Softball Falls to FSU -- Track & Field Posts Two ACC Champions -- Casey Madura Interview -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Falters in Loss to FSU

Louisville softball collapsed and a 3-0 lead turned into a 7-4 loss as the Cards bowed out of the second round of the ACC Tournament to Florida State.  The loss is their third in four games.

Sidney Melton led off the game with a solo shot over the left field wall for the early lead.  They added two runs in the second when a fielder's choice drove a run home and Melton walked with the bases loaded to add an easy RBI.  The only other run came in the sixth when Alison Szydlowski reached base on a fielder's choice and drove in a run, almost exactly like the second inning play.

The Seminoles scored all of their runs in the middle three innings, relying on four Louisville errors and a pair of home runs to ignite the offense.  Megan Hensley and Danielle Watson split time in the circle with three innings apiece.  The duo only surrendered six hits, but walked four and the defense had four infield errors.  Hensley (17-8) took the loss.

Coach Pearsall heavily emphasized the impact the errors had on a game where Louisville had an early shot at winning, "If we dont make those mistakes, we have a chance at winning that game, but the errors set us back and we just couldn't overcome that."

With a record of 33-20 and an RPI hovering around 44 the Cards are a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately, the ACC is weak at softball and FSU is the only school inside the Top 40 in RPI.  The Cards will need some help in receiving a bid to the "Big Dance" and hope the top seeds win their respective conference tournaments.

Track and Field Takes Home Two ACC Championships on Day One

Dorcas Wasike ran away with the gold in the women's 10,000 m, running a personal best and setting a new meet record.  Damar Robinson leapt his way to the podium with a personal best on the men's high jump.

The Championships are still young and there's plenty more Cardinals hoping to make their mark in history and bring home the gold.

Casey Madura Sits Down with Cardinal Couple

Casey Madura (left) and Emily Howell

The lacrosse alum will graduate from UofL this Saturday, but she found some time to sit down for an interview.  We were fortunate that she still has field access and made our way to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to enjoy a beautiful day that was tortured by the pollen invasion.

Madura has battled injuries and a cancer scare in her career at Louisville and spent almost all of her time on the bench as a supporter, teammate, and helping coach.  The senior captain talked about what brought her to Louisville, her experiences and memories here, and future plans that involve a trip to the Big Apple.

We talked about what her walk-up song would be, a secondary sport she might play, and deciding the style of wave she will perform as she walks across stage at commencement.

You can view the entirety of the lengthy interview

here.

The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Don't forget to tune in to your favorite knuckleheads this Saturday at 11 am on WCHQ 100.9 fm.  I will be "enjoying" my new role of putting in credit card and personal loan applications while also doing my normal breaking change.  With Case past his exam and having recovered for a few weeks there is a slight chance he may find his way back down to Melwood Ave.  We'll have to wait on the Vegas odds to come out before making our bets on that.  Either way, make sure to continue keeping him in your thoughts as he works his way back to 100%.




What Day is it?

Well, besides Friday it's also a day to celebrate a couple favorites, so kick back and Eat Whatever You Want while you watch The Twilight Zone, a personal favorite of mine in terms of throwback TV shows.

Make sure to take you medicine as allergy season is in full force in the second-worst allergen city in the United States only behind McAllen, TX, per Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Softball Wins Awards and Begins ACC Tournament -- Women's Golf Finishes up Regional Play -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Earns Three Conference Awards

Three Louisville softball players received recognition with ACC awards yesterday.  Pitcher Megan Hensley and shortstop Sidney Melton were named to the All-ACC first team and second baseman Maddy Newman was named to the All-ACC freshman team.

This is Hensley's second appearance on the All-ACC team after earning the honors in 2016.  She has played a crucial role on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.  However, she does prefer hitting over pitching and would step up to the plate if she could only choose one.  Melton makes her first appearance on the conference team.  She is perfect in stolen bases this year and has crossed the plate a team-high 19 times.  Newman filled in early in the season at second base and would not surrender that position.  She has had one of the top rookie

performances by a Louisville player since the university parted ways with the Big East.  All three players will be returning to Louisville's roster next season.

Florida State claimed a majority of the major awards by taking Player of the Year (Jessie Warren) Pitcher of the Year (Kylee Hanson), and Freshman of the Year (Sydney Sherrill).  Holly Aprile of Pittsburgh took home Coach of the Year.

