Sunday Cardinal Couple

 It was another busy Saturday on Floyd Street and elsewhere for the Cardinals.  Let's dig in.

Softball

The Softball struggles continue.  A double-header with Duke didn't turn out in Cards favor.  Louisville dropped the first game 1-9, and the second game 4-5.

We've talked much of the season about stringing hits together, and that's what Duke did in the 3rd inning of the 1st game.  The biggest offensive play in the inning was a double, with the rest of the base advancement coming from singles, walks, steals, and errors and managed to score five in the inning.

Maddy Newman

Louisville would get their one run back in the bottom of the 3rd.  Maddy Newman doubled, advanced to 3rd on a Sydney Bickel sacrifice, then scored on Carmyn Greenwood's single.

After Duke's five in the 3rd inning, they added on another pair in the 4th, as well as in the 5th, reaching their score of nine, and crucially eight or more than the Cards had, triggering the run-rule at the end of the 5th inning after the Cards couldn't score to keep it going.

Sydney Bickel

In the second game, Duke got all of their scoring in, and then let UofL try to answer.  Duke got it going early in the 1st inning with 3 runs, then tacked on another pair in the 4th.

In the home half of the 4th, Makayla Hurst reached on an error, Jenna Servi came in to pinch run, advanced on a sacrifice, then stole 3rd.  Maddy Newman brought her home with a single.  Gabby Holloway then got her first career homerun to score Newman as well.

The Cards would tag on another in the 7th when Sydney Bickel tripled and came home on Carmyn Greenwood's single.

Gabby Holloway finishing her home run jog
around the bases.

The Cards were hoping to get some good play and momentum going this weekend, but are struggling to get consistent offense going.  Case mentioned during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast yesterday that the Cards have only won three games this season without hitting a homerun.  While the long balls are great fun, a team really needs to get consistent offense in other ways to be really successful.

The Cards will finish the series against Duke at noon today, available on ACC Network Extra.

Field Hockey Senior Day

Field Hockey celebrated Senior Day with a 4-1 win over Wake Forest.  Maybe the biggest news was that Mercedes "Meche" Pastor did not participate in the festivities, suggesting perhaps she'll be taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility from Covid-19 to return next year?  We'll see and certainly be excited if she does.

It was a quiet first half, with only Wake Forest scoring in the second quarter.  Louisville wouldn't get their offense going until the second half.

The Cards did get on the board late in the third quarter, though.  Meche would sneak a shot in from a penalty corner with less than eight minutes left.

Then the fourth quarter happened.  Emilia Kaczmarczyk got the assist past three Wake defenders to Aimee Plumb for the score in the opening minutes.

With just over 10 minutes left, the Cards would get another penalty corner.  Plumb would have the insertion to Charlie van Oirschot who set up Julie Kouijzer for the goal.

The last score came with under four minutes on the clock.  Plumb fed Katie Schneider for the goal.

There is an ACC Championship Game set for next Saturday the 24th, but UofL will not be a part of that.  The ACC did hold their tournament in the fall, which makes this whole thing a bit odd ball.  In any case, UofL will await news of whether they get one of the very scarce at-large bids to the NCAA tournament this year.

Today's Events

In addition to Softball finishing their series against Duke, Lacrosse will be playing the 2nd game of the weekend against Syracuse at noon on ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball matches up against Washington at 3:30pm (2:30 for me out here in Omaha).  Washington is the 6th seed in the tournament, UofL is the 11th.  The Huskies took a full five set match, plus an extra point or two in one of the sets to get past an, I believe, under-rated Dayton team.  A win today would match up the Cards with either 3rd seed Minnesota, or unseeded Pitt.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Basketball, Volleyball, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Softball, and more in the discussion yesterday during the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast.  You can check out the Youtube stream below, I was streaming it from the hotel in Omaha, which explains some of the audio challenges at the beginning.  It gets sorted out about six minutes in.  Or you can check out the podcast version at your favorite location for podcasts, it didn't


have suffered from the same audio glitch.

Spring Teams Split Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Struggles Against Syracuse

For 25 minutes against the top-five Syracuse Orange, Louisville lacrosse kept things close. After that, though, it appeared a bit as if the Cards forgot there were 35 minutes of game left. Ultimately, Louisville did not score for those final 35 minutes, while Syracuse scored a quite a few more times. At the end of the day, a close game turned into a 19-5 blowout. The Cards will get another chance at the Orange on Sunday, so here's hoping for a reversal of the double-header results from the weekend against Boston College.

