Softball Hosts Western Kentucky -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Hosts Western Kentucky

Following a seven-game road trip, Louisville softball returns home to Ulmer Stadium for a four-game stretch. First on the docket is a rematch with Western Kentucky. The Cards beat the Hilltoppers 3-2 earlier this season in Bowling Green.

WKU is 24-19 on the season including 10-10 in Conference USA. Most recently, the Toppers swept New Mexico State at home but was run-ruled by Kentucky before that.

Only two Western Kentucky players are currently hitting over .300- Maci Masters with a .320 batting average across 125 at bats and Jenna Blanton with a .545 batting average across 44 at bats. They hit .270 as a team with 204 runs scored. Roughly 10% of their total hits are home runs.

From a pitching standpoint, four Toppers have stepped foot in the circle. They have a combined 3.47 ERA this season, giving up 282 hits and 165 runs. They have struck out 196 batters compared to 149 walks.

For Louisville, where the Cards have lacked in power hitting, they have made up for in speed and aggressive base running. The lead the ACC with 89 stolen bases, 2.07 steals per game, and 23 triples. Chelsea Mack and Easton Lotus lead the conference with 18 steals apiece. The 23 triples is also good for third-best in the country. They rank in the top 15 in stolen bases per game.

Louisville is 4-1 against in-state opponents this season and look to improve on that mark tonight. First pitch is set for 6:00 pm and will be aired on ACCNX.

(Photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Miscellaneous Monday -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Monday morning readers, 

No games on Sunday or Monday means some random coverage can be shared to hold us over.

Softball

With WKU heading to Ulmer stadium on Tuesday evening, it got me thinking about the in state rivalries and the record against those squads.  Louisville is 4-1 against in-state teams and almost winning that one vs UK was very frustrating.

Beat WKU in Bowling Green back on March 25 a month ago 3-2.  Here's some of my favorite shots from Mr. Jared Anderson at Ulmer this season. 

WBB adds KY kid, Peyton Bradley to the roster

 


Head coach Jeff Walz announced today the signing of one of Kentucky's top prep stars, Peyton Bradley of Meade County High School, to the Cardinals 2025 recruiting class.

Bradley, a 5'8 guard from Brandenburg, Kentucky had over 3,000 career points during her high school career. 

As a freshman, Bradley made an immediate impact by leading Meade County to a Girls' Sweet 16 appearance, scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists in her state tournament debut. She led Kentucky in three-point percentage that year and has consistently been among the state's top scorers ever since.   Bradley suffered a torn ACL her junior season, but she returned stronger than ever in her senior campaign. In her final season, she averaged 28.2 points (ranked #2 in state), 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists with multiple 30-point performances. Bradley shot 41.6% from 3-point range and ranked second in the state with 114 makes from behind the arc. She holds the Meade County program record for career points and three-pointers made. Her 510 three-pointers made ranks second all-time in Kentucky state basketball history. Bradley was named Courier Journal First Team All-State, the second Louisville signee in the class to receive the honor.



What Walz said...

 "She's a relentless scorer with a high basketball IQ, and what impresses us most is her toughness. She came back from a major injury and somehow elevated her game even further. She fits the culture and competitive mindset we value here at Louisville."

What Bradley said ...

"I've always dreamed of playing at the next level, and Louisville felt like home the minute I stepped on campus," Bradley said. "The program's tradition, the coaching staff's energy, and the way they push their players to grow — it's everything I wanted. I can't wait to compete in the ACC and give it my all."

As Always, 

Go Cards

~Daryl 

Cards Softball falls in rubber match at Virginia ---SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HOOS HOLD CARDS TO TWO HITS IN SERIES FINALE

courtesy UVA

Louisville  Softball has a tenancy to disappear offensively against top quality pitching and that was the case Saturday in  Charlottesville, as Louisville ran into Virginia pitcher Eden Bigham (14-7) and she limited Louisville to two singles in a 6-0 whitewash of the Cards. 

