runners in scoring position, Funke put it down the right field line, and made a double out of it, scoring Newman and Greenwood in the process.

Finally, in the 6th, Charley Butler again showed her speed, first by getting on base thanks to a fielding error by the GT short stop, then by stealing 2nd, again by taking 3rd on a wild pitch, and finally by getting home before the throw on a Cassady Greenwood single to the short stop.  Greenwood took 2nd on a wild pitch and then would score when sister Carmyn snuck a shot through the infield and out to left field.  That brought the score to 10-1 in the middle of the 6th inning.  Georgia Tech needed to at least score two to keep the game going into the 6th, but they were only able to get one across.

The fourth and final game of the series will be today at noon available on The ACC Network Extra as usual.  While there is a significant amount of rain down along the Florida panhandle, that is expected to stay well south of the Atlanta area, which result in a beautiful day for Softball, sunny and 74 being the forecast for the day.

Field Hockey

UofL vs Duke in Field Hockey seems to always be a recipe for a great and exciting game and this one was no exception.

You would've been excused for doubting this was going to be the case at halftime as the only score of the game to that point had come from Alli Bitting putting a rebound off of a penalty corner shot into the cage in the half.

The 2nd half was rather different, though.  Duke got the equalizer within a minute of the 2nd half starting.  UofL would get back on top, though with India Reed feeding an assist to Aimee Plumb to make it 2-1.  Duke would bookend the 3rd quarter, however, with a penalty corner goal to even the score at two apiece.

The Blue Devils got their first lead of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter on another penalty corner goal.  Mercedes Pastor received a penalty stroke opportunity midway through the quarter and scored it to even the score back up at three.

The knot up at three would hold through the end of regulation and through two 7v7 overtime periods, leading a penalty strokes to decide it.  Mackenzie Karl, Katie Schneider, Charlie van Oirshot, and Mercedes Pastor, and made their shots, but were matched by four by Duke.  After the initial five strokes, the sudden victory strokes decided it for Duke after two additional rounds.

Field Hockey returns home for the regular season finale, bringing in Wake Forest, and presumably celebrating Senior Day.  Saturday, April 17th at noon will be the time for this one.  At this point, no video link is shown on UofL's site, but I would expect it to be available on ACC Network Extra.

Today's Schedule

Today's schedule is a little lighter than we've seen over the past few weeks.  Tennis hosts Clemson starting at noon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.  And, of course, the aforementioned Softball game, also at noon at Georgia Tech.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Case, Jared, Paulie, and I spent a few minutes talking about everything but UofL women's sports at the beginning of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, but did get down to business.  Mostly we talked about Softball, but did cover Lacrosse, and Field Hockey, and a touch on Volleyball and Basketball.  Check it out below.

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-

Cards WBB Down Irish -- ACC Tournament Bracket Set -- Softball at Florida -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE WBB 78- NOTRE DAME 61

The Cardinal womens' basketball squad jumped on Notre Dame early in yesterday's contest and never looked back, rolling to a 17-point win in South Bend and taking their fourth straight ACC regular season title. 

Dana Evans led all scorers with 26 points and was the key to Louisville's early 28-18 first quarter lead with 14 of those points in the first 10 minutes. Four pother Cards finished in double figures as well, Liz Dixon with 12, and Hailey Van Lith, Kianna Smith and Kasa Robinson totaled 10 each, as the Cards end the regular season 21-2 and 14-2 in ACC play.

The second quarter was all Louisville as well, the Cards outscoring the Irish 16-10 to take a commanding 44-28 lead into the locker room. Louisville had actually doubled the score on UND with two minutes left in the second quarter at 44-22, but the Irish scored the last six points of the half. 

The Notre Dame squad would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, that coming near the end of the third quarter at 55-45. Robinson and Evans responded with baskets, though, in the final 30 seconds and the Cards were safe at 59-45 after three.  

Any worries of a UofL fourth quarter meltdown disappeared quickly when the Cards scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter.  Louisville would lead by 20 with 4:01 left in the game, 71-51,  after Olivia Cochran connected inside and the Cards won the fourth quarter 19-16 and the half 34-33 to clinch the game and the conference title.  All of Van Lith's 10 points came in the final 20 minutes, and Robinson added six of her points in the second half as well. 

Still work to be done was the message from Jeff Walz an Dana Evans in post-game comments. Walz was also asked about the eye-brow raising NCAA Tournament "reveal" released after the game -- where the Cards were ranked at #9 in the nation and dropped to a #3 seed in NCAA Tournament play.

Walz seemed unconcerned, noting that with the tournament being staged in one location this year, home court advantages because of high seedings were not a factor this year and that regardless of your seed, you still have to win games to advance. 

And, win Louisville did. 