The game, as I mentioned, did have its positives, as the first segment was fairly close. Syracuse jumped on Louisville's defense early, as the first goal came from Megan Carney just after the two-minute mark. Louisville managed to score just a minute later, with Caroline Blalock's first goal of the day. Meaghan Tyrell would be the next on the board, as she scored her 39th and 40th goals of the season to give Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Louisville was not deterred yet, though, as Caroline Blalock scored again to pull the Cards back within one. It was Blalock's 100th career goal, but it would be the last she would score on the day. 

Syracuse went on a mini 3-1 run over the next five minutes in a strange circumstance that saw all four goals scored by Me(a)g(h)ans. Carney and Tyrell scored for the Orange while Megan Dunn scored her first goal of the season for Louisville. Trailing 6-3, Louisville again showed life by getting a pair of quick goals from Nicole Perroni and Ally Hall. If you're scoring at home, you would know those goals put it at 6-5 with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Given what I mentioned to be the final score, you can probably guess how things went from there. 

Syracuse turned it on from there, with both offense and defense getting on board. The Orange scored four over the final four minutes of the first half and outscored the Cards 9-0 in the second half. Tyrell and Carney both finished with seven goals apiece, leaving just five to be spread between the rest of the team. Rachel Florek finished with seven saves for the Cards, indicating things could have gotten even worse. 

Paulie got with Coach Teeter after the game to discuss Louisville's performance and the look ahead at the next opportunity against the Orange. The two teams will take the field at Louisville Lacrosse Stadium on Sunday at noon on the ACCNX.

Check out Teeter's postgame comments here: Teeter on Syracuse 4.16.21

Softball Takes Game One Against Duke

Taylor Roby threw a gem and got just enough help from the offense as Louisville knocked off the 21st ranked Duke Blue Devils in game one of the four game weekend set. With still three games left in the series, there is plenty of work to do, but after the disappointing end to Louisville's series last weekend, the Cards are happy to get wins wherever they can. The win pulled the Cards to just one game under .500 and they'll need every win they can to improve their standing for a potential postseason run.

Duke opened the game with a fly out but followed it with a one-out single. Kavel stole second to stand in scoring position with one out, but she would move no farther. Roby got the next batter to strike out looking and the third out came on a ground out to first base. In the bottom half, Louisville wasted no time giving Roby some run support. Carmyn Greenwood was first pitch swinging but grounded out to second base. Celene Funke showed a bit more patience and fired the third pitch she saw to straightaway center. It escaped the center fielder, and Funke put on the jets for a one-out triple. That brought Roby to the plate, and Duke chose to pitch to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as Roby shot the first pitch to short where it was mishandled. Roby reached on the error while Funke reached home easily. Duke would escape the first with no more damage, but the Cards led 1-0.

From there, Taylor Roby went to work. Including the first inning, she scattered four hits over seven innings. All four hits were singles, and none came in the same inning. She also gave up no other baserunners, walking and hitting none while Louisville played clean defense to commit no errors. Roby would also strike out five on her way to the complete game victory. She did it all on just 85 pitches. 

Louisville gave her a bit of insurance, which she ultimately wouldn't need, in the bottom of the fourth. Rebecca Chung and Cassady Greenwood opened the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Louisville went to work with two outs. Charley Butler got started with a two-out triple. Maddy Newman stepped up and hit a ball on the ground but it was right to the third baseman. Butler was held at third, but on the play, Newman was able to reach first. The extra batter was all Louisville needed as Sydney Bickel singled to bring Butler home. Louisville led 2-0.

The two teams would score no more runs, with Duke getting two more singles and Louisville getting no more baserunners. As mentioned before, though, Roby was a stud and the two runs were all Louisville needed. The two teams will get back underway today with the first game at noon on ACCNX. Today's action will be a double header, so the Cards will have a pair of opportunities before wrapping up the series tomorrow. Jared was able to get with Coach Aprile after the win, and you can listen to her comments here: Aprile on Duke 4.16.21.