Louisville Softball Begins ACC Tournament

Desperately needing something to draw the NCAA Tournament committee's eyes this direction the 8-seeded Louisville softball team hopes to make a run in the ACC Tournament.  The Cards bused to Atlanta yesterday and will face 9-seeded Syracuse in one of the play-in games.  The winner will face 1-seeded Florida State.

The Cards finished 10-12 in conference play this season, well below the coaches' preseason predictions of finishing fourth.  I thought they could finish as high as second or third, but the Cards never did piece everything together.

The Cards lead the all-time series with Syracuse 21-10 with most of those games being played when the two teams were conference rivals in the Big East.  This season the teams are 1-1 against each other this year after the third game of the series was canceled due to inclement weather.

Today's game is set for 1:00 p.m., and can be viewed online on Watch ESPN.  Hopefully we might see a local station such as Fox Sports South pick it up for tv viewing.

Women's Golf Enters Final Day of Play in Seventh

Enjoying the sun and beautiful weather out in San Francisco the women's golf team is sitting in a tie for seventh place and just one stroke out of sixth.  The Cards shot a 6-over-par 294 yesterday and are 5-over-par 581 throughout the whole event so far.

Lauren Hartlage and Delaney Shah both shot an even-par of 72 yesterday to lead the way.  Hartlage is tied for 12th overall and Shah sits in a tie for 38th.  Olivia Cason is tied for 29th after struggling in the second round.

The top six teams from each region advance to the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, O.K., so the Cards do have a little bit of work cut out for them.  Louisville will need to make up their one-stroke deficit and hopefully will pull ahead further from their own success or have North Carolina and Oklahoma State struggle on the final day of events.

A trip to the NCAA Championships would mark the program's second trip with the other coming in 2008.

What is Today?

Picture from the Hitchcock
classic "VERTIGO". 

If your kids are feeling energetic they can bike to school today.  It is also national school nurse day, and believe me, with what they deal with they deserve at least a week of recognition, especially with the Hep A outbreak going on around town.  For you film critics Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo premiered on this day in 1958.  We can also wish Billy Joel a happy birthday today.  I saw him start a fire one time, but I know no one will believe me.

With Minout "Minnie" Mink leaving UofL for good and returning home I was hoping to get a video interview with her before she left, but the filed hockey star procrastinated on packing a wee bit too much so we are in the works of an alternative.  Be on the lookouts to see what the Mink has to say about her time as a Cardinal and her time in the states as well as what her "walk-up" song would be. Probably not anything Billy Joel sang or wrote?

Happy Wednesday and Go Cards!

- Jared -

Basketball Stuff... Pick Em Update... WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Receive Late Game Time Slot

Pack your sleeping bags and coffee, it's a late one!  The women's basketball team will be playing the late game Friday evening in the Sweet Sixteen.  A 9:00 tip-off time is just a rough estimate, especially if game one goes long.  If you are traveling to the game expect to get home well after midnight. Knowing ESPN, expect action around 9:30.

The Cardinals will play the Cardinal (no "S") of Stanford.  The two teams have never faced each other before meaning that Louisville has zero blemishes on their record against Stanford.

Stanford finished 2nd in the PAC-12, finishing one and a half games behind Oregon.  Their 24-10 record is highlighted by wins against UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon State, and Oregon.  The Cardinal is 4-8 against ranked opponents including a 25-point loss at UConn in November.  Be on the lookout for a Louisville-Stanford review later this week.

Paulie and I plan to be at the game(s) this weekend.  Your wonderful co-owner will be covering both games Friday and may be there Sunday win or lose.  I will head to Lex after work Friday to take some pictures of the important game and will only be returning on Sunday following a Louisville victory.

Coach Walz held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the game. He also talks about the start time. His displeasure, mostly for the fan's sake, is evident:  LINK BELOW

https://soundcloud.com/user-748907999/dr0000_1366mp3

Men's Basketball's Struggling Season Concludes

For those of you that check out the other site I contribute to, River City Cards, I wrote an open letter to David Padgett praising him for what he has done.  However, it appears his time as head coach of the Louisville men's basketball time has come to a close.  It is expected that Xavier's Chris Mack will be named the new head coach starting Thursday, but this is unconfirmed.

The Cards fell in the third round of the NIT to Mississippi State 79-56.  It was the final game for seniors Quentin Snider and Anas Mahmoud, while fans speculate Deng Adel and Ray Spalding will go pro. Rumors of player transfers are also out there.

