Cards Drop Battle of the Bluegrass -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Hold Early Lead; UK Wins 8-3

Louisville softball welcomed the University of Kentucky in a midweek matchup that was moved up in the day to try to beat the impending storms. The game was windy but dry, and it was an exciting evening of softball. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more exciting for the visiting Wildcats in the end. Louisville took the lead in the first inning and held it until the fifth before a big seventh inning blew open the tie. The Cards now move to 20-16 on the season while UK improves to 22-15. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start for the Cards, opening the game with a strikeout. She gave up a four-pitch walk to follow but the Louisville defense stepped up to erase it with an inning-ending double play. That sequence would turn out to be very telling throughout the game. The Cards' defense was up to the task, but the circle proved to be an issue. 

Louisville was playing without Char Lorenz, who was listed as injured following last weekend's series against Duke. The Cards shifted the order around, moving Ally Alexander, who is quietly having the best offensive season of her career, up to third. After an Easton Lotus ground out, Chelsea Mack singled and did what she does best: turned a single into a double via steal. Alexander followed with a double to give Louisville the lead, and Bri Despines very nearly made it a 3-0 game with a ball that the wind carried all the way to the fence. Despines' fly ball was caught, bringing Camryn Lookadoo to the plate with two outs. She grounded into what should have been a routine ground out, but UK's defense let their adventurous side show and airmailed the throw to first, allowing Alexander to score. The play was reviewed for Alexander leaving second early, but replay evidence was inconclusive and the run stood. A strikeout ended the inning, but Louisville led 2-0. 

Zabala returned to the circle in the second and gave up a single to the dangerous Peyton Plotts. A sharp sacrifice bunt attempt could have gotten the lead runner, but Zabala panicked a bit and rushed the throw to first, putting it in the dirt where a covering Lotus couldn't reach it. Both runners advanced, and Zabala found herself in a pickle with runners on second and third and nobody out. A ground out to Lotus held the runner at second (I'm not sure why), but Plotts scored from third. The runner staying at second proved very costly for UK, as the next batter blooped a soft liner straight toward the bag. Taylor Monroe caught it on the run and her momentum carried her onto the base for the double play. Another defensive save, but UK cut the deficit to 2-1. 

UK changed pitchers after just one inning, bringing in their "ace" in Sarah Haendiges. In a mid-game interview, Coach Rachel Lawson (a former UMass teammate of Holly Aprile's) indicated that it was due to Carson Fall's propensity to be a fly ball pitcher. With Despines having already proved that the ball would carry, UK didn't want to risk Louisville's limited but very real capability to get the ball over the fence. That pitching change would prove devastating for the Cards. Haendiges went on to pitch the remaining six innings and gave up just three hits with one earned run, two walks, a wild pitch, and an HBP. She struck out six. 

Louisville had their chances to extend their lead, but they weren't able to capitalize in the second or third, stranding three in that time. Zabala, meanwhile, appeared to have settled in with a 1-2-3 third inning, but the Cardinal defense had to step up again in the fourth to help her navigate a lead-off walk and a sacrifice to move the tying run into scoring position. Aprile chose to (un)intentionally walk Plotts to fill the open spot at first and a fielder's choice was followed by a pop out to end the inning. It looked like it would be a quick bottom half for Louisville after a fly out and a foul out, but Monroe sent a no-doubter to left field to extend the lead to 3-1. 

The pitching woes came home to roost in the fifth, with Zabala giving up back-to-back singles before being replaced by Sam Booe. Booe picked up a strikeout to open her slate and it appeared that she'd be able to skate out of the jam as she has so many times before. Louisville's defense was primed behind her, having turned multiple double plays, but Booe took the ball out of their hands. Literally. A full-count walk loaded the bases before Booe issued a four-pitch walk to a freshman to score a run. Sam settled down and picked up a strikeout, but her two walks set up a situation nobody wants: Peyton Plotts to the plate with the bases loaded. Booe pitched well to the corners, but the eighth pitch of the at-bat was ruled just wide, and Plotts walked in the tying run. Lindsey Mullen came on to relieve Booe and got a fly out to center to end the inning. 

Softball is a game of momentum, and despite Louisville's home run, UK had just done a good job of seizing ol' Uncle Mo. If the two walked-in runs to tie the game didn't do it, the 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, which consisted of the 2-3-4 batters in the Cardinal order, did. Mullen returned in the sixth and pitched a strong inning to keep Louisville in the driver's seat as the home team, she gave up a walk with one out, but UK didn't really threaten and it was still tied going into the bottom of the sixth. Remember that momentum? Well there isn't much more to build it than a three-strikeout inning. Louisville split the strikeouts with a walk, and the game was stilted a bit by a long interference discussion, but the result was the same. Louisville sent four batters to the plate and three of them went down without putting the bat on the ball. 