THANKS TO JARED FOR TODAY'S LAX AND SOFTBALL PHOTOS !! 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're back this week with plenty to talk about. We had an NCAA tournament win for volleyball and plenty of softball games, in addition to the WNBA Draft and lacrosse and field hockey. As always we'll do our best to bring you the joy and excitement of Louisville women's athletics. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show, or check out the podcast or replay after the show. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more content as well, and subscribe to and rate the podcast to get the word out about Cardinal Couple.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Volleyball to Sweet 16 -- Dana Evans to Dallas -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning!

Sometimes it feels like yesterday since I've checked in with you all, other times it feels like ages.  This time it feels like forever since I've checked in.  It could be that the softball Cards have been on the road for a while or had a game postponed.  Could be that I have started back at the Louisville Bats with button pushing duties.  I know I haven't been on radio for a while too and it could totally be why as well.  I am going to try my best to hop on from the studio Saturday morning.  

Into the news and notes and joys of Louisville women's athletics... 


Volleyball CARDS beat San Diego 3-1

The Cardinals opened the NCAA tournament Thursday afternoon against the San Diego Toreros in Omaha, NE.  After a very slow start for UofL and losing the first set 25-14, the Cards stormed back to win the following three sets and advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly referenced the bubble being a reason the team came out flat-footed.  UofL hit a frigid -.077 and had scored the first six points for the Toreros on hitting errors.

"For sure we had some nerves in the first set. I think one of the things about being in the bubble is it is tough," said Busboom Kelly. "We had 30 minutes to practice on that court at 7 a.m. yesterday and that is the only 30 minutes we got. At 7 a.m. in general you wouldn't get much out of it and when you are in a whole new arena on a new court with weird backdrop, it is just a lot of different things going on that are out of the norm. I wasn't surprised we started out slowly but it went poorly in a hurry. I didn't think necessarily that we would be bad for the whole set but I knew we couldn't play much worse than that after game one. That is kind of to be expected. San Diego got to play before. (they played Wednesday to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi 3-0) While it is great to be seeded and get a bye and it is an advantage in some ways but I think it was a disadvantage as a set up because you didn't get the experience in the environment because it is so unique."

Overall, UofL hit .227 with 15 blocks and five aces, surviving 12 service errors. ACC and AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year Anna DeBeer had 11 kills and five blocks. Amaya Tillman rejected USD nine times, adding four kills. Tori Dilfer ran the offense with 41 assists and an ace, helping out with four blocks. Chaussee filled up the stat box notching a career-high in kills as she threw down 21, adding two aces and a team-high 10 digs.

In the second set, San Diego maintained momentum early, using a 6-0 run to go up 14-10 early. Busboom Kelly inserted Chausee into the lineup and she responded with seven kills, hitting .875 and scored five of the final 10 points of the set. UofL did not regain the lead until 22-21 on a miss by Fayad. A kill by Chaussee gave the Cards set point at 24-23 and a ball-handling error charged to the Toreros gave the Cards the 25-23 win and evened the set score going into the break.

In the third set, a deflated San Diego squad let the Cardinals jump out to an 8-5 lead early but tied at ten on a UofL miscue. UofL responded immediately with a 5-0 run to go up 15-10 at the media timeout. The Cards commanded the lead down the stretch to a 25-17 win. Chaussee paced the Cards with five kills and two aces in the set. 

The fourth set was a thriller. Louisville went through eight ties and four lead changes and we got bonus Volleyball, before Louisville got a block by Amaya Tillman and Aiko Jones to win set and match 29-27.  

The Cards advance to play the Washington Huskies on Sunday.  Time is TBD.  The Huskies are 18-3 after beating Dayton Thursday afternoon 3-2.

Cardinal Couple writer Jeff McAdams is in Tulsa and we hope he'll chime in via the comments section with his observations on the win. He will join us for a recap on the Saturday Cardinal Couole Radio Hour Podcast. 

Dana Evans on WNBA Draft night

Dana Evans heard her name called Thursday night by the Dallas Wings. She was the first pick in the second round -- 13th overall in the WNBA draft.. Dana fell in the selection process from what many expected, going in the second round, on draft night, but she kept her head held high.. going 13th overall, Dallas had 3 of the first 5 picks. 

Evans is the 14th Louisville player selected in the history of the WNBA Draft. Of the 14 WNBA Draft picks, 12 have played under head coach Jeff Walz.