A bit of query on his starting lineup against the Irish turned into an interesting reveal of it's own. The Cards started Evans, Van Lith, Ahlana Smith, Elizabeth Balogun and Olivia Cochran on Sunday. All five have started before...but Walz was asked how he came up with that combo. He matter-of-factly stated that he wrote each player's name on a slip of paper, dropped those in a shopping bag and drew out five to determine who would start. Dana Evans was not drawn, but, Merissah Russell, who was -- told Walz that she didn't feel she had earned the start and wanted Dana to have it in place of her. 

You just never know what you're going to get out of Walz. Yesterday, though, it got the Cards a win -- and we'll see if the "shopping bag starters" ploy gets carried over to Friday in the ACC Quarterfinals. Maybe he'll develop a "starters dartboard" or flip a coin...

THE FRED REPORT

We bring out the Freddy Mercury...
We are the Champions. my friends ! 

FREE THROWS -- Louisville went 8-9 in a game that, thankfully, didn't feature constant Dee Kantner whistles. That 88% is good for a CAPITAL "F".   

REBOUNDS -- Notre Dame won the battle of the boards 35-28 but there were no players who grabbed more than seven on either team. Maybe that was because neither team shot worse than 45% for the game. But, you lose the boards battle and that won't get you a letter in the FRED stats. 

EFFORT/EXECUTION -- The 51.6% shooting was impressive and the 16 assists on 32 made baskets noteworthy as well. Turnovers were moderate, not bad, at 12 Louisville actually won the points-in the-paint battle 38-32 and dominated the fast break points 13-2. A very good effort from the Cards, but not totally spectacular, so I'll offer a lowercase "e" here...a win by 25 or more would have made it a capital letter. 

DEFENSE -- This is where the Cards won the game. Notre Dame had 25 turnovers, Louisville had 10 steals, the Cards got 25 points off those turnovers and none of Notre Dame's starters reached double figures in scoring (reserves Brunelle and Miles led the way with 13 and 11 points). No problem handing out a CAPITAL "D" for defensive Cardinal efforts on Sunday

FINAL FRED TALLY:  F-_-e-D

All in all, a nice bounce back from the FSU loss and it's always good to go into post-season play on a win streak.  Good to see Hailey Van Lith shake things up  a bit and Dana was spectacular as always...but my MVP of the game Sunday has to go to Kasa Robinson, who gave Louisville 27 minutes of 5-5 shooting, five charges drawn, four assists and three steals.  Having Kasa as a facilitator is good...but when she becomes a scoring threat as well, that is great. Maybe it was because she came off the bench in the topsy, turvy world of Walz "bag-o-nomics" , whatever inspited her Sunday needs to be bottled and distributed before the rest of the games this year. 

ACC TOURNAMENT BRACKET SET

After the action in the final day of ACC WBB regular season play, we had a bracket formulated. Not many changes from what was set before Sunday action, UNC and Wake Forest flopped sports, going from #9 and #8 to #8 and #9 and they still have to play each other on Thursday. FSU got the #4 after Syracuse lost Sunday and dropped to the #5 seed and Virginia Tech's loss made then a #7 seed. 

It all starts Wednesday at 2 p.m. with Pitt and Boston College. 

SOFTBALL FALLS 2-0 TO FLORIDA

Gabby Holloway and Jen Leonhardt combined to allow just three Florida hits in six innings, but the gators made the most of them...scoring two runs in the bottom of the third to win against the visiting Cards. 

The Cards registered three hits as well, but those didn't translate out into any runs. Taylor Roby, serving as the designated hitter yesterday, had two of the Cards hit and she and Taryn Weddle were both on base with singles in the fourth inning but FSU got out of danger with a strike out and a ground out. Louisville would get runners on the corners in the sixth but fail to get them home as well. 

The Cards return home for weekend action at Ulmer Stadium, starting out with a Friday twilight double header against Bradley.  Which Bradley?  No, not Bradley Paisley and/or Bradley Cooper -- it's the gals from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Cards and Braves start it out around 4:00 p.m. (for now). 

THE CARDINAL COUPLE ACC TOURNAMENT PICK'EM 

Go ahead and get those picks in, the bracket has been determined and the contest has begun. $25 Cracker Barrel card to the winner, $15 card to the second place finisher. Free eats! 

Here are Paulie's Picks

FIRST ROUND:  BOSTON COLLEGE

SECOND ROUND: UNC, SYRACUSE, MIAMI, NORTE DAME

QUARTERS:  LOUISVILLE, SYRACUSE, NC STATE, GEORGIA TECH

SEMIS:  LOUISVILLE, NC STATE

WINNER:  LOUISVILLE

You can enter in the comments section or send your selections to Bracket Czar Jared at  eupherjared@gmail.com   or to me at cardinalcouple@twc.com 

Good luck and may the best bracket win! 

paulie

Teleconference Day with Lacrosse, Softball and More Dana Recognition -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

LACROSSE AND SOFTBALL READY TO BEGIN 

In normal times, UofL women's athletics would have a Spring Sports Media Day on campus to bring in those who write about and cover the squads that participate in Louisville Athletics Spring Sports.