That set up the ultimate showdown: final inning, tie game, rivalry, trying to beat a storm. Kentucky stepped up to the moment. A bunt single that just happened to die in the dirt going up the first base line caught Louisville off guard and put the go ahead run on base. Louisville was right when they anticipated a sacrifice, but too many players got excited to make a play. Four Cardinals converged on the bunted ball, and Despines had no throw to first as the other three fielders crowded around her. Two on, nobody out. Uh-oh. Another sacrifice attempt nearly resulted in the exact same thing, but Despines made the throw this time to get an out, but both runners moved into scoring position. Aprile made the wise call to, again, put Plotts on first base, but UK scored the go-ahead run on the next pitch. It got away from Mullen and went straight into the batter's box for an easily taken HBP off the elbow guard. A pinch hitter knocked a bloop single into centerfield, scoring another run and keeping the bases loaded with just one out. 

Zabala returned to the circle and got a ground out that Monroe smartly fired home to get the force and keep the UK lead at 5-3. The next pitch sealed the game, though, as it was lifted high to left, and Zabala clearly thought it was headed out of the park right off the bat. It didn't quite have the juice, but the wind made it just strong enough to fall beyond the outstretched glove of a diving Lookadoo in left center. With two outs, everyone was running, and the triple cleared the bases. A walk ended Zabala's day and Brooke Gray entered to pitch. Gray got a free out when the runner from first left early, and the Cards headed to their final chance down 8-3. 

It was a great spot in the Louisville order, with 9-1-2 due up, but a Monroe ground out was followed by a strikeout from Lotus that capped her unfortunately timed 0-4 day. Chelsea Mack singled up the middle with two strikes, but the rally wasn't on. Alexander lifted a soft fly ball to left and that was that. 

Louisville pitching issued ten free bases. Nine walks and a hit-by-pitch. UK could have won the game without picking up a single hit with runners in scoring position, as their first four runs came on a ground out RBI and three bases-loaded free passes. That's not good. I don't have much else to say on that. 

The Cards are on a conference bye week this week, so instead of a three-game series, they'll play a double header against Oakland on Saturday (weather permitting). Louisville will then head to Bloomington for another regional rivalry in next week's midweek outing. The Cards will hope to get the aftertaste of this ugly game out of their mouths and get some more wins under their belts in both non-conference and conference play.

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Lax Gets Back on Win streak defeating Liberty 12-10 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Whiteman's four goals lead LaxCards to win

Reese Whiteman tallied four goals and seven Cards scored in the Tuesday afternoon win over Liberty at the L.L.S. Tuesday afternoon.

The step out of conference play was beneficial for Scott Teeter's squad, and the Cards improved to 6-7 on the season with the win. 

The Cards jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the contest, Whiteman getting her first goal about four minutes into  the match and Izzy Seikel adding the second score about a minutes later.  After a Flames score,  Rian Adkins found the back of the net and her goal gave the Cards a 3-1 lead that held through the first quarter.

The Cards went up 5-2 in the second after goals from Whiteman and Erin Nicholson. Liberty went on a  a rally, though, and scored the final two goals of the second quarter to trail by just one at the half...5-4.

 

After the break, the Cards scored just 86 seconds into third quarter play, but Liberty countered a couple of minutes later. to make it 6-5 Cards. Ryan McMahon's goal gave UofL a 7-5 lead, but the Liberty squad went on a three-goal barrage to grab a 8-7 lead over the Cards. Whiteman went to work, however, and tallied back-to-back goals to push Louisville back ahead 9-8. Liberty added a goal as the quarter ended i and this one was 9-9 going into the final quarter. 

Both team scored four minutes into the fourth quarter to keep the affair deadlocked at 10-10.  It turned out to be Liberty's last score. With almost nine minutes gone the final frame, Izzy Seikel produced the game winner...and Lauren Figas added an insurance goal 90 seconds later for the Cards to end the scoring in the contest. 

A hard fought 12-10 win for UofL.  Scott Teeter on the contest: 

"I thought today was a really intense, tough lacrosse game. I though both teams played very physical....with a lot of aggression and a lot of pressure. You didn't have much time to move or think out there, and that led to turnovers. We made some adjustments at halftime and put some things together. Starting with the draw controls in the second half, we fixed our clearing game a little bit and that led to more offensive possessions which led to more shots. We mad enough plays to win the game today." 

The Cards return to conference play for their next one, with a contest at Virginia on Saturday. 