Fans will probably suffer a couple more rough seasons before the once proud program restores its glory and dominance in the college basketball world.

Softball Cancels Indiana Game

A "small snowstorm" turned into nasty weather quickly.  If you were outside late last night snow was blowing sideways at it fell from the sky.  Roads were bad.  Due to the weather the Louisville vs Indiana softball game was cancelled.  The GoCards schedule has it listed as postponed, but the game will not be rescheduled as of right now.

UofL returns to action Friday at Duke.  This one should be on ACC Network.  Unfortunately, when the Cards play on the road we are not blessed with the voice of former ace Maryssa Becker.

Case Lives

Not that the surgery was a matter of life and death, but Case's surgery was a success.  Thank you to everyone who sent him positive wishes.  The recovery time will take a while and his date of return to the studio is unknown.  Rest that achilles, superstar!

One thing we know, he won't be trying any points after touchdown or crossovers on the soccer field for awhile. We'll have a rotating list of fill in's on The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and may try to hook up with him via phone for updates and commentary.

NCAA Pick 'Em Update

There were 21 entries this year.  After eight games into the tournament there were no perfect brackets remaining.  The first round saw records of 26-6 down to 18-14.  Round two was going well for most folks until FGCU and Central Michigan had a say.  Everyone still has a winning record.

Ken S sits at 38-10 to lead the way.  The Real Joe Hill is a game behind at 37-11.  Paulie, Arthur, and myself are a bit behind that at 36-12.  Things continue all the way down to 28-20.

Everyone enjoy your Wednesday and don't forget that we have a 2018, and back-to-back, national champion in all star swimmer Mallory Comerford!

Just another day on the court...

Coach Walz has skills. Watch the link.

http://www.wave3.com/clip/14213499/uofls-walz-hits-from-half-court

Just walkin' off like it's no big thing.



Jared

Louisville women's basketball -- Let the Games begin! -- Weekend view -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NCAA Tournament Time

Happy Game Day!  The moment we have all been waiting for is here!  At noon, our anticipation to see Louisville women's basketball take the court in the NCAA Tournament will reach its peak.

The Cards face 16-seed Boise State in front of a home crowd at the KFC Yum! Center.  The Broncos (23-9, 14-4 Mountain West) won the regular season outright and claimed the crown in their conference tournament to receive an automatic bid to make their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.

Boise State last lost on Feb 3 to UNLV.  Just over a week later was Louisville's loss to UConn.  Boise State rides a 10-game win streak into the match-up, the first ever between these two teams.

Riley Lupfer is a sharpshooter for the Broncos, averaging 16.4 points per game.  Her 3.75 three-pointers per game is fifth-best in the country.  For comparison, Asia Durr averages an even 3 threes per game.  Lupfer has hit 120 threes on the year.  Shalen Shaw heads the post for Boise State, averaging seven rebounds per game.  11 of the 15 players on the roster stand 6'0 or taller, which has helped in the rebounding and blocks columns.

"Boise State is that way. It's in Idaho!"

As a team Boise State averages 69.2 points per game while giving up 61.4.  They have a rebound margin of +6, high ranking in the country.  Most of the Bronco's scoring comes in the two middle quarters, scoring 55% of their points then.  They shoot .355 from behind the arc and .731, both excellent figures.

What does Louisville have to do to win?

A 1-seed vs 16-seed match-up is expected to be an easy win for the higher seed.  The confidence boost plus the home crowd should help some.

Let Asia Durr find her shots.  If she isn't hot early do not let that cause hesitation when looking to her later in the game. "Nite-Nite" is a scorer and she will find ways to put up numbers.  To help Durr get some open looks the Cards need to pass the ball.  An extra pass or two can often put the defense out of position just enough to get some elbow room and a good look at the basket.

Combine size with strength to overpower Boise State down low.  Myisha Hines-Allen is having a highlight year with her double-doubles so feed her the ball.  "Doo-Blay" and Sam Fuehring play with a fiery emotion and they won't rest until they haul in every last rebound.

The missed lay-ups need to be cleaned up.  You can't get any closer to the basket unless you pull a Brittney Griner and dunk the darn thing.  Everyone on the team has missed an easy lay-up at some point this season and it usually follows with "#$@&%*!" coming from Walz on the bench.  A heavy presence and solid scoring down low will open up the exterior for better looks.

I won't give a prediction to the game in hopes of preventing a jinx, but all know who most of us will be rooting for (sorry Keith B, Boise State fan).  Make sure to get out there and cheer the Cards on if you can manage to get off work.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide pictures due to the fact it is near-impossible to get off at the bank last minute.

