GOOD AND BAD DAY FOR LOUISVILLE WOMEN'S SPORTS IN CALIFORNIA -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 SOFTBALL WINS BIG, LACROSSE LOSES BIG ON WEST COAST. 

Two different tales on the Saturday Louisville women's sports activities in California. 

Louisville Softball had batting practice in their final game in the California series, hammering the Golden Bears 12-2  Louisville Lacrosse got whacked around by Stanford  22-5 out on "The Farm". 

SOFTBALL SUCCESS ON CAL PITCHING 12-2

Alyssa Zabala

Holly Aprile's "hit and pitch Cards" unleashed the bats against the Cal pitching staff in the 12-2 massacre. Early in the ballgame, it looked like Cal might be the team to take the final game in the series, scoring two runs in their first at bat against Louisville...but the Cards Alyssa Zabala settled down and the Cards took a 3-2 lead after two. 

The contest stayed at 3-2 until the top of the fifth. UofL brought the bats out for a little more exercise and posted six runs against the Bears to go up 9-2 . Three more runs in the top of the seventh created the final 12-2 blasting. 

This wasn't normally how Louisville unloads on a foe. Not a slap hit, walk and sac fly type of offense at all. The Cards got home runs from Jordan Williams, Bri Despines and Madison Pickens and doubles from Pickens, Riley Janda and Camryn Lookadoo that accounted for 11 of their 12 runs to cross the plate. 

Zabala got the win and turned the ball over to Jayden Gohs after four innings for the completion. The win was "Smiley's" ninth of the season. 

STANFORD FILLS THE NETS AGAINST LAX CARDS 22-5

For as much success as the Softball Cards had against Cal, Louisville Lacrosse must have felt like they were in World War III and losing badly against the Stanford Laxers. 

In this Cardinals ve Cardinal match on the turf...the home team scored first and had put six goals up o the UofL squad with almost four minutes left in the first period. And, in the second 15 minutes stretch, Stanford increased a 6-2 lead to 11-2 halfway through the period.

 Halftime's scoreboard read Stanford 13- Louisville 3. 

The third period must have seemed almost boring to the home fans...Stanford was only able to increase their lead to 14-5, The Trees were going to be winners...no doubt..and proved the point t Louisville with a 8-0 fourth period stick party against Louisville. everyone scored for Stanford except the concession stand workers. 

22-5. Not pretty. Stanford was the seventh tanked team in DI WLAX going into the game and didn't hurt that standing one bit. They have the best record in the ACC also...at 10-2.  For Louisville..the loss takes them to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. Louisville was 43rd in the nation going into the match. 

A JOYOUS EASTER TO YOU ALL...

From Cardinal Couple to all of you,  a joyous Easter to you. Remember, He has risen. We hope the Easter bunny leaves you and yours baskets full of goodies.

paulie  

Softball Evens Series -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Win 6-3 Over Cal

Louisville softball saw their long win streak end Thursday at Cal, but the Cards won yesterday evening (afternoon, depending on which timezone you use) to even the series at one game apiece. Louisville struck first, but they didn't hold the lead throughout. Ultimately, the Cards were able to put up more runs than Cal could answer with, though, and they held on to win to move to 31-8 (7-4). 

Louisville put the first two runners on base with Chelsea Mack and Easton Lotus, and Bri Despines made it count early. A single scored Mack, and a Camryn Lookadoo sacrifice bunt moved the runners up one 60 more feet. A sac fly scored Lotus, and Louisville led 2-0 before the inning ended. Brooke Gray got the start and was rewarded with a bunt pop-out on her first pitch. She walked the second batter but the defense helped her out with a double-play to end the inning. 

The Cards were unable to add to their lead in the second, and the middle of the Cal order jumped on Gray to open the bottom half. She gave up back-to-back solo home runs to tie the game at two before setting the next three batters down in order. The top of the third once more saw Louisville put a speedster on base to open the inning and a steal to threaten immediately. Despines grounded out but advanced Lotus to third, which turned out to be irrelevant when Lookadoo hit a ground-rule double to score the run. The Cards couldn't bring Lookadoo home, but Louisville had regained the lead 3-2. 