Louisville Softball Host UK

Cats and Cards will take Ulmer today at 6 p ,m,  The contest will be televised on ESPNU. 

Let;s ho[e the impending showers hold off until after this one. We'll recap it here tomorrow, with Jared Anderson picture as weell. 

paulie

Lacrosse Hosts Liberty -- Tennis Beats Virginia Tech -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Hosts Liberty

Louisville lacrosse looks to bounce back from a loss with a midweek game against Liberty today. The Cards and Flames will square off at noon at the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.

The Cards enter the match 5-7 on the year and 1-5 in the ACC. Fortunately, they are able to step away from conference play momentarily.

Liberty has had a hot start to the season with an 8-3 record. All three losses came against ACC teams (20-5 to Virginia, 23-1 to North Carolina, and 15-6 against Pittsburgh). They do have a win against then-ranked Richmond by one. Most recently, the Flames defeated Queens University 18-17 with the winning goal coming with five minutes left in regulation.

Louisville won the only meeting between the two teams last season 11-8 on the road. The Cards held a one-goal lead entering the fourth quarter before pulling away.

Women's Tennis Upsets Virginia Tech

Photo by GoCards

Louisville women’s tennis earned a major win over the weekend, taking down #37 Virginia Tech 4-0. The win improves the Cards’ record to 10-7 on the year and 2-6 in the ACC. This is the first ranked win in nearly two years for the Cards.

The last time Louisville hit the 10-win mark was the 2022-2023 season. They have only hit the 10-win mark three times since the 2018-2019 season. The two conference wins is the most for the Cards since the 2020-2021 season when they went 3-10 in the ACC. Louisville has never surpassed three conference wins since joining the ACC.

In collegiate tennis, teams play a best-of-seven score. Despite a trio of doubles matches, only one doubles point is awarded. The other six points are determined in the individual matches.

The Cards took the doubles point after the teams of Berta Miret / Lika Peresypkina and Alice Otis / Allie Gretkowski won. The Cards won the first three singles matches with Gretowski, Elena Noguero, and Elisabeth Lila.

The Cards are back in action against ranked Georgia Tech on Friday at 4:00pm.

(photos by Jared unless otherwise noted)

NCAA Pick 'Em Update

We're down to the final four, so there are just a few more points on offer. The race for second is still close, but Karen J has locked up first place as she holds a three point lead. Tim F and Thomas both need South Carolina to beat Texas to challenge Karen's score, but a South Carolina victory would clinch the win for Karen J by giving her another point. 

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball swept by Duke in series finale 15-8 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 -- Daryl here -- 

Welcome to a new week.  

Softball

Do we think Duke wanted to get on the road back to Durham, NC as soon as possible ?  Cards said not so fast...

Photo: Jared Anderson

In a game that saw 5 Louisville pitchers (3 for Duke) and a final score of 15-8, this one started off 10-0 Dukies before the Cardinals found some offensive life late into run rule territory.   Brooke Gray took the loss to move to 5-6 W-L record on the season. The Cards move to 20-15 (3-9 ACC).  

Brooke Gray got the start in the circle for the Cards but after 29 pitches on 7 batters faced, 6 runs on 5 hits given up and only 1 out Head Coach Holly Aprile pulled Gray for Lindsay Mullen but she didn't spend much time there when she faced 4 batters and gave up 4 runs on 1 hit, 2 walks.  Sam Booe would come in to clean up the mess where the first Duke batter faced would result in a sac-fly and a groundout to end the half inning.  

Louisville took advantage of a fielders choice and a throwing error to finally plate a run in the bottom of the second but Duke responded with a 2 run homer when Aprile put Izzy Harrison in for Booe.  Harrison's 3 fly outs would send the Cards back to the dugout.  They once again took advantage of Duke error to plate a run on a sac fly making it a painful score of 12-2.  

photo: Jared Anderson

It would take Harrison a hard earned 12 pitch strike out in her first batter faced in the top of the 4th but UofL got out of the inning holding the Blue Devils scoreless in the two frames.   In the bottom half of the frames, with bases loaded and 2 outs, Bri Despines singled to right field to score 2 RBIs for the Cardinals in the 4th and with 2 outs in the bottom of the fifth taking advantage of a single,  a HBP and a walk to load the bases, Ally Alexander doubles to center to clear them all.  The Cards would not be done yet as Char Lorenz would single to score Alexander and make it a 12-8 game.  

UofL was able to stave off the Dukies for to push it to the final two frames but UofL would score no more runs while the Blue Devils put 3 more on the board.  They finished scoring 15 runs on 14 hits. The Cards had 11 hits and committed 4 errors.  