"It's a blessing, I'm just really excited to finally hear my name," said Evans to Holly Rowe during ESPN's coverage of the WNBA Draft. "But, I'll use it as motivation because I didn't expect to be this far (down...in the draft). I'm ready to take on whatever I have to do and I'm excited."

It marks the third straight season that Louisville has had at least one player selected in the WNBA Draft.

Last season, Jazmine Jones and Kylee Shook went 12th and 13th overall to the New York Liberty. In 2019, three Cardinals were selected as Asia Durr went second overall to the New York Liberty, Arica Carter went 32nd to the Phoenix Mercury and Sam Fuehring went 34th to the Washington Mystics.

It was a shock to us all here at CC to see Dana on the board so long.  But we wish her nothing but the best as she embarks on the next step in her basketball journey.   I know Louisville fans will continue to follow the career of Dana Evans.   A heads up... The Dallas Wings visit the Indiana Fever on June 24th.  Mark your calendars. 

Louisville Softball opens series with #21 Duke

Friday at 7 p.m.  

Saturday (DH) at 12 p.m.

Sunday at 12 p.m.

Watch on ACCNX

The Cards are back at Ulmer for a four game series with the Blue Devils (27-9, 15-9 ACC).   Its the first trip to Louisville for Duke.  Friday's game will be the first of 9 games against top 25 ranked foes. 

Louisville leads the all time series 2-1.  This weekend's series will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2018 when Louisville claimed the series, 2-1. Duke picked up a 1-0 victory in game three to avoid the sweep. Duke is currently on a 3-game losing streak as well as a cancellation falling to league leader and #9 Florida State last weekend.

UofL is led by junior Camryn Greenwood with a .447 clip (2nd in ACC) on an ACC-leading 46 hits and a team-high eight stolen bases. Taylor Roby holds the team’s second highest batting average at .409 and leads the pitching staff with eight victories. At the plate, she’s registered 36 hits, including a team-high 11 home runs, and racked up 32 RBIs. In the circle, she’s put together a 2.79 ERA through 95.1 innings in 24 appearances. 

The Blue Devils are led by Deja Davis who averages a .400 batting percentage and tallies 23 runs, 42 hits, five homeruns, 21 RBIs and is 8-11 with stolen bases. Kristina Foreman adds 28 runs, 24 hits, five homeruns, 22 RBIs and is 10-for-11 in stolen bases.The Blue Devils lead the league with 56 doubles, Duke ranks ninth nationally and 40th with 1.56 doubles per game. 

In the circle, Peyton St. George posts a 2.01 ERA for the Blue Devils with four shutouts, 119 strikeouts and 11 win on the season. Shelby Walters carries a 1.08 ERA with two shutouts, 47 strikeouts and 11 wins.

 DID YOU KNOW? 

Fun fact: Blue Devils' Josh Bloomer joined the Duke softball staff as an assistant coach in July 2019. Bloomer comes to Durham from Louisville, Ky., where he served as the head coach at Louisville Male High School for seven seasons.  Bloomer joined after a successful campaign at Louisville Male High School, guiding his squad to NFCA and Kentucky state titles this past spring. 

His 2019 team put together a 39-0 ledger for only the second unbeaten season in program history and became the first team from the state of Kentucky to finish first in the country.  

As a Louisville Male HS Softball Alum ('09 & Pre-Bloomer) I am very excited to welcome Coach Bloomer back to town.  He has been spotted at Ulmer before supporting local players/teams and I had the opportunity to have him on my previous radio show.  He is a very talented coach! 

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

It's a very busy weekend, #15 Louisville Lacrosse is also in action, bringing in Syracuse for two games, the first today at 3:00 p.m. at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  ACC Network Extra will have this match for you if you can't make it out. 

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

Have a great start to your weekend Louisville fans! I made the trip over to Cardinal Stadium this week to get the first vaccine and you should too! Lets get back to big GAMEDAYS! Be sure to catch us on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday Morning at 11 a.m. ! 

Go Cards! 

~Daryl 

Vball Faces San Diego -- WNBA Draft -- HVL -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Volleyball Faces San Diego in NCAA Tournament

11th-seed Louisville gears up to face #21 ranked San Diego tonight in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cards earned a first round bye after being named one of the top 16 teams so a win will guarantee their sixth Sweet 16 appearance in program history.

The Toreros swept A&M-Corpus Christi 25-13, 25-15, 25-18 yesterday. It was San Diego's 13th win of the year after they went 12-4 in the regular season, all matches being played within the West Coast Conference.

San Diego went 1-3 against ranked opponents this year with the lone win coming against Pepperdine on Senior Day. It was enough to earn them an 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Averaging 13.1 kills per set, 12.2 assists per set, and a .268 kill percentage, San Diego ranked near the top in nearly every offensive category in the WCC. With 10 players at 6'0 or taller, the Toreros had a strong showing with 2.3 blocks per set.

First serve is set for noon ET, which would be 11:00 local time in Omaha. UofL did provide a link to watch this game live. Our very own Worldwide will be in attendance cheering on the Cards so look for him and his hair. We're sure to hear from him during our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour.

Link to watch UofL Volleyball: https://uofl.me/3wTeV3S

WNBA Draft

Tonight's primetime show on tv is the WNBA Draft. This year's draft, which will be held virtually, will air at 7:00 p.m., and will be shown on ESPN.

Dana Evans is one of the top prospects in the draft and some expertsbelieve she will be taken sixth overall to the New York Liberty, joining Asia Durr, Jazmine Jones, and Kylee Shook. Evans is without a doubt one of the best players in Louisville history. There is some speculation she might be headed to Chicago, as well, which would put her closer to her hometown of Gary, IN. 

Charli Collier from Texas is the heavy favorite to go first to the Dallas Wings. After that, there is debate on how the next few picks will go.

Van Lith Invited to 2021 USA Women's AmeriCup Team Trials

Rising sophomore Hailey Van Lith was invited to the 2021 USA Women's AmeriCup Team Trials. The event will be held at the University of South Carolina from April 18-21. Dawn Staley will be the head coach for the team.

Van Lith is joined by 19 other notable women's basketball players listed below:

-Grace Berger (Indiana University, Sacred Heart Academy of Louisville)

-Aaliyah Boston (South Carolina)

-Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State)

-Rae Burrell (Tennessee)

-Veronica Burton (Northwestern)

-Zia Cooke (South Carolina)

-Elissa Cunane (NC State)

-Destanni Henderson (South Carolina)

-Naz Hillmon (Michigan)

-Rhyne Howard (Kentucky)

-Ashley Joens (Iowa State)

-Haley Jones (Stanford)

-Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech)

-Diamond Miller (Maryland)

-Ashley Owusu (Maryland)

-Khayla Pointer (LSU)

-Sedona Prince (Oregon)

-NaLyssa Smith (Baylor)

-Jenna Staiti (Georgia)

We send best wishes to Hailey and hope that she makes the final cut. 

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

Louisville Women's Track and Field Receives Honors -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

FORREST NAMED ACC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR.

Ah, the lick to have the writing assignment today here at Cardinal Couple, when there are no UofL women's athletics results to report, and not wanting to steal our other writers' headlines for laater this week. 

Louisville women's track and field probably doesn't get enough coverage here. Let's talk about some of the great academic honorrs they received from the ACC. 

Later on today, Dana Evans will hold a presser about the WNBA Draft. Some Cardinal Volleyball fans (including our own Jeff McAdams) are on their way to Omaha for the NCAA Tournament. Lacrosse has a huge weekend of matches against Syracuse coming up and Softball entertains Duke, while womens' soccer brings in Wake Forest. 

As we transition out of Louisville WBB and move forward in our spring sports coverage, let's use today to take a look at Louisville women's track and field

Makenli Forrest, a redshirt junior out of the Woodwaard Academy in Ellenwood, GA has received the ACC Track and Fieldd Scholar Athlete of the Year honors. She has maintained a 3.6 GPA during her time at Louisville -- and was also named  the ACC Field performer of the year for 2021. Her major is Exercise Science.

What is it that she does so well?  Makenli participates in throws for Louisville and her areas of specialty are the weight throw and the shot put.  She claimed the gold medal title in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships back on March 11th. He toss of 23.26 meters also broke the Louisville record of 22.76, set by D'Ana McCarty back in 2010. Forrest's toss was the best of any in the 2021 season. 

Louisville has had a long history of top throwers in Women's Track and Field. In addition to McCarty, remember Emmonnie Henderson? She set many records at Louisville from 2013-18 for the Cards in the shot and discus field events. She also played a little basketball at Louisville, as well. 

The NCAA record was set back in 2007, with a toss of 25.56. 

In addition to Forrest, several other Louisville women's track and field student-athletes earned All-Academic honors: 

-- Haley Hudson  (Williamstown, KY) This thrower was naked to the NCAA All-American Second Team and had made the Louisville Athletic Director's Honor Roll 11 times, the Dean's List seven times and is a six-time Red and Black Scholar. 

-- Gabriela Leon (Grand Rapids, MI) A Cardinal pole vaulter, Gabriela is a two time ACC Academic team selection and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll seven times and four times to the Dean's List and Red and Black Scholar list. 

-- Purity Sanga (Kapsabet, Kenya) Purity is a distance runner and transferred to Louisville from Tennessee Tech last season. She earned Athletic Director's Honor Roll and Red and Black Scholar honors as well. She earned a bronze medal in the ACC 5000m run

-- Auriane Viola (Schiltigheim, France) earned all-conference second team honors with a career-best mark in the pole vault to finish fifth in the ACC Championships. The marketing major is a two-time Red & Black Scholar and Dean's List honoree and has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll three times.

-- Aliyah Welter (Monticello, Ill.) earned 2021 NCAA All-American second team honors in pole vault. The junior tied a school record with a vault of 4.32m (14-2) to place second in the 2021 ACC Indoor Championships, earning first team all-conference honors. The exercise science/sport administration major and two-time Dean's Scholar honoree, has been named to the Athletic Director's honor roll five times and is a three-time Red & Black Scholar.

Congratulations to these stellar UofL student athletes and their coaches. !!

paulie

Potential Postseason -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Potential Postseason for UofL Squads

Volleyball

We learned back on Easter weekend that the VolleyCards would be dancing in the NCAA Tournament as the 11-seed. Louisville will play the winner of San Diego and Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Thursday. Our own Jeff McAdams is making his annual pilgrimage to watch the VolleyCards attempt to advance in the Tulsa bubble and we'll look forward to his updates. That begins Thursday. 

We do have other Louisville teams quickly approaching their postseasons as well. Some of them are in better shape than others, but a postseason appearance is still within reach for several teams.

Field Hockey

A team that has received praise all season from us is Justine Sowry's field hockey squad. The Cards are 12-5 on the season with wins over ranked opponents such as North Carolina, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College, and Duke.

Their five losses have come from a combined seven goals including two losses to North Carolina. All of their losses have been against ranked opponents.

The #3 Cards host Wake Forest for the season finale on Saturday. This one can probably be considered a must win.

Field Hockey got screwed by the NCAA. The normal field of 16 teams, which is too low as is, has been shortened to 12 this season. Originally, 10 of the teams would be automatic qualifiers with two at-large bids. With the Ivy League backing out a third at-large spot opens up. North Carolina will take the ACC automatic bid by winning the ACC Championship in the fall so Louisville can only find themselves in the tournament as an at-large bid.

#1 North Carolina is an automatic qualifier. #2 Iowa, #4 Northwestern, #5 Michigan, #10 Rutgers, and #11 Maryland all have a shot at winning the Big Ten with the other three also competing for at-large bids.

#6 Liberty and #7 UConn are battling it out for the Big East automatic bid with the other hopeful for an at-large bid.

#8 Syracuse and #9 Wake Forest are also still in the running, but both are living on more than just a prayer out this point.( Sorry, Bon Jovi. )

The latest rankings haven't come out yet so we aren't sure how far Louisville may fall after their penalty shootout loss at Duke, but a win against a highly ranked Wake Forest squad would certainly add to an impressive resume.

If the NCAA would treat women's sports with more respect and extend the field hockey bracket to something more reasonable such as 24 or 32 teams, Louisville would be in without a doubt. You don't see the baseball brackets getting lessened to fewer teams. And men's soccer still has 36 teams (normally 48), way more than field hockey is getting.

Softball

At 15-17 and having 17 games remaining, it's a long shot for Louisville to make the tournament. We would need to see the Cards go on a hot streak that would involve wins against #9 Florida State, #10 Kentucky, and #16 Duke.

They do have another way to make it in. If Louisville can win the ACC Tournament then they would receive the ACC's automatic bid. The Cards host the ACC Tournament giving them a bit of a home field advantage. 10 of the 13 teams in the ACC qualify with the 1- and 2-seeds earning a first-round bye.