Gray settled back in and put up a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the third. The Cards added to their lead in the fourth on four hits, including a two-RBI triple from Chelsea Mack. Mack was brought home by Lotus for the third run of the inning, and Louisville led 6-2. Gray would continue to pitch well, giving up just two more hits and two more walks over the next three scoreless innings. Louisville was unable to add any other runs, and Coach Holly Aprile made a quick decision to relieve Gray when she gave up a leadoff single to open the seventh. 

Alyssa Zabala came in to close out the game, but not without a little drama. After a foul out, Zabala gave up a single to right center that allowed the leadoff runner to get all the way to third. A productive ground out advanced both runners, scoring one, but Zabala finished the Bears off with another ground out. Gray took the earned run, but she also finished with the win, moving her to 9-1 on the season. Louisville finished with the 6-3 victory. 

The Cards and Bears will close out the series today at 3PM to give Louisville time to return home for the holiday before they head back out next weekend. Today's series finale will be on ACC Network Extra.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cal knocks off Softball Cards 7-5 in Berkeley -- Friday Cardinal Couple

 CAL'S BIG SECOND INNING SENDS CARDS TO THE LOSS

Normally, when you've got Alyssa Zabala on the mound it's usually a safe bet for the Cards . California must not have read the script, though...and posted four second inning runs on the Cards en route to a 7-5 victory at a high school softball field near Berkeley. (The Cal field is undergoing a major renovation,,,) 

Jordan Williams

It was 5-1 Bears when the Cards came up in the top of the fourth and Louisville showed they still had a bit of life left in those Cardinals wings...when they got a Jordan Williams home run to left and then Riley Janda scored on a Easton Lotus single to make it 5-3. 

A Cal run in the bottom of the fourth inning made is 6-3 home squad, but Louisville kept knocking at the door with a two run top of the fifth...when Jordan Williams drove in Madison Pickens and then Williams scored on a Cal fielding error. It was 6-5 Cal. 

Unfortunately, that was the end of Louisville's scoring . The Bears added an unneeded insurance run in the sixth inning. A 7-5 win for California. 

The two squads meet again today at 2 p.m.

paulie

Amanda Butler leaving Louisville for College of Charleston -- Thursday Cardinal Couple

BUTLER GOING FROM A CARDINAL TO A COUGAR

The word is out...Amanda Butler is leading Louisville to become the head coach at the College of Charleston. A return to the state of South Carolina, where she coached Clemson before becoming a Cardinals assistant. 

The opening is there because of the past CofC coach Robin Harmony leaving the Cougars to become the head coach at Pitt. So, Harmony goes from being a Cougar to a Panther and sources close to Cardinal Couple, who have a great insight to the operations and workings of Cardinals basketball indicate the move was expected. We, of course are still the bad boys of journalistic media in UofL's eyes because of a hijacked Twitter account. All we can say i we have followed all the things to get us back in there but other forces are working to keep us out of the information loop. 

Butler was aided in getting the job by Debbie Antonelli, a South Carolina resident and well respected college impressario and voice. 

Butler said: 

"This is a championship team with a opportunity to build a legacy. that is based on returning. John Groce touched on it a lot a lot more than I did...the challenge of a new landscape is being able to talk about that openly and honestly. But the reality is...how important is legacy to you?...How important is history to you? "

Let's not forget the valuable two years she spent under Jeff Walz about roster building and management, 

The Cougar are in the CAA, or Colonial Athletic Association. She'll be facing school such as Campbell, Stony Brook, Elon, Monmouth, Towson and William and Mary. In the season just ended, CofC was conference champ at 16-2 and went 27-6 overall. They went into the NCAA Tournament as a #14 seed and was eliminated in the first round by Duke. 