UP NEXT

photo: Jared Anderson

WGolf

The UofL women's golf team closed out the Clemson Invitational finishing in 6th place after the final round of action Sunday afternoon aftering holding the spot all weekend.

photo: gocards.com

report from gocards.com 

CLEMSON, S.C. —  After playing nine holes of the third round on Saturday, the Cardinals closed out the final round with a 5-under-par 283 to finish 15-under-par 849 for the tournament. The 849 team tournament score is tied for second for the lowest team tournament score in program history.

Carmen Griffiths fired a season-low 3-under-par 69 in the final round to finish the tournament tied for 10th overall. She was 7-under-par 209 for the weekend, the lowest tournament score for her since the fall of 2022. Griffiths tallied six birdies over her final round and it is her fourth Top 10 finish of the season.

As Always,
Go Cards
~Daryl 

Cards Fall in Lax and Softball -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Second Quarter Dooms Lax Cards

A rough day on Floyd Street for two Louisville women's sports squads Saturday

Louisville lacrosse couldn't overcome a porous second quarter as they fell to #4 Stanford 15-2. The loss drops the Cards to 5-7 on the year and 1-4 in the ACC.

It took less than two minutes for the Cards to score, but it would be their only lead of the game. Stanford would score a couple quick goals. Louisville would hold Stanford scoreless over the next eight minutes before another goal by the ACC newcomers right before the end of the period gave them a 3-1 lead. The second quarter was all Stanford as they outscored Louisville 8-0. The Cards trailed 11-1 at the break and were facing an uphill battle with a running clock.

The third quarter, while quick with the running clock, was rather uneventful. Stanford added a pair of goals to go up 13-1. Stanford added a couple more goals with a Louisville score sandwiched in the middle.

Lauren Figas and Reese Whiteman scored the two goals for the Cards, who were limited to just 18 shots on the day.

On the defensive end, J Pleck recorded nine saves with 15 goals allowed. She now has 107 saves on the year. Ashley Osborne recorded her 100th ground ball of the season. 

Louisville returns to action on Tuesday at noon when they host Liberty.

Softball Silenced Against Duke

Louisville softball's lone run came with two outs in the seventh inning in a 5-1 loss to #19 Duke. Duke takes the series lead 2-0 with the final game of the series slated for today at noon.

Duke was able to capitalize on a pair of Louisville defensive miscues to score a run in the top of the first inning. The Blue Devils were able to add another run in the third, but the damage was limited with multiple runners on base at the time. A solo home run and a pair of hits plated two more runs for Duke. They added an insurance run in the seventh for a strong 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, a double by Ally Alexander and walks by Maddi Grant and Madison Pickens loaded the bases with one out. Easton Lotus was able to send a ball deep to left center to drive in a run, but the rally came too late.

Alexander and Pickens combined for four of Louisville's six hits. The Cards left seven runners on base. Duke pieced together five runs on 10 hits but the Louisville defense stranded nine Duke runners on base.

Alyssa Zabala got the start in the circle but took the loss after allowing four hits and three runs. Sam Booe came in for the back half of the game and allowed six hits and two runs along with a pair of walks.

The Cards drop to 20-14.

WBB Elite Eight Set

UofL women's basketball at Lacrosse

The last of the Sweet Sixteen games were played yesterday and the NCAA Women's Elite Eight is set.

2-seed TCU and former Cardinal Hailey Van Lith took down 3-seed Notre Dame 71-62. The Irish had one of their worst offensive performances of the season .

1-seed Texas survived a scare against 5-seed Tennessee and won 67-59 in the battle of the orange teams.

2-seed UConn took down 3-seed Oklahoma and former Cardinal Payton Verhulst. Paige Bueckers went off for a career-high 40 points.

1-seed USC and former Cardinal assistant coach Beth Burns took down 5-seed Kansas State and former Cardinal Zyanna Walker 67-61 in a battle that came down to the final seconds.

Today's games feature 1-seed UCLA vs 3-seed LSU and 1-seed South Carolina vs 2-seed Duke.

(All photos today by Jared)

Happy Sunday and Go Cards!

Jared

Softball Falls in Game 1 vs Duke -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Comeback Comes Up Short

Louisville softball fell behind early in the opening game of their series against Duke yesterday, but they made a hard push to come back at the Blue Devils. Unfortunately, the hole was just a bit too deep for them to recover, and the teams will continue the weekend with Duke taking the 1-0 series lead after a 7-5 victory. 