In place of that this year, UofL hosted a teleconference with head coaches Holly Aprile of Softball and Scott Teeter of Lacrosse.  No box lunch for the participants, no multiple players and coaches to gather at a location to field questions , but, a Microsoft Teams teleconference, which went quite well, all things considered. 

Lacrosse's Scott Teeter was first up and he discussed 2021 Louisville Lacrosse. The LAX squad begins action Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. match against #7 ranked Florida at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Floyd Street. The Cards get their first four matches at home  this season. 

Here is a link of the teleconference for your listening pleasure: 

SCOTT TEETER TELECONFERENCE 2-9-21 

Following Teeter, it was Holly Aprile's turn on the teleconference. Her Louisville Softball squad beings play this weekend also, but they are on the road at the South Carolina Tournament in Columbia, SC...where they'll face the host Gamecocks twice and UNC Greensboro once. 

Here is a link of the teleconference for your listening pleasure: 

HOLLY APRILE TELECONFERENCE 2-9-21 

A lot pf great information about the squads, the seasons, the scenarios and the status of both sports is revealed in these two teleconferences. If you are a fan of each sport, or want to hear two REALLY GOOD meetings with two excellent coaches, I highly recommend you take the time to listen to both of these teleconferences! 

MORE DANA RECOGNITION 

The Cards WBB stellar guard has been named to the Naismith Women's Trophy Midseason Team and also as a candidate for the 2020-21 Senior Class Award.

Evans is one of 30 student-athletes on the Naismith List and one of 60 on the Senior Class Award list 

To recognize and honor newest achievements, there will be a teleconference with her and Coach Walz today...beginning at 12:15 p.m. with Evans and then followed by Walz. 

We'll take part in it and post it for you here later today, when UofL releases the You Tube version of it so be sure and check back for it ! I'll also add it to Jared's article tomorrow. 

Have a safe Wednesday, the Interstates are an absolute mess this morning in Louisville because of the race, snow, ice combo being dumped on our area. 

paulie

Jordyn Wolfe/Paige Schindler Interview -- Manatee Outslugs Fast Pitch U in FGCL -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JORDYN WOLFE/PAIGE SCHINDLER INTERVIEW

I had the opportunity to catch up with Louisville Softball junior student-athletes Jordyn Wolfe and Paige Schindler yesterday for a phone interview. The two are in Florida, playing in the Florida Gulf Coast Summer Softball league and play for the Manatee Squeeze. 

A great chat with Wolfe and Schindler! 

They talked about many things, including the decision to go to Florida, their team and teammates and what it's like to be playing in this summer league. 

You can follow their pursuits at https://gc.com/g/fgclsoftball   Live games and replays can also be viewed at Stream Live Tampa -

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYUMY4ctg4GR_Rd3WLiDlHQ

A special thanks to Jordyn and Paige for joining me in the interview and to Louisville Softball S.I.D. Lori Korte Harmon for arranging it!   LINK below to the interview: 

LINK:  JORDYN WOLFE and PAIGE SCHINDLER

Enjoy! 


MANATEE FINISH STRONG IN 13-8 WIN OVER FAST PITCH U

When a team trails 8-4 in the top of the seventh inning in softball, the objective is pretty clear. You need four runs to tie it and keep the game going. 

And, that's exactly what the Manatee Squeeze did last night in their 13-8 win over Fast Pitch U. in Florida Gulf Coast Summer Softball league action. They tied the contest, largely helped by a Nikki Cuchran two-run homer to center field. 

Manatee was not done with the "hot bats" by any means.

They added five more runs in the top of the eighth inning, pounding two more home runs -- including another by Cuchran, who plays for Northwestern in the collegiate season.

The 13-8 win featured the Manatee holding Fast Pitch U scoreless over the last four innings behind the strong pitching of Kenna Wilkey -- also from Northwestern. Manatee had 16 hits in the contest and five home runs. 

Louisville Cardinal softball pitcher Paige Schindler started the game in the circle for Manatee and went 3-2/3rd innings. She surrendered seven runs and seven hits. 

Outfielder Jordyn Wolfe, another Cardinal, entered the contest in the fifth inning as a designated hitter and went 0-3 at the plate in the contest. 

Manatee remains tied for first place in the league with the FGCL Myakka City RiverMocs . Both have 5-1 records.

Manatee is on a five game win streak, after dropping their opener by one run back on June 18th to the FGCL (SUA) Collegiate Pioneers 2-1. 

The Manatee get a chance for a little revenge this evening...they'll face the Pioneers again in a contest tonight. 

Game time is 7 p.m. EDT. 


The action is well worth your time to watch it. Let's face it, live sports aren't exactly flooding the TV screen or Internet these days, and a chance to watch some very competitive softball is just a few clicks away on your laptop, tablet or PC. GameChanger does a wonderful job with the stats, too -- keeping a comprehensive, detailed and current account of the plays and action.  

Have a fantastic Friday and stay safe. 


paulie
xxxxx