No immediate word on players returning or who recruiting will focus on. We also can't verify if Anaya Hardy, who is leaving the Cards roster will be going to CofC with Amanda. Hardy is the second Cardinal to announce they are entering the portal, along with Isla Juffermans. Also, Shay Robinson is leaving his assistant coaching position at Louisville to go to Florida. He's the one I always got mixed up with Lamont Russell. 

We will watch with interest on who Walz gets in to replace them.  Only  Jonneshia Pineda and Brittany Morris remain on the WBB coaching tree along with Walz. 

paulie

Cards Softball run rules EKU 12-4 in Richmond

 CARDS GET 30th WIN OF THE SEASON AT EASTERN KENTUCKY

Madison Pickens

Louisville softball broke a 3-3 tie after an inning and put the bats on the ball in Richmond against EKU with 12 runs and 13 hits in a six-inning win Tuesday evening against the Colonels. 

Madison Pickens had six RBI's for Louisville...as the Cards saw three EKU pitchers in the run-rule affair. She belted two three-run home runs against the home team's pitching. Bri Despines scored four runs in the Cardinals win

Alyssa "Smiley" Zabala

Holly Aprile gave four Louisville pitchers a turn in the circle...with the win going to Alyssa Zabala..who was the second Cards pitcher and went 3.2 innings...allowing no runs or hits and striking out six Colonels batters. Madi Reeves got the start but only lasted 1.1 innings before giving way to Zabala. Reeves gave up three runs on two hits and walked five in her start. Jayden Gohs started the sixth inning, but only went 1/3 of an inning,..throwing just 21 pitches before handing the ball to Anna Wise, who got the final two outs. 

The Cards will head west to face California next to face the Golden Bears for three ACC games on Thursday,Friday and Saturday before retuning home on Easter.

paulie

 

WBB Final Four Set -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

All Chalk in Phoenix

South Carolina and Texas took care of business last night to close out the 2026 Regional Round and move to the Final Four in Phoenix. They joined UConn and UCLA, who did the same on Sunday night. That makes a clean sweep for 1-seeds in the tournament. However, for all of the talk about a lack of parity in women's college basketball, that argument is getting long in the tooth at this point. Does the cream still rise to the top? More often than not, yes. That said, this season marks the first final four made up of all 1-seeds since 2018, and it's just the second in a decade. 

That 2018 Final Four also included Louisville, and it saw both games go to overtime. Louisville came out on the wrong end of their matchup against Mississippi State, but there's no need to relitigate that whole thing. State would go on to lose to Notre Dame in the final, after the Irish defeated UConn in the Final Four. 

We'll see if the final four matchups are as close as that 2018 season, but the elite eight matchups certainly were not. Duke held their own the best, losing by the smallest margin, but their defeat at the hands of UCLA was still by 12 points. UConn won their third straight game of this tournament against ACC opponents, dismantling Notre Dame by 18. South Carolina made light work of TCU, winning by 26, but the jewel of the elite eight came in Louisville's region. 

At the same time as the Cards were completely unraveling against Michigan on Saturday, Kentucky was doing largely the same against Texas. Like on the men's side, Louisville and Kentucky women were bounced from the tournament on the same day. Texas beat UK by 22, while Louisville lost to Michigan by 19. All that did for the Wolverines was set them up to get absolutely trounced. The Longhorns made their second-straight final four appearance by dominating Michigan 77-41. Yeesh. 

The men's tournament will get the Saturday/Monday timeslots, so Texas and South Carolina draw the short straws by playing on just three-and-a-half days' rest with travel to Phoenix. The women's games will be played on Friday and the championship game will be Sunday, with a time still to be announced. This is the same final four as last season, but the matchups are different. UConn and South Carolina will play a rematch of the 2025 National Championship game, which saw the Huskies thump the Gamecocks 82-59. That game will start at 7:00PM on Friday. Scheduled for 9:30 (but actually tipping off 20 minutes after the horn of the first game if it runs long), the second game will feature UCLA and Texas. UCLA is seeking their first championship game appearance of the modern era, after last season was their first Final Four of the era. Texas is looking to make their first appearance in the championship game since winning it all in 1986. The Longhorns lost in the final four in 1987, 2003, and 2025. 

Louisville will look to next season to reignite their hunt for their first national championship. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball shuts down Ga. Tech to sweep series -- Monday Cardnal Couple

 3-1 Complete Game for Alyssa Zabala in win. 

Since we have moved out of Cards WBB coverage for the time being, let's catch up on one of the spring sports at UofL. Louisville Softball picked up a nice win against Georgia Tech today at Ulmer Stadium to go 29-7 on the season and improve to 6-3 in the ACC. Alyssa Zabala went the distance in the circle for the Cards, picking up her seventh win of the season while allowing just three hits. 

For 3- 1/2 innings, this one was a scoreless affair. The Cards finally broke through for a run when they managed to "fill the bags full of Cards" when Easton Lotus opened the bottom of the fourth with a single and Camryn Lookadoo and Madison Pickens were hit by pitches. Taylor Monroe sent a deep fly to center that was caught... but Lotus tagged and scored for UofL.

Ava is a junior for the Cards from Taunton, MA. 

Ava Venturelli made it 2-0 Cards with a solo home run and the Cards added their final run of the game when Lookadoo hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Chelsea Mack. 

Georgia Tech opened the seventh with a solo home run off Zabala, but she sent the Bees to the dugout out with three straight outs after that and ended the game. 

The Cards return to action Tuesday when they travel to Richmond, KY to face Eastern Kentucky University. The Colonels are 18-15 on the season...but 11-4 at home. It's scheduled for an ESPN+ broadcast...starting at 6 p.m.  

paulie

WBB falls to Michigan -- Sunday Cardinal Couple

 CARDS BOW OUT OF NCAA TOURNAMENT 71-52 TO MICHIGAN

Louisville basketball was a bit like the old adage for March, which is that they came in like a lion and left like a lamb. 

The Cards got off to a hot start against the Wolverines and led 13-4 after eight minutes played in the first quarter.  That lead was still viable after the first quarter at 15-9 and UofL was getting an All-American effort out of Elif Istanbulluoglu. The Cards were still controlling the action with 6:53 left in the first half at 25-14...and then the balloon burst. An 18-2 UofM run not only wiped out that double digit lead, but gave Michigan a 32-27 halftime lead. 

How would the Cards react to this Michigan run as the squads came out for the second half? Maybe with their worst half of the season....

UofL did keep it close for a good part of the third quarter but Michigan took off on another 18-2 run and the Cards were staring at a scoreboard that said 57-40 Michigan after three quarters.

 To put it simply, Louisville couldn't buy a basket. A 25-13 third quarter Michigan blitzkrieg had sent Louisville scratching their heads with 10 minutes to play. 

Louisville would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way. The lack of rebounding, the failure to successfully figure out the press...things that will get you a loss every time. 

And thus endeth a season that was very good, by most standards...but another Cardinals failure to reach a Great Eight.  

It's a group with promise, The sophomore class is only going to get better, if they stay together as a unit. As for now, they'll dream of what could have been and head back home.

CARDS WBB POSTGAME MICHIGAN

paulie

Softball Streak Continues -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Beat GT in Game 1

Louisville softball extended their season-high winning streak to eight games yesterday with a victory over Georgia Tech in the first game of their weekend series. The streak began with a win in the final game of the Clemson series, and last night's win over GT is Louisville's first ACC game since that Clemson win. The victory moved the Cards to 4-3 in conference, so a series win would keep Louisville over .500. A sweep would be even better. 