Brooke Gray got the start for the Cards and the Blue Devils welcomed her into the game rather rudely. The leadoff batter laid down a bunt single and advanced to second on a first pitch single into right by the #2 hitter. A foul out gave Gray a chance to recover, but a walk loaded the bases with one out. In the heart of the order, Duke knocked a single into left, scoring two, and the batter advanced to second on what was considered an error by the left fielder. I assume this was a throwing error, but it isn't listed so.... who knows? Another single scored the two remaining baserunners, one being unearned, before a pair of fly outs ended the top half of the first. Louisville trailed 4-0.

To their credit, the Cards tried to respond immediately. Easton Lotus had an unfortunate foul out before Chelsea Mack was, shockingly, thrown out at first on a bunt single attempt. I guess teams are starting to look for that. Char Lorenz singled, and Bri Despines reached on an infield error. Taylor Monroe was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the rally. 

Gray settled in a bit in the second by taking care of a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Unfortunately, Louisville responded with a 1-2-3 inning of their own. They were able to put the bat on the ball, but that doesn't offer much consolation. Gray returned in the third and went walk, flyout, steal, single before her day was ended. Sam Booe came on in a tough spot with runners on the corners and one out, but stepped up herself to help Gray's ERA a bit. After a steal put runners on second and third, a squeeze bunt attempt popped up and Booe flashed the leather to catch it herself. She then put together a seven-pitch strikeout to end the inning.

The bottom of the third was remarkably similar to the bottom of the first, with Lotus and Mack getting out, Lorenz singling, and Monroe taking an HBP to load the bases. The only difference was that Despines walked instead of reaching on an error. Katie Thatcher came in to pinch hit, but Louisville left the bases loaded for the second time in three innings. They still trailed 4-0.

For the good ending to the third she had, Booe's start to the fourth was similarly less than ideal. A pair of singles were followed by a fielder's choice to get the lead runner at third, but a walk loaded the bases anyway. A Duke single scored two and Lindsey Mullen came on in relief. Mullen was able to limit the damage with a strikeout and a fly out, but the lead had grown to 6-0. 

Louisville's offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth. After a groundout, Maddi Grant doubled to center and Riley Janda came on to pinch run. Ally Alexander hit a grounder straight to short, which is not really what you want with a runner on second, but the traffic on the base paths meant everyone ended up safe. With runners on the corners, Duke shifted into a five infielder set up, which Easton Lotus punished with a two-run triple to left. A groundout meant the Cards were down to their final out, but Lorenz stepped up with her third straight single to score Lotus. Not to be outdone, Despines got tired of reaching only first while at the plate, so she smoked a two-run homer to right center. Monroe couldn't pick up her third HBP of the game, but Louisville left the fourth down just one run: 6-5.

Unfortunately, the Cards wouldn't score again. Perhaps if they had one more inning, they could have had a five-run eighth, but that's not the way it goes. In their remaining three trips to the plate, Louisville mustered just one walk and one single, not in the same inning. Duke was largely held in check, as well, until a solo home run in the top of the seventh. That set the final at 7-5. 

Both teams were able to find success on opposing pitchers, but Louisville would have hoped for a bit more consistency at the plate and a bit more stability from the bullpen. Mullen pitched the best of the Cardinal hurlers yesterday, finishing with just three hits, one run, and a strikeout in 3.2 innings. Booe, as I mentioned, started out well but ended up giving up three hits, two runs, and a walk with one strikeout in her one full inning. Gray got dinged around in the first, but was helped out immensely by Booe in the third. She finished with five hits, four runs (three earned), two walks, and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings. 

Louisville's offense managed eight hits, two walks, and two HBP, and they scored all five of their runs on one pitcher. The Cards struck out four times, and although eight runners left on base doesn't seem like too terribly many, the fact that six of the eight were with the bases loaded is definitely painful. Char Lorenz continued to show why she's batting third, getting three hits in four at bats and Despines reached base three times as well. 

The Cards and Blue Devils will continue the series at 2PM today, with today's game airing on ACCN proper. Louisville will look to pick up a ranked win and fight for another series victory, while Duke tries to finish off the series and climb back to where they think they should be in the ACC standings. 

No CCRHP This Week

I know that last week I said we'd probably be back this week, but sometimes things go sideways. Our hosts are still a bit scattered, and some things have been abnormal, as you may have guessed from the column schedule. We appreciate your patience and continued support and we'll get the podcast back in your feeds as soon as we can. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Games at Home and Away (?) -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Welcomes Duke for Weekend Series

After a brief road trip last weekend, Louisville dragged something back home with them from North Carolina. The Cards will return to Ulmer this week for a three game slate against the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is approaching their tenth season of play, and they're a bit down on previous seasons. That said, they're still no slouch. Following their home sweep at the hands of Florida State last weekend, they took out some frustrations on East Carolina in the midweek game, taking down the Pirates 11-0 in five innings. 