Basically, although we didn't know it at the time...this one was over when the first Virginia batter (Jade Hylton) hit a home run off of Cards starter Alyssa Zabala (8-8)

And that would be the end of the scoring until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Bella Cabral homered off Zabala, That four tripper, and and another VA run spelled the end for Zabala's appearance in Holly Aprile's mind, and she went with sophomore Brooke Gray in relief. Saturday was not Gray's day, though...as she allowed three hits, three runs and two walks in just 1/3 of a inning. 

With a the score 6-0, the Cards brought in Lindsey Mullen, who was able to get the Cards out of the inning, with two outs registered in just eight pitches. 

And, so, the Cards return home and wait for their next contest, when WKU comes to town Tuesday, April 22nd. 

HAPPY EASTER

To all our readers, a very happy Easter to you, However you choose to spend it, enjoy this holiday and if the Easter Bunny is kind to you, well, that's just a bonus...friends. (I like Reese's Cups, in case...) 

Paulie

Softball Falls; Volleyball Beats UK -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Repeat Upset at UVA

After the big win on Thursday evening, Louisville looked to sneak the series from Virginia last night, but they'll have to wait until today if they want to finish the job. The Cavaliers scored first and poured it on late to break away and ultimately take an 8-2 victory. Louisville will get another chance at noon today. 

Louisville ran a bit of a different lineup yesterday, with Easton Lotus leading off but Char Lorenz following her instead of Chelsea Mack. Lotus bunted out before Lorenz had an infield single. Madison Pickens was next, and the box score gives her a single with Lorenz out at second, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. Sounds like a fielder's choice to me, but so it goes. Pickens stole second but Bri Despines ended the inning with another infield ground ball. Hey... at least the Cards were putting the bat on the ball. 

Brooke Gray got the start and UVA jumped on her quickly. A double down the left field line opened the inning and a sac bunt turned into a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A steal put two in scoring position and a ground ball back to Gray allowed both runners to advance, scoring a run. The trail runner taking the base was what haunted, as the next ball was a sacrifice fly to center. A ground out ended the inning but the Cavs led 2-0. 

Louisville got those runs back in the third. Chelsea Mack, batting ninth, singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Lotus sacrifice bunt. Lorenz got her second infield single and Mack moved up to third. Lorenz then ran herself off the base paths with a caught stealing, which is an interesting choice in the situation. Either way, Pickens singled to score Mack and Despines singled to keep the two-out rally alive. Camryn Lookadoo then hit a sharp grounder to short, but the shortstop missed the throw to second, allowing Despines and Lookadoo to reach safely and allowing Pickens to score, unearned. The defense recovered, with the shortstop herself refielding the ball and throwing Despines out at third. Inning over, but the score was tied again. 

The tie remained to the bottom of the fourth when UVA again grabbed a leadoff double. Instead of a sac bunt turning into a single this time, it turned into an error when the ball wasn't caught cleanly at first. The unearned run was returned, and UVA regained the lead. A fielder's choice erased the lead runner (and the second potential unearned run), but a two-run homer made it 5-2. Gray recovered for a line out to make it two outs, but a single and a walk ended her day. Zabala came on in relief needing to just get one out, but a single to center was booted and two more unearned runs came in to score. A flyout ended the inning, but the lead had grown to 7-2. 

The Cards stranded six runners on base over the final three innings and were unable to cut into the lead. UVA added an insurance run they didn't need to set the final score at 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and nobody out in the seventh, Louisville's chances ended on a strikeout, an infield fly, and a flyball to straightaway center. Ballgame. 