Louisville sits at ninth in the conference currently carrying a 9-12 record. North Carolina is one game ahead of them at 8-9. Virginia is two games back from the Cards at 9-16. Georgia Tech is in third at 6-16, 3.5 games behind Louisville. With 16 conference games remaining Louisville must fight to stay in the top ten and then go on a run.

Louisville's woes have bounced back-and-forth between offense for much of the season to pitching as of late. The Cards return home this weekend for a four-game series with Duke.

Lacrosse

Despite their 5-7 record we have seen Louisville make some vast improvements over the last few years. With a 1-6 conference record the Cards are seventh out of eight teams. All eight teams compete in the ACC Tournament.

Lacrosse is another sport with a small bracket. In 2019, the bracket consisted of 26 teams with top six seeds receiving a first round bye. The NCAA has not specified if the field will be smaller this year or remain the same.

Currently ranked #18 in the country, Louisville is in an okay spot but could certainly use a couple more wins the rest of the season to help solidify their position. They play Syracuse twice at home and close out the season on the road at Notre Dame. Winning the ACC Tournament would also guarantee a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

For now, time will tell with these Louisville squads. We will continue to cover them no matter what happens and will gladly celebrate any successes they may have.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls in Series Finale at GT -- Cheer Squads Win Championships -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 GEORGIA TECH RUN RULES SOFTBALL CARDS 12-2

What a difference a day makes in the sport of softball. Louisville had the bats working in fine fashion Saturday against the Yellow Jackets and the Cardinal pitchers held GT to just two runs in a 10-2 win.

Sunday was a different story. 

The Atlanta ACC member blasted Cardinal pitching for four home runs and held UofL batters to just two runs and four hits to take the series finale 12-2 on Sunday.  The series splits 2-2 for the squads -- Louisville drops to 15-17 overall now and 9-12 in ACC play and the Yellow Jackets go to 12-20 overall  and 6-16 in the ACC. 

The Cards got started on the right foot, with a 2-0 lead, going into the bottom of the third. Makayla Hurst singled in Carmyn Greenwood in the first inning for Louisville's first score and Taylor Roby crushed her 11th home run of the season in the third to make it 2-0.

Things changed in the bottom of the third, though. Tech plated four runs in that inning nd would plate four more runs in the fourth and fifth innings each to get the run-rule victory.

Taylor Roby was one of four Louisville pitchers to enter the circle and went three innings, allowing three runs on just two hits. Six walks helped GT's cause, though, and the Rambin' Wreck touched Gabby Holloway, Jen Leonhardt and Payton Hudson for the remainder of their run production. 

Blake Neleman went all five innings in the circle for GT, and improved to 6-5 on the season. 

Louisville returns home for a four-game series against Duke this upcoming weekend. Duke is in fourth place in the ACC standings with a 27-9, 15-9 mark. Five squads in the ACC have either eight or nine conference wins, the separating factor is in the number of losses each has.  Syracuse is 8-8, Notre Dame 9-10, North Carolina 8-9 and Virginia is in tenth place with a 9-16 ACC record. 

The top ten teams, figured by conference record percentage and the Cards currently sit in ninth place.  The qualifying teams will participate in the 2021 ACC Softball Tournament in Louisville, KY May 6th-9th.  The top six squads get a first round bye, while seeds #7-10 play on the first day to advance to the round of eight.

13 of the 15 ACC Conference members play softball -- Miami and Wake Forest do not field teams. 

CHEER SQUADS TAKE TWO TITLES

UofL's Spirit Squads took home first place in two of the six National Championship categories this weekend in Daytona Beach, FL

The All-Girl team won their 17th National Cheer Association title (NCA) since 1998, besting Oklahoma State, Iowa State, South Carolina and Missouri in the final five competition. 

The Small Co-Ed squad also grabbed the gold and won their division, beating out Arkansas St. and Coastal Carolina. 

In the other events: 

-- The Cards finished third in Large Co-Ed, behind Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

-- The Dance Team squad (the LadyBirds) placed second behind  South Carolina

-- The Hip-Hop Dance Team was second, behind BYU. 

-- Louisville had two teams n the Group Stunt performance and they grabbed second and fourth places. 

(I never knew there were so many different aspects of Cheer and Dance, but have certainly enjoyed their performances at UofL athletic events over the years.) Congratulations to all the participants and the winners !! 

Have a meaningful Monday! 

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-