The Blue Devils are 4-5 in conference, right in the middle of the pack and one game ahead of Louisville. They've had some big losses so far, like Louisville, but they've also grabbed a few major wins, something the Cards can't quite say. Duke has wins this season over (in chronological order) #24 Mississippi State, #2 Florida, #16 Nebraska, and #4 UCLA. They haven't won a ranked game in seven attempts since that February 23rd game, but Louisville's lone ranked win of the season came at FAU on 2/16. Granted, the Cards have had many fewer opportunities. 

Louisville is narrowly outscoring Duke overall 198-191, but they're down 37-48 in runs scored in conference play. That's alarming, given the two teams' opponents so far. Every game is a new opportunity, though, so Louisville will see if they can right the ship against conference foes this weekend and earn their second series win of the season. First pitch tonight is scheduled for 6PM and the game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

Lacrosse Hosts Annual Military and First Responders Day

Louisville lacrosse sees no rest for the weary in a loaded ACC. The Cards are 5-6 overall but just 1-4 in conference play. In fairness, those conference games have come against three teams in the top-15, with two of them being ranked first and second in the nation. After a tough loss to Clemson on the road, Louisville returns home for another big match as they take on 4th-ranked Stanford. Tomorrow's game will be the Military and First Responders game for Louisville, which may be a bit triggering for Stanford. 

The Cardinal are 9-3 this season with wins over ranked (at the time) USC, Colorado, Virginia (away), and Yale. Their losses came in double OT on the road at Syracuse and at home to Boston College. No shame in those. What's a little odd, though, is that they followed the home loss to BC on Saturday with a midweek loss on the road at Army. Uhhhh... Huh? 

Louisville shouldn't take that loss to mean anything other than that Stanford slipped up. The Trees have shown themselves to be more than capable of blowing teams out, including a 23-4 win over Virginia Tech who, as you may remember, gave the Cards a fair waxing earlier this season. As Louisville will play just nine conference games this season, they'll need to win out if they want to finish above .500 in conference play. That's a tall order, so I'd settle with a couple of nice upsets. Tomorrow's noon game at LLS would be a good place to start. 

Volleyball Plays Vanderbilt at Central Hardin

Louisville volleyball is also in action tonight as they kick off their spring slate. The Cards will officially be the away team for tonight's match, but they'll have a shorter drive than the "hosting" Vanderbilt. The two teams will play at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown. The match was originally scheduled to be played at E'town High School, but the venue change came just a few days later. 

This will be the Commodores' second spring match and their second in a high school gymnasium. The first was much closer to home, as they hosted Tennessee at Brentwood High School two weeks ago. Brentwood is an exurb of Nashville. The 2025 season will be the first for Vanderbilt Volleyball. 

The 'Dores are helmed by Anders Nelson, a former associate head coach at UK. They'll be led on the floor by transfers, as you might expect in today's climate and for a new program. They've added Sydney Conley from Florida State and Jacquelyn Moore and Isabella Bareford from Loyola Marymount. Perhaps the gem of the class is Kamryn Chaney, the 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year who was also named to the AVCA All-North Region First Team. Chaney, an outside hitter, comes from Princeton. Vandy will also sport a local connection. Their first ever program commit came from Hailee Mack, a libero from Louisville who played at IMG Academy. If that name rings a bell, it might be because her father was the head men's basketball coach at UofL. 

On the Louisville side, this will be the start of the Dan Meske Era for the Cards. Louisville will see what life is like without a handful of familiar faces, as along with Dani Busboom-Kelly, the Cards move into a new season without Anna DeBeer, Elena Scott, Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Phekran Kong. That's... um... a lot of hitting to replace. We'll see what Dan has in store for the Cards soon. Tonight's match is at 7:30pm and admission is free.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

UofL President, Kim Schatzel resigns -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good morning readers,


It's Daryl checking in a day early this week.


Just when the Cardinal athletics schedule gets a breather and you think you've got a free write, something quite monumental happens for the University.. once again.


The University of Louisville announced Wednesday afternoon that Kim Schatzel would be leaving after 2 years at helm.

Photo: UofL News

It feels like just yesterday that the university was inaugurating its 19th president.  It was 544 days ago, in fact.  Which makes it seem like there was barely any time for Kim to get truly acclimated to her position and make true on her 8 campaign promises, as seen below. I mean.. it took 240 days for them to plan the inaugural event... 

https://www.uoflnews.com/post/uofltoday/president-schatzel-outlines-8-priorities/

Provost, Gerry Bradley will be taking the position instead. But he was just announced as to have accepted a parallel position at the University of Cincinnati just 8 days ago.  The current president at UC is 2016-17 interim UofL president, Neville Pinto. 

https://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2025/03/provost-bradley-accepts-position-at-the-university-of-cincinnati/


This one has been strange to follow as we knew that with a new administration in the White House, it could affect the public universities and it funding.. sure.  But just following the emails we have received as employee's since the transition of power. The university was put on a hiring freeze, programs are losing funding and the emphasis on cracking down on diversity and inclusion has crippled operations and now.. we're seeing some affects of the pressure.


We're still gathering some details surrounding the sudden departure... for now, the university has moved on to it's 20th president in history.  

List of UofL Presidents

As Always, 

Go Cards

~Daryl 

Softball Gets Late Winner in Bowling Green -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Wednesday, folks. Let's start with a brief note on recent transfer portal news. While some of yesterday's revelations look to have immediately called Jared's Tuesday column about WBB returners to question, we don't typically trade in incomplete information here at Cardinal Couple. We'll address any major WBB news when its official, but for now, portal announcements don't serve to promote the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. 

Softball Takes 3-2 Victory Over WKU

In a bit of an oddity yesterday evening, WKU hosted a "Red Out" for the visiting team. WKU softball promoted the event, encouraging fans to wear red, only for WKU to take the field in traditional home whites while Louisville softball wore their red tops with red pants. Go Big Red, indeed. The Cards struck first and last in this one, breaking a tie in the sixth inning for a 3-2 win. 

Coming off of a discouraging Saturday and Sunday in Chapel Hill, Louisville headed down I-65 for their fourth in-state matchup of the season. WKU entered the game at just 15-13 overall, but they've played some tough competition already. Their losses include a pair to UK, a pair to Georgia Tech, and a pair to ranked Liberty. The Hilltoppers were coming off of a road trip to El Paso, where they went 1-2 against UTEP, so they may have been a bit more travel weary than the Cards. In the end, Louisville prevailed to improve to 4-0 against in-state competition this year. The Cards will really put that record to the test next Wednesday when they bring the Wildcats into Ulmer. 

Louisville took the plate first yesterday and got to work. After Easton Lotus had an unfortunate foul out on a 2-0 pitch, Chelsea Mack laid down her 2-0 attempt for a bunt to third. At this point, that's an automatic single. She likely would have stolen second, but she was helped out by a wild pitch to advance. In stepped Char Lorenz batting third. A note on Lorenz: other people have noticed her. This is good because she's pretty hard to ignore. Softball America issued their midseason lists and Lorenz was ranked as the top freshman in the ACC. Pretty good. It was a timely announcement, as Lorenz singled up the middle to score Mack and give Louisville the lead. She advanced to second on the throw to the plate, and she came around to score when Bri Despines doubled in the next at bat. Despines advanced to third on a throwing error, but Louisville couldn't continue the scoring rally. The Cards grabbed their gloves with a 2-0 lead. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start and took one batter too long to settle in. The WKU leadoff hitter smoked a double to open the bottom half of the first and advanced on back-to-back sacrifice flies to score. A walk and a ground out ended the inning, and Louisville maintained the lead. It looked as though they would immediately extend it, as Taylor Monroe tripled to lead off the second inning. After a line out, though, Ally Alexander hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that Monroe misread, taking off for home. The WKU shortstop threw to the plate instead of first and Monroe was tagged out. That was made doubly unfortunate when Lotus singled with two outs. The Cards couldn't bring a runner around, but they still led 2-1 heading into the home half. 

Zabala got a bit more comfortable in the second, working around a leadoff HBP to avoid any runs in the inning. Louisville went down in order in the third, and Zabala continued to show resilience. She was having a bit of trouble finding the zone, but her pitches were working to fool the WKU batters. Alyssa gave up two walks and a wild pitch in the third, but she also picked up a pair of swinging strikeouts, adding to the one she had in the second inning. 

Louisville tried to play small ball in the fourth after Jac Hasty singled to open the inning, but she was stranded at second after a sacrifice bunt was followed by two quick outs. Zabala had a fairly quick inning in the bottom half, giving up a full-count single after two fly outs and ending the threat with a pop out. Louisville went down 1-2-3 for the second time in the fifth inning, and Zabala returned to the circle for her fifth inning of work. In hindsight, Coach Holly Aprile might have considered pulling the trigger on relieving her a touch sooner. WKU opened with a double, and the Cards responded with an intentional walk to create a force out at any base. When a single loaded the bases, Aprile made the call to the bullpen and Brooke Gray entered a tough situation. 

Unfortunately for Zabala, Gray surrendered Zabala's win chance in the first at bat, giving up a four-pitch walk to score a run, tying the game and leaving the bases loaded. Fortunately for Louisville (and Zabala's ERA), Gray locked in after that. She struck out the next two batters to flip the situation from very bad (bases loaded, nobody out) to a fair bit less bad (two outs, force out at any base). A fly out ended the inning with the score tied 2-2. 

With the middle of the order due up, Louisville responded immediately. Despines laid down a first-pitch bunt up the first base line and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hasty singled for the second time in the game, and Aprile chose to hold Despines at third. Riley Janda came in to pinch run for Hasty and immediately stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Monroe worked a strong at bat, fouling off strike three twice for an eight-pitch walk. Ava Venturelli pinch hit with the bases loaded and one out but fouled out. With the potential rally in danger, Louisville was bailed out by a wild pitch, with all three runners advancing 60 feet and Despines scoring the go-ahead run. Alexander ended up walking to reload the bases, but Lotus grounded out to end the threat. 

WKU tried to match Louisville's efforts in the bottom half, with the leadoff batter attempting a bunt up the first base line. She was thrown out, which was good because the next batter singled. Gray responded by forcing a fly ball, walked a pinch hitter in the DH spot, and forced another fly out to end the inning. Louisville's 2-4 hitters went down on just six pitches in the seventh, but Gray was up to the task. She answered the quick top half with an efficient bottom half, using just 12 pitches herself to force two ground outs and a pop out to end the game and earn herself the win. 

Louisville's offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, but that was largely due to a good outing from WKU's Rylan Smith. She threw 120 pitches in the complete game, giving up three earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and a pair of wild pitches. She struck out four. Zabala and Gray combined for 145 pitches, six hits, six walks, one WP, one HBP, and five strikeouts. The Cards left seven runners on base, including an uncharacteristic three from Lotus. Granted, those all came in one at bat. 

Louisville (20-12) returns home this weekend for a series with Duke. The Blue Devils are 21-12 so far this season with a 4-5 conference record. They went 2-1 against Clemson and Syracuse before being swept at home this past weekend by 9th-ranked Florida State. Duke was outscored 33-17 in the series, but they took the Seminoles to the wire on Saturday, losing 12-11. The Blue Devils will face East Carolina today before catching a flight to Louisville to start the series Friday. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

WBB Departures and Returners -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Basketball Returners and Departures

Now that we have concluded the season for Louisville women's basketball, we can start to prepare for offseason changes.

On the coaching side, there have not been any rumors or hints about departures. We also haven't seen any assistant coaches on watch lists to taking head coaching positions elsewhere. The current coaching staff should be sound next season and will be hard at work for recruitment and NIL opportunities.

Departures

As of this time, the only known departures are those graduating. Olivia Cochran and Merissah Russell both played all five years with the Cards. Cochran saw heavy minutes and had a starting role for a majority of her tenure. Russell played a bit more of a reserve role but provided veteran leadership in her later years.

Jayda Curry spent her final two seasons with the Cards and played a point guard and shooting guard role during her time. She went out with a band, scoring a career-high 41 points in her final game.

Ja'Leah Williams used her final year of eligibility at Louisville after four seasons at Miami. She was brought in to provide experience and be another ball handler for the Cards. She also proved to be one of the better defenders.

Returners

As of right now, all other players are expected to return for Louisville. As the transfer portal opens up and other schools throw NIL money out there, we could possibly so a player or two decide to leave. Only time will tell there.

The current returners are:

Nyla Harris, junior, forward

Elif Istanbulluoglu, sophomore, forward

Eseosa Imafidon, redshirt freshman, center

Izela Arena, freshman, guard

Imari Berry, freshman, guard

Mackenly Randolph, freshman, forward

Rebekah Graves, freshman, guard

Anaya Hardy, freshman, forward

Isla Juffermans, freshman, forward

Reagan Bender, freshman, guard

Tajianna Roberts, freshman, guard

I'd expect to see Walz and Co go after a veteran or two in the portal to help develop this young squad. Most likely, we will see Louisville go after a true point guard in the portal to help be the on court general.

There are some new faces that have committed to the Cards that will join in the fall including 6'5 forward Grace Mbugua and 5'9 guard Peyton Bradley. 

2025 NCAA Pick 'Em Update

After the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the field is still close in the CC Pick 'Em Challenge. Here's how things look as we head into the Sweet 16. 

Thanks,

Jared