The Irish Visit for St Patrick's Day Softball

Thanks, ACC.  I think the university as a whole has had enough poor luck in recent years.  Playing Notre Dame on St Patrick's Day sounds like a tough one.  Game one is scheduled for today at 2:00, moved up from the 4:00 original start time.  Saturday's first pitch is 1:00 and Sunday is noon.  Days and times can change, weather pending.  I will have my green Louisville shirt on Saturday at Ulmer hooping and hollering.

The weather calls for rain this weekend.

After 25 games of non-conference play and a 20-5 record the Cards finally face ACC opponents.  The Irish took the series 2-1 last season at Ulmer Stadium.  Anyone remember the stormy Monday night last year?  The Cards went on to win 7-4.

Danielle Watson and Megan Hensley should do most of the work in the circle.  The question surrounding this team's success is if they can fix issues they have battled in the past.  Louisville continues to have problems with defensive errors, with most of them coming from the left side of the infield up to the front of the plate.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 18-16.  A sweep sounds pretty great right now.  The Irish are 16-8 on the year and has relied on their offense to carry them.  Ali Wester is hitting .455 and Katie Marino has already sent five balls out of the park.  Can the UofL pitchers shut down the ND offense?

Lax Comes Home

After a two week trip to the southeast region of the US, the Louisville lacrosse team comes back home to the LLS where they will face Boston College.  That game will be starting right about the time the radio show concludes.

Trust me when I say the food truck is good.  The trick is keeping your food down while cheering on the high-scoring, fast-paced offense Scott Teeter has going on.  Even the hungry, stingy defense has drawn attention.

Record Breakers

The swim and dive team broke two school records at the NCAA Championships.  Rachael Bradford-Feldman made it into the record books by one hundredth of a second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.67.  The 400-medley relay team clocked in at 3:26.93.  The 200-free relay team finished with a time of 1:27.19, the fastest at the nationals for Louisville and falling a bit shy of a their record breaker on the day.

Another Day at the Office

Make sure to tune into the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour tomorrow morning at 11:00 on WCHQ (100.9 fm).  If you live outside the range of the station you can listen online for free or check out our new Facebook Live option on WCHQ's Facebook page.  Paulie and Worldwide will be in the studio with your truly.  Case is recovering from an injury so we send him best wishes.  In his stead we welcome my partner in crime from River City Cards, Mike Gilpatrick.  If you want to know anything about the Detroit Tigers or Louisville Baseball he is your man.  We have a full lineup ready to go so make sure to tune in!


Pick 'Em closes at noon

If you haven't submitted your picks for the NCAA Women's Tournament Pick "em" here at CARDINAL COUPLE....what are you waiting for? A full moon, good crops, the Easter bunny?

We have a $25 Panera Card for da winnah! $15 Cracker Barrel card for second-best. Jared Anderson verifying brackets while turning quarters into nickles and dimes! People from all over the continental United States entering. It is your manifest duty to grab a writing utensil, fill out a bracket and send it to us. We have dozens of chimps sitting up in the Bracket Central suite with nothing to do but ride Bill the Goat and Frank the Mule around the offices and play jarts!

You better have something in the comments section by noon today or I'm telling Mom!

Paulie 

Happy Friday and Go Cards, especially women's basketball!

Jared

Sportsmen's Supper Club Hosts UofL Coaches -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SPORTSMEN'S SUPPER CLUB 


I was invited to join Paulie at the Sportsmen’s Supper Club last night.  When I heard that we would have the pleasure of having a couple UofL coaches as the guest speakers I couldn’t resist.

After work I headed down to campus and found a nice parking spot convenient to the front door of the University Club.  If parking was this easy at all UofL events I would be one happy camper.  It was easy to navigate my way through the hallways and corridors of the U-Club, despite not having been inside it since my days as a Cardinal Ambassador when I was still a student.  Paulie offered me a beverage so I thought “why not”.

Scott Teeter

 Not long after my arrival Coach Scott Teeter of Louisville Lacrosse and one of his senior captains Casey Madura appeared.  I had known about Coach Teeter before the event, but Casey’s presence was a surprise.  We got to have quite a conversation with the pair as we waited for dinner.  Paulie told us about his ACC women’s basketball tournament adventures.  Teeter and Casey enlightened us with how they found their way to the University of Louisville.