With Zabala having only thrown 1.1 innings yesterday and Sam Booe having come in to throw one of her own, it's anyone's guess who will take the start in the rubber match this afternoon. Louisville will need another strong offensive showing if they want to get a series upset. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

Meske Wins First Battle of the Bluegrass

Does a spring exhibition count as a true rivalry game? You bet it does. At least when we win. If we lose it doesn't count. Makes sense, right? Either way, the Cards took on the Cats in L&N Federal Credit Union Arena last night in their fourth and final spring match in the first season of the Dan Meske Era. Over 1,000 fans were on hand to watch the Cards take the 3-1 victory. We're still selling out the L&N FCU Arena in spring ball. I think the volleyball support is doing just fine. 

The Cards won 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-14 and were led by Payton Petersen and Reese Robins who each had eight kills. Defensively, the Cards were on fire. Kamden Schrand, officially wearing the libero jersey full time, finished with 22 digs, and Nayelis Cabello was close behind with 18. Cabello also contributed three blocks and six kills to go with her 24 assists. Petersen added four blocks and Robins had two. Those four will certainly be names we'll get used to hearing throughout the season. 

Other players that earned shoutouts from the official gocards writeup were Cara Cresse, Chloe Chicoine, Hannah Sherman, Kalyssa Blackshear, Ava Utterback, Hannah Kenny, and Alanna Bankston. There will be a lot of new names to get acquainted with after a fair amount of turnover from last season, but things appear to be just fine after Louisville went 4-0 during their spring season. Last night, the Cards also honored Elle Glock with a special senior day ceremony of her own after Glock decided to forego her final season of eligibility to graduate and depart UofL in May. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on hand today, as house projects keep Daryl away. Given the updates from last time she was on the show, we'll definitely let that slide. Join us as we talk softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and a little WBB. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Softball takes game 1 vs UVA in extras --LAX falls at ND -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good morning and happy Friday readers!  We are officially 2 weeks from the Derby weekend which I am very much looking forward to.  Get your fascinators ready ladies!!! 



Softball

The Cards are on the road in Charlottesville, Virginia for an ACC series with the Cavs ahead of the holiday weekend.  The Cavs are celebrating their seniors this weekend and UofL is celebrating a 3 game winning streak taking game 1 of the series Thursday evening.  Its just the second loss for the Cavs at home this season.  

The Cards eek out a victory over the RPI Top 25 Cavaliers 6-5 in 9 innings. Alyssa Zabala got the start in the circle and looked to complete the game heading into the 7th inning with a 5-1 UofL lead.   After giving up 3 hits in the inning, UofL head coach Holly Aprile made the pitching change. She finished her day giving up 8 hits and 4 runs (3 in the 7th) and 4 strikeouts.

  

Brooke Gray got the win in 2.2 innings of one-hit softball in the circle.  

Easton Lotus finished with 4 hits on 5 plate appearances, scoring 2 runs. Char Lorenz had a 2 run HR to put the Cards ahead 5-1 late in the game.  

The last time UofL and UVA faced off was in 2023 in Charlottesville when the Cards swept em. 

1st inning

The Cards had 5 batters appear to open the game but count come up with any runs.   The Cavs came out swinging to get on the board early with a single and a double and a SAC bunt in-between to score the games first run.  But I will say I think it was a bad defensive effort that allowed that first runner to get on board to begin with. 

2nd inning

Pretty anticlimactic inning as the score remains the same throughout.  

3rd inning

A single up the middle for Lotus to start the offensive punch for the Cards before Lookadoo found herself looking at a bases loaded situation. She singled over third base to score 2 runs and then some defensive chaos throwing the ball around allows for some advancements and then a play at home which was reviewed and upheld as out at the plate. Card up 3-1 

4th inning

Both squads with 1 hit and 1 left on base but no runs to show in the inning. 

5th inning

Three up, three down for both squads for a quick inning. 

6th inning

Zabala started the 6th with a 10 pitch at bat that should've been a strike 3 called on a beautiful pitch on the inside corner but instead resulted in a single to CF which is quite deflating but the Cards were able to get out of the inning unscathed. 

7th inning

A Lotus single to left followed by a quick slap homerun to left center put the Cards in a comfy position heading into the final frame of regulation. But the Cavs would respond with 3 hits and runners on the corners and a chance to tie it at the plate.   Coach Holly Aprile makes the pitching change and put Lindsey Mullen in the circle instead.  She threw just 6 pitches facing 2 batters for the night, giving up a home run and a single putting the Cavs in a position to win in walk off fashion.  Aprile makes another pitching change putting Gray in to clean up the mess.   To extras we go... 

8th inning

The Cards had 3 hits but were unable to plate any runs it in and defensively it was 3 up, 3 down for UVA.

9th inning

Ally Alexander walked to get on base and ultimately score the game winning run on a fielding error from UVA and Maddi Grant doubling to right field to push the run across.  The Wahoos got two runners on but where unable to respond. 

The Cards win! 

Lacrosse

Louisville went to South Bend for the last match of the 2025 season and fell 6-17 against the Notre Dame fighting Irish. UofL finishes the 2025 campaign with a 7-10 record and a 1-8 mark in ACC play. The Irish had lost their 4 previous matchups and finished 7-8, 2-7 ACC.


ND scored in the first minute of the game and the Cardinals responded a minute later when Negai Nakazawa sent a feed to Maggie McMahon who delivered her 12th goal of the season. ND scored nine unanswered goals to close out the first quarter. Reese Whiteman for her team-best 25th goal of the season but the Cards could not come back from the early deficit and went into the break down 10.

This is the Health Science Campus of UofL - Downtown - the School of Medicine

I am working on finishing up a pretty awesome UofL related project here in the coming weeks that I am looking forward to sharing soon =)

As Always
Go Cards

~Daryl 

WTEN Advances in ACC Tourney -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Down FSU to Face Cal

We haven't talked much about Louisville women's tennis this season, but they've quietly been having their best season in the ACC. The Cards went 5-1 in nonconference play before dropping their first three matches of ACC play. Louisville then won three straight matches, beating Xavier, UAB, and FSU for their first ACC win of the season. The Cards ultimately finished 13-9 with a 4-8 conference record, having swept Boston College 4-0 to end the regular season. Those four conference victories are their most in the league and resulted in a 12th place finish in conference. While that doesn't sound great, consider that Louisville is ranked 63rd overall. The team they beat in the first round of the ACC Tournament, 13-seed FSU, was ranked 57th in the country. 

Photo via GoCards

The Cards won yesterday's match 4-2, with the decisive point coming before the last singles match had ended. Louisville won the doubles point, led by an upset victory from Allie Gretkowski and Alice Otis in the 1-doubles spot against the #39 pair from FSU. Moving into singles play, Otis lost on Court 1 6-1, 6-3 before Louisville retook the lead at 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory from Elena Noguero on Court 3. Lika Persypkina picked up a 6-1, 6-3 victory as well to give the Cards a 3-1 advantage. Germany Davis fell 6-3, 6-3 to set the score at 3-2, but Elisabeth Iila sealed the deal with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory on Court 6. Gretkowski led 3-1 in the third set when their match was suspended. 

It was a big day for Noguero and Iila, as they both won their singles matches after also helping to clinch the doubles point for the Cards. The Cards will face a tough test in their second matchup in the ACC Tournament when they take on Cal this morning at 10 AM. Louisville didn't play Cal in the regular season, but the Bears are ranked 18th in the country. Cal went 12-7 overall with a 9-3 record in the ACC. The Cards may be playing with house money at this point. While a conference season under .500 doesn't seem like it should be considered a major success on its face, that doesn't take into account the challenge in the ACC. Like in many other "non-revenue" sports, the ACC is a powerhouse. Winning the most conference games since joining the league and picking up an upset win (even though it was over a lower seed) in the tournament is a reason to celebrate. Anything from here on would be toppings on a sundae. 

Best of luck to the Cards moving forward. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WOMEN'S COACHES COACHES RECEIVE CONTRACT EXTENSIONS -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TEETER, COPELAND GET CONTRACT EXTENSIONS

Two of the coaches in the University of Louisville women's programs recently received contract extensions.

Scott Teeter, head women's lacrosse coach, got contract enhancements and a three year extension, thru June 30, 2028. Teeter is in his eighth year at Louisville, and came in and basically rebuilt the program after the Kellie Young debacle. In 2024 Lacrosse reached the ACC Quarterfinals, and has also set a new record for goals and saves in a game by a player and the team. 

All-American Nicole Perroni ended with a 55 game scoring streak and a 54 game goal scoring streak. Perroni was also naked as an assistant coach for Colgate University for the 2025 program and the program is 7-6 this season and is in fifth place in the Patriot  League, currently on a three game win streak. 

Teeter's squads get it done in the classroom as well, achieving the IWLCA GPA Award in four of his years here. 

Derek Copeland also received an extension on his contract...the Cards head women's rowing coach has rebuilt and revitalized the program, while competing in one of the toughest conferences in women's rowing. Copeland was named head coach in 2014 and was the guiding force behind the continued improvements of the multi-million dollar Louisville Rowing facility on River Road. the G. Garvin III Rowing Center. The facility has offices for Copeland, two assistant coaches, boathouse manager and a graduate assistant. It also has a student study area and lounge, showers and can accommodate 80 student athletes with an equipment room and weight training center. 

Congratulations to both these hard working dedicated coaches, who may not always receive the notoriety and public recognition as some of the others in the women's programs but are important program builders and leaders in the UofL coaching community. 

paulie

Steph Norman Bids Farewell -- WNBA Draft -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Photo by GoCards

In a surprise move yesterday, Louisville women's basketball associate head coach Stephanie Norman announced that she will be stepping down and leaving the program. Norman is headed to Arizona State to become an assistant coach under Molly Miller. Miller was recently named head coach for the Sun Devils after five seasons at Grand Canyon.

Norman played four seasons at Arizona State from 1985-1989, including being named a team captain in her junior and senior seasons. She completed her masters degree at Hawaii. Following the completion of her education, Norman spent time as an assistant coach at Oregon, Oregon State, and Vanderbilt before joining Louisville in the fall of 2007. She was the first hire under then-newly-named head coach Jeff Walz.

Photo by GoCards

During her 18 year stint with the Cards, Norman was a part of 12 Sweet Sixteen appearances, eight Elite Eight appearances, four Final Four appearances, and two National Runner-Up finishes. Norman has helped oversee the development of several key players in Louisville history such as Angel McCoughtry, Candyce Bingham, Becky Burke, Monique Reid, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shoni Schimmel, Asia Durr, Dana Evans, Emily Engstler, Asia Taylor, Antonita Slaughter, Sam Fuehring, Arica Carter, Sara Hammond, Bria Smith, and many more. 

Norman helped guide the Cardinals to 486 wins and 227 wins in respective conference play. Louisville's conference record and overall record were both over .750 during that period. 

Photo by GoCards

Jeff Walz took to social media yesterday regarding Norman's departure: "It's hard for me to put into words what Stephanie has meant to me, this program, and our players. Her loyalty, wisdom, and heart helped build Louisville women's basketball into what it is today. Wishing her nothing but the best on her next chapter - forever grateful."

It has not been made clearly how Louisville will restructure coaching assignments and fill the vacant position, but we expect to hear news in the coming days.

Graphic by GoCards

We at Cardinal Couple remain grateful for all of Norman's contributions during her time at Louisville and are excited to see what she brings to the table at Arizona State. We wish her the best!

WNBA Draft

Last night was the 2025 WNBA Draft. We saw 38 players get drafted over three rounds. To no surprise, Paige Bueckers went first overall. We also saw former Virginia Tech and Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore go in the middle of the first round. Former Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith was taken late in the first round.

The ACC saw six players from the 2024-2025 season drafted, three in the first round. Five international players that did not play in the most recent NCAA women's basketball season were drafted. 12 of the 38 players drafted were on teams that Louisville played in this most recent season.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Spring Cardinal Coverage -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers, 

Daryl welcoming you to another Monday and the last full week of regular classes for UofL students before finals and spring graduation.  

I ran into Jared out at the Spring football game on Friday where thousands of fans gathered on a lovely spring evening to get a look at the Cardinals on the gridiron.  

Softball is at Virginia this coming weekend starting on Thursday as to avoid the series finale on Easter Sunday next weekend.  

WSoc had a spring meet with the Cincinnati Bearcats Sunday afternoon but no results will be reported from that per usual.  No true games Sunday or Monday. The VolleyCards get a spring match with UK at L&N Arena this Friday. 

Going to make it a short one today as the pollen count in Louisville is extremely high and giving my sinuses a tough time this morning.

Thinking of our Cardinal Couple family this week. <3

As Always, 
Go Cards

~Daryl 

Louisville Softball beats B.C. -- Lax loses to Duke -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Softball Survives a Slugfest and Lacrosse  Loses on Senior Day

Both the main Louisville women's Spring sports found themselves in action on Saturday -- even if it was in two different locations. We'll start today with the LAXCards. The Cards Lacrosse squad hosted #9 ranked Duke for their senior day at the L.L.S, but the Blue Devils left with the "W" a 17-7 handling of the Cards, who said "goodbye to their senior class. 

LAX

"I thought we battled for 60 minutes. Duke is a very good team, a balanced team and a very deep team. I thought we played a lot of defense today and took them deep into the shot clock, and we came close on a few possessions that Duke was able to cute...we had some really good moments but Duke was able to make us pay for out mistakes."  --  Louisville head coach Scott Teeter. 

Our Jared Anderson conducted the post game interviews...hear them HERE

Duke (12-3, 6-2) jumped ut to  2-0 lead in the first quarter, before the Cards got their first goal from Maggie McMahon. The Blue Devils responded with three straight goals and ended up taking the first quarter 5-2 after UofL's Lauren Figas scored with a minute remaining in the quarter.

McMahon scored again early in the second quarter, but it would be the final Cards scoring tally of the half, as Duke responded with five straight goals to go in to the half with a commanding 10-3 advantage. 

Duke added four more goals in the third quarter an the Cards were just able to respond with an Abby Scully goal, making the contest solidly in favor of the Blue Devils 14-4 going into the fourth.  

Each squad tallied three more goals in the fourth, the Cards goals coming from Negai Nakazawa, Izzy Seikel and Maggie McMahon's third goal of the afternoon. 

(LAX photos by Jared Anderson)

SOFTBALL

Meanwhile, up in Newton, Mass...the Cards Softball squad won a slug fest against the Boston college eagles 14-13.

Louisville jumped ut to an early 4-0  lead in the top of the first, and extended it to a 10-2 lead in the third inning when they got key his from Easton Lotus and Char Lorenz. 

Boston College decided to make a game of it , though, and touched the Cards for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Louisville exploded again in the top of the sixth inning with four runs, including a double from Carmyn Lookadoo and triple from Chelsea Mack to make it 14-7. 

Boston College still had life in the bats, though, ans went for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, creating a 12-12 contest. The Eagles put Louisville away in the top of the seventh and appeared to be on a rally in the bottom of the seventh when scored a run and had two on in their final at bats, but the Cards reied the next two BC batters to escape with the 14-13 victory.

Brooke Gray was credited with the Louisville win, one of four pitchers the Cards used in the slugfest, and Gray improves to 7-6 on the season.  

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

A small..but mighty crew on board for the CCRHP yesterday...as Case and Paulie took to the internet to catch up on Cardinal women's athletics. 

The lads covered LAX, softball, and other Cards Women's sports subjects in a podcast that ran well over the normal hour of podcasting..

You can catch up on all the fun and knowledge on the Cardinal Couple You Tube site, along  with a lot of other groovy stuff...check it out below !  

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast 4/12/25.

paulie