Alyssa Zabala started the game for the Cards and pitched well to open. Louisville supported her by taking the lead in the second on a Jordan Williams triple and extended that lead in the third with hits from Easton Lotus and Camryn Lookadoo. Lotus, by the way, has moved to the second spot in the lineup. That allows Louisville to take more advantage of Chelsea Mack's speed in the leadoff with Lotus's consistency helping bring her home. Zabala gave up a home run in the top of the fourth, but the Cards still held a 3-1 advantage after being unable to score in the bottom half. 

Zabala opened the fifth inning with a ground out, but then struggled to find the strike zone. She walked the next two batters on full counts, and a single loaded the bases. Anna Wise came in to replace her and things got weird. An infield single scored one run, and everyone advanced an extra base (including another run) on what was scored a fielding error by Bri Despines. A ground out scored a third run and Louisville's lead was gone. Another grounder was scored a fielding error by Lookadoo at first base and another unearned run scored. A fly out mercifully ended the inning, but Louisville's 3-1 lead had turned into a 5-3 deficit. 

Never fear, though, fans: Louisville responded. Riley Janda opened the inning with a walk, and Mack laid down a bunt single before Lotus was hit by a pitch to load the bases. GT made a pitching change, and Bri Despines welcomed the new pitcher by coaxing a four-pitch walk. Lookadoo also walked and the game was tied. A strikeout and a flyout that was too shallow to sacrifice made it look as though Louisville would strand the bases loaded, but Williams came up with her second triple of the game to clear the bases. A grounder ended the inning, but Louisville led 8-5. 

GT put two runners on in the sixth and one in the seventh, but Wise was able to keep any others from crossing the plate so 8-5 was the final score. Louisville and GT will continue the series today in chilly Louisville, with first pitch scheduled for 1PM. Today's game will stream on ACC Network Extra.

Floyd Signs with Racing

A second member of Karen Ferguson-Dayes's final senior class has signed an NWSL contract. After wearing purple for many matches in her University of Louisville career, goalkeeper Erynn Floyd will stick with the color and the city as she signed her first professional contract with Racing Louisville FC. The deal is for the remainder of the 2026 season (which just started) and carries a mutual option for 2027. I'm a bit surprised that Louisville didn't offer a longer deal, or that Floyd didn't sign such a deal elsewhere, but she'll be able to learn a ton behind Jordyn Bloomer, who stands out as one of the top keepers in the league. 

It's a bit of a crowded keeper room in Louisville, with Floyd becoming the fifth on the roster. In addition to Bloomer, she joins Olivia Sekany (Washington 2020), Cristina Roque (FSU 2024), and Maddie Prohaska (Auburn 2025). With a lot of youth (even Bloomer is only 28), there is still a lot of opportunity to find a full-time spot on the roster. This is a great opportunity for Erynn and we wish her the best in the beginning of her career. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Jeff Walz talks Michigan -- Friday Cardinal Couple

 WALZ TALKS ABOUT PLAYING MICHIGAN IN SWEET SIXTEEN

Remember this bunch? 

Yes, Louisville WBB is in the Sweet Sixteen. They will go against Michigan in Ft.Worth, Texas. Jeff Walz talks about the matchup 

Jeff Walz previews Cards WBB vs Michigan

The Wolverines got to the Sweet Sixteen in two romps...beating opening round opponent Holy cross by 35 and then knocking off North Carolina St. by 29. They won't have as easy a game in Louisville, though. 

The Michigan squad went 27-6 overall and 15-3 in the Big 10. They finished tied with Iowa for 2nd place ...behind UCLA. Conference losses came against UCLA and Iowa (twice). 

There is a lot of talk how the Michigan guards will give the Cards fits the entire game. Give them credit, they forced Holy Cross into 20 turnovers and NC State into 22 turnovers. The Cards commit only 13 a game...so we'll see how they do against Michigan. 

Michigan is a 4.5 point favorite going into the game. We haven't discovered any Wolverines who are capable of scoring half a point. The game is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and will be shown on ABC. We'll have a full recap here Sunday. If you are going, be sure to check out Goldee's BBQ. 

.paulie