Dinner began, and I must say that it was much better than my cheap, fast food lunch earlier that day.  The U-Club is known for delicious food and they did not disappoint.  I would recommend them for a meal sometime if you are ever looking for a nice meal.

Coach Dani Busboom Kelly strolled in after dinner began.  Her late arrival was due to having an important recruit on campus.  DBK elected not to have dinner after recently having a meal with the recruit, but she did join us in some conversation.  This was the first time that Teeter and DBK had met in person.  Teeter came in at the beginning of January and went straight to work with the start of the season around the corner while DBK was getting some traveling done to visit recruits before spring practices began.

Dani Busboom Kelly

One thing we got to talk about was the departure and addition of players.  Four seniors (Gabbie Wiley, Tess Clark, Maggie DeJong, and Coline Coessens) graduated and have begun their careers.  Kali Eaken transferred out to complete her senior season at Wichita State.  Recently it was announced that Alexia Byrnes would transfer to Youngstown State, where she will have four years of eligibility remaining.  This upcoming season will see the addition of seven players.  There is a transfer that has joined the squad for spring practices.  Six freshmen will make their first appearance in the fall.

As dinner concluded we got to hear from DBK first.  She gave an opening speech recapping this past volleyball season.  Louisville hired Dani Busboom Kelly after Anne Kordes retired following the 2016 season.  The Cards had a rough 2016 year and were voted to finish eighth in the conference during the preseason polls.  The Cards wound up taking the ACC title and receiving the automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.

Casey Madura

She then took questions from the members of the club and was happy to answer any and every question.  As a member of the sports media realm I often forget that some of what is just expected of me to know is not always common knowledge for the average fan.  Here are a few answers to questions we heard from Dani Busboom Kelly:


-Volleyball has 12 full scholarships each year that can be renewed or revoked the next season.  They do not do partial scholarships.

-A libero is a defensive specialist that only plays back line and can sub in and out at will.

-Some of the potentials leaders for the 2018 team include Molly Sauer, Melanie McHenry, and Wilma Rivera.

-Recruiting for collegiate level of volleyball can start as early as eighth grade.  There is a new rule that will be voted on later this year that would prevent coaches from recruiting players before their junior year of high school.

After DBK finished her Q&A and went back to continue a visit with a recruit,  Scott Teeter took the podium.  Teeter gave us insight into his background and what it was like coming to Louisville.  Teeter spent many years at his alma mater, Canisius College, making the mid-level school become a respected program.  Besides being the head coach at the collegiate level Teeter is also the Canadian National Team coach, where he has earned gold and silver medals.  This is also how he was able to connect with Cardinal Forever Kay Morrissette.

Teeter brought Casey Madura to the posium with him and she had nothing but high praises for her new coach.  She talked about how well the team got along with the new coach immediately.  Casey told us how the torn ACL set her back this season and how she will come to a tough decision next year if she will choose to play a red-shirt senior season or if she will accept a job up in the Big Apple. 

We then learned of some news that caused the room to fall silent.  Casey recently found out that she had thyroid cancer.  Thankfully, she was able to have emergency surgery to remove the thyroid and is now cancer free, a statement that brought the largest applause of the evening.

The floor was then opened for Q&A.  Here are some answers we heard from Teeter and Casey:

-Despite having 12 players on the field for each team most of the time 7v7 because of the lines and dividers on the field.

-The ACC is the toughest of all lacrosse conferences with nearly every team currently being ranked.  They also own the most NCAA Championships.

-Most big recruits come from the east coast, where lacrosse has been popular for a while.

-Lacrosse is one of the fastrst growing sports around the world.  In the US there are now almost 120 schools in the NCAA with a lacrosse program.

-You cannot recruit for college lacrosse until September 1 of a player’s junior year of high school.

Following the conclusion of the speakers everyone departed while Paulie and I stayed behind to socialize with Teeter and Casey a little longer.  Besides the official athletics representatives, Cardinal Couple is the only media to cover Louisville Lacrosse, and they have been extremely grateful for that.

If I haven’t lost you yet there’s a few things this weekend going on. 

-Softball begins their second weekend of home games in the Cardinal Classic.  They host Bradley and UMass today.

- Track and Field starts the first day of the indoor championships.

For more about these sports and the other women’s sports at UofL make sure to tune into the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour tomorrow morning.  I will be back at the bank, but you’ll get to hear the voices of Paulie, Worldwide, and Case.

Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared