Scouting the 'Lopes -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE SOFTBALL PLAYS FRIDAY AT 4 P.M.

Louisville will open the quest in the NCAA Tournament on Friday when the face Grand Canyon University at 4 p.m. in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Looking at the Antelopes, they went 522-8 overall, one of the bet records in D1 softball. Shanon Hays is the head coach at GCU, a position he has held since 2022.  He has established them as a top 25 contender...and has taken the Antelopes to the NCAA Tournament in all four years o being head coach there.  

Hays on the school: 

"GCU is a wonderful university and place to work," Hays said. "Tina and I love living here, and we love what GCU stands for. I'm glad I get the opportunity to coach here for the foreseeable future. I also want to thank President Brian Mueller and (Vice President of Athletics) Jamie Boggs for their vision and support of our program. Their leadership is a key component of why our program has had such great success. They both have a vision of wanting to not just compete for championships at the conference level but for national championships, and that's the kind of place I want to be a part of.

paulie

Cards Softball To Begin NCAA Tournament Against Grand Canyon -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE SOFTBALL HEADED TO LINCOLN REGIONAL 

Maybe not the best start one could hope for, but the Cards are in the NCAA Softball Tournament and will get their start against Grand Canyon University. And, some of you are saying...who? 

Grand Canyon University Softball had quite the season...going 52-8 overall and defeating Nevada to win the Mountain West Softball Tournament. They came from the WAC last year and GCU is located in Phoenix, Arizona. They are a private Christian university...

Being in the Lincoln Regional means that the winner of UofL vs GCU is going to have to face the winner of Nebraska vs, South Dakota St. Nebraska is the #4 seed overall in this year's tournament. The GCU squad is nicknamed the Antelopes. 

GCU won their first 25 games of the 2026 season, finally falling to Oklahoma St. Other losses have come to Arizona, Nevada (twice), Arizona St., San Diego St.and UNLV, 

“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Louisville coach Holly Aprile said. “We’re just going to go attack it like we have throughout the whole season here. We’re going to try to run. We’re going to try to hit the ball hard. We’re just going to play hard overall.”

Friday 4 p.m. (EST) is the scheduled start time and the contest will be shown on ESPNU. 

We'll have more on this as the tournament draws closer. 

paulie

Six Ex-Cards in WNBA on Opening Night/Day -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 HINES-ALLEN LEADS THE CARDS IN 2026 WNBA

Yes, she's still around. Myisha Hines-Allen is a proven WNBA veteran and Louisville fans can get the chance to see her a lot closer now, with her move to the Indiana Fever from the Dallas Wings. 

Here's what she said about the transition:

"I'm excited to join the Fever. Playing for a contending team was a priority for me in free agency. The Fever check off all the boxes in what I was looking for, so I'm eager to play with these elite women...and to get the best fans in the league cheering for me...as well. Hines-Allen is one of only two forwards on the Fever roster..along with Monique Billings. 

They call her the "mother-hen" of this Fever group of younger players. She should be a great addition for them. 

Emily Engster wasn't a Louisville Cardinal very long, but she showed the grit to make it to the next level and ha recently moved across the nation in her WNBA career. she was a Washington Mystic last season and is now on the expansion Portland Fire. On a roster with six rookies and four second year players..."Double E's" has become a vocal leader for Portland. 

Dana Evans has gone from the Chicago Sky to the Las Vegas Aces...but is sidelined with a leg injury. She is in rehab after having an operation on her knee. evans signed with the Aces...a thing that surprised  lot of us who have followed her, since she seemed to be happy in Chicago and near her home town of Gary, Indiana. 

Sydney Taylor is a rookie in the league and will be on the Chicago Sky roster this season. Taylor, of course, was at Massachusetts before becoming a Card and attributed a lot of the skills that got her to the WNBA as a walk on to what the Cardinals coaches taught her in the time was at UofL as a walk on. 

Laura Ziegler is another example of a mid-major star that came to the Ville to increase her WNBA chances. Leaving St. Joseph's..she turned into a dynamo for Jeff Walz's squad at the Ville and her European experience will no doubt have her ready for the powerhouses in the WNBA. She's on the Sparks developmental roster, I doubt she's there long before they bring her up to the Sparks. 

We'll toss Hailey Van Lith in the group, even though she was a college vagabond ,with stops at the ville, LSU and TCU. She never realized how well she had it at Louisville and I hope she can stick with the Connecticut Sun...after the Chicago Sky dumped her just seven days ago. 

I'll be keeping an eye on these six and wish them the best of luck in the league...even Van Lith, who broke a lot of hearts when she left Louisville but was always nice to me when I chatted with her and interviewed her. 

paulie

Softball Awaits Fate in NCAA -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Sorry for the late post today! I'm on vacation and the day of the week got away from me a bit. All of our Louisville women's sports teams are idle at the moment, so let's take a quick look at the ACC Championship. 

Louisville fell to Stanford in the quarterfinals Thursday and will wait to hear their name called on Monday morning. The Cards were ranked 24th in the ESPN / USA Softball poll entering the week and 30th in the RPI as of the end of yesterday. A win over the Cardinal would have been great, but taking the Palo Alto squad to extra innings was a nice consolation. Louisville should see themselves with a 2-seed in a regional when the names are drawn at 10am on Monday. 

In continued action in the ACC Championship, it was a day of shutouts in the semifinals. Top-seeded Florida State thumped Stanford 9-0 in the first game, and they'll go for their 20th ACC title this afternoon. In the second game, Virginia Tech pulled a minor upset over Duke, beating the Blue Devils 5-0. That was a small retribution for earlier in the year, when the Hokies were beaten in 2/3 in Durham. VT won that series in runs 18-14, but only due to a lopsided victory in the final game. 

Today's game will be the first meeting of Virginia Tech and Florida State this season. The two teams have played 59 games all time, starting in 2005. FSU leads the series 38-21, and the two teams have split the six games they've played outside of conference competition. Surprisingly, Virginia Tech leads the series at neutral sites 5-4. It would be a coup for them to pull an upset today. The championship game is at 2:30 ET on Saturday. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Cards fall to Stanford 6-5 in ACC ChampIonships -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 STANFORD GETS WALK OFF WIN IN BOTTOM OF EIGHTH

Louisville had a chance to advance in the ACC Championships..but that old nemesis...B.L.O.B. came back to haunt them. BLOB? BaseRunners left on base. 

Fighting back from an early 4-2 deficit, Holly Aprile used three different pitchers but could not completely silence the Cardinal (or Trees) bats. It was Home Run Derby for awhile for UofL...Bri Despines had two four baggers for the Cards and Madison Pickens added one as well...but the most crippling event was Louisville loading the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh after tying it at 5-5 and being unable to push anymore runs across the plate. After not scoring in the top of the eighth, the Cards took to the field, but Stanford loaded the bases and got the win on a sacrifice fly to advance to play the Noles.

So, it's tear off the rear view mirror and drive on. It is Stanford who will play today against #1 seed FSU in the ACC Championships. 

Louisville will have to wait and see if they get a bid in the NCAA Softball Tournament when the teams are named on Sunday, May 10th on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. You have to like the Cards chances..but the NCAA can be very unkind sometimes to teams that don't reach the semifinals of their conference tournaments. Unless you are in the SEC. 

44-12 seems to be a record that would get a team in the NCAA Tournament for postseason play .We'll see how it shakes out for Louisville. It's going to be a long trip back from Charlottesville for the Cards...

paulie

Cards Softball rallies to down NCSU 6-5 in ACC Tournament opener -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS PUT UP FIVE RUNS IN FINAL THREE INNINGS TO ELIMINATE NORTH CAROLINA ST. IN ACC TOURNAMENT.

They've been doing it all season long and did it once again Wednesday in their opening contest of the ACC Softball Tournament in Charlottesville, VA. To borrow an old UK monicker...maybe these are the "Comeback Cards". 

Louisville softball found themselves trailing 5-1 going into the home half of the fifth inning against #12 seed NCSU. Wednesday afternoon in Charlottesville at the ACC Softball Tournament. The Wolfpack had put up four runs on UofL in the top of the fifth and a bit of consternation was beginning to develop in Cardinals fans. One thing that I was hoping would transpire, though...was the Cards penchant to rally from behind to win games. And UofL did not disappoint. Alyssa Zabala and Brooke Gray, usually the Cards top two hurlers, had been touched by the Wolfpack hitters and the Cards bats were still sleeping. 

In the bottom of the fifth the Cards got a single from Easton Lotus and a walk to Bri Despines to open the inning. Camryn Lookadoo produced a single to score Lotus and Madison Pickens singled to get Despines and Lookadoo to the plate and...suddenly...it was only 5-4 NCSU. 

After a scoreless sixth for both teams, Gray kept NCSU away from crossing home plate in the top of the seventh. Louisville came to the plate three outs away from elimination..

It did not happen. With one out, Despines doubled  and moved to third on a wild pitch. Lookadoo singled Bri home to tie it up and Pickens launched one into the left field corner to score Lookadoo and give UofL the walk-off win 6-5. 

Holly Aprile's birds advance to Thursday play to face #4 seed Stanford today at 1:30 p.m.

In earlier play Wednesday, Georgia Tech bombed Notre Dame 13-3, After the Cards win, North Carolina eliminated Clemson and Virginia downed Pitt. 

 

ACC Championship Begins Today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS FACE WOLFPACK IN SECOND GAME OF THE DAY

Of all the silly phrases and non-sequiturs I use here on the site, one that I don't think I've thrown out there yet is..."absence makes the heart grow fonder"  I bring it up because it probably does NOT apply to softball tomorrow.  Louisville Softball just might be tired of seeing the NCSU Softball squad. The Cards are probably not missing NCSU one bit, after ending the regular season against them, maybe still a little mad they lost the middle game of that series to them...because that prevented them from grabbing fourth place in the conference and a first round bye. 

After Notre Dame (the #6 seed) and #11th seed Georgia Tech battle out the Wednesday morning contest, starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday...the Cards and Ms.Wuf's team take to Palmer Park to see who will advance to play #4 seed Stanford on Thursday. They list 1:30 p.m. as the time for Cards and Wolfpack, we all know how time frames are just an estimation when tournament time rolls around. 

Louisville has already had a season to remember...a vast improvement over their 26-25 slate from 2025. They've got possibly the most speed on the base paths of any team in the ACC this season, and their 46 steals are tops in the conference. Without any one noted power hitter in the lineup, these Cards could go by the adage..."Sun's out, runs out" because of their proclivity to get around the bases. The opposing catcher better be ready to be throwin' because you know the Cards will be going.

It's interesting to point out that if the Cards move to Thursday, they'll face a Cardinal team that they won the series against back in late Feb-early March 2-1.hope was off the charts for this Cardinals squad. After that series, the Cards were 13-3.

 Yes, we have that Cardinals vs Cardinal potential again, or as a friend is fond of saying..."Birds vs Trees" .

We'll have the results here for you and you can catch all the action on ACCNX. 

paulie

ACC Softball Tournament Field Set -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Just Miss Bye in ACC Tourney

Louisville's loss at NC State on Saturday was a big one, as they ultimately finished in a three-way tie with Virginia Tech and Stanford, which saw them come out on the wrong end of the deal. The Cards dropped to fifth in the conference, narrowly missing the bye awarded to the top four teams. As a result, Louisville will get a fourth straight game against the Wolfpack tomorrow afternoon. 

Florida State leads the field, which is made up of the top-12 teams in the league. NC State could have done Louisville a solid and taken a dive over the weekend, as they made it in over Cal by two games, meaning they still would have been in with a loss on Saturday. Nevertheless, the Cards line up as the five seed across from the 12-seed Wolfpack. Duke was the second team in the league, finishing one game behind FSU at 20-4. VT took third and Stanford was fourth to round out the byes. The winner of Louisville/NC State will face Stanford in the second round. 

FSU will take on the winner of the 8/9 game, which pits Notre Dame against Georgia Tech. That will be the first game of the tournament, which has first pitch at 11am on Wednesday. All of the tournament games will be on ACC Network, with the championship airing on ESPN on Saturday. The Cards will play game two on Wednesday at 1:30PM. 

Following the afternoon break, 7-seed Clemson takes on 10-seed UNC at 5PM. Clemson was the last team in the league to finish above .500 at 13-11. The last game of the day will be Virginia (13-10) taking on Pittsburgh. 

In the single elimination format, anything can happen. All of the lower ranked teams will be looking to extend their season as much as possible, potentially even stealing a bid to the NCAA tournament. Louisville and it's compatriots will be looking to protect or improve their seeding in the tournament. Louisville would likely need to win the ACC to host a regional, but stranger things have happened. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Despines big blast helps Cards down WolfPack 8-3 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 THREE RUN BLAST IN SIXTH INNING HELPS CARDS SECURE REGULAR SEASON ENDING WIN

Nothing like ending the regular seaso with a win. And a road win,as well. 

Pretty Bri...

After defeating NC State 8-3 Sunday...looks like these two will face again,  in the first round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday in Durham. Case will have a more detailed breakdown of the tournament in his Tuesday article..for now...just know their re-match will be the fifth and twelfth place elimination game. Louisville was one of three teams, at 18-6 and tid for third, but was placed fifth due to a formula only Einstein could probably decipher. 

 

The Cards took control of the ballgame in the top of the third inning with a five run explosion. That came after the squads were scoreless in the first two innings. Chelsea Mack, Easton Lotus and Bri Despnes loaded the bases with no outs and Carmyn Lookadoo doubled to bring home Mack and Lotus. Madison Pickens got on with a walk and Taylor Monroe walked, forcing in a third run. Jordan Williams singled home Lookadoo and Pickens scored from third on a throw out of Williams trying to steal second.  It was 5-0 Cards and that turned out to be all the Cards would need for the win, of course...not knowing that at the time. 

The Pack would counter with a run in the bottom of the inning, but Cards hurler Alyssa Zabala (who I have nicknamed "Smiley") was in control in the circle and went four innings...picking up her 14th win of the season...allowing just one run. 

The Cards posted their three runs in the top of the sixth inning .  Mack reached on an error and Lotus singled. They came home on Despines second home run of the series. 

NCSU would pick up two more runs, off Brooke Gray but never got any closer that the 5-3 score at the end of five innings. They ended up with six hits on the afternoon and Louisville got 10 hits to go with their eight runs. 

paulie

Softball falls to NC State 10-6 Saturday -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 WOLFPACK JUMPS ON BIRDS EARLY

Brooke Gray has been a very good pitcher for UofL Softball this season. Yesterday's game, though, probably won't be one she'll go back to fondly in her memory banks. The NC State diamond dwellers (27-24, 7-15) jumped on Gray and the Cards for seven runs in the first two innings and held on to take a 10-6 win over Louisville (42-11, 17-6) to even up the series at one game each. 

NCST (or NCSU...since the school  really hates seeing NCST used...they say they are North Carolina State University...so they say use NCSU since that is the appropriate shortening of the name. An old-timer like me has called them NCST since the days of Deb Antonelli prowling the hardwood and Jim Valvano winning the NCAA Championship...so , old habits are hard to break. Hank Williams, Jr sang about old habits in his 1980 smash hit..Old Habits. You can hear it below:

Old Habits 

The song has a lot of personal meaning to me, since it came around at a time I was going through a break up with what was probably the first true love of my life. Anyway..I digress, let's get back to the game..if we have to...

Louisville remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning. They sandwiched a few singles around a Camry Lookadoo four bagger to make it 7-4.  Taylor Monroe homered in the inning as well

The Pack (I like that nickname for them) would see the Cards add two runs to their total in the top of the sixth...when two on base scored on an NCSU wild pitch. That made it 7-6 and the Cards were rallying...but the Raleigh school effectively shut the door when they got a three run homer out of Kendall Simmons in the bottom of the sixth to deep left to make it 10-6. And, that concluded the scoring. 

They'll finish the series today at 1 p.m.  ACCNX will show the event. 

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

So...how did your Derby Day turn out? I watched our local coverage here in Louisville and the network hoopla while also betting on twinspires.com. WAVE gets better each year with their production, but the network is losing Donna Barton Brothers after this year and that is a shame. She rode, she knows the jockeys, trainers, owners and the in's and out's of Churchill Downs...as well as many other tracks. I remember her from when she was riding 30-1 long shot up at the old Latonia (now Turfway) Race Track. Gonna be a tough act to replace. On the betting angles, yeah, I know...RunHappy ran happy for about a mile and then folded like a cheap suit. Glad Jose Ortiz finally got a Derby win...beating his brother Irad...when he brought Golden Tempo from last to first with a furious stretch drive, passing Renegade and winning the Run For The Roses. Nice to see Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi doing the National Anthem, too. I first got turned on to Trucks (the son of Allman Brothers legend Butch Trucks)  when he was playing with Warren Haynes...two great guitarists. 

23-1 odds. Woulda been nice...should have handicapped twice, right? Still , I cleaned up on the early card and final two races to end up about $150 ahead on the day. That'll come in handy to lose on the Preakness and Belmont...A year where I stayed away from Derby parties, Churchill Downs or any off-track betting and played the races through TwinSpires.com. It was relaxing and think it'll be the way to go from now on. 

paulie