Softball Cards travel to Rutgers

Wednesday brings one of those up and back mid-week road trips for Sandy Pearsall's UofL softball Cards. A doubleheader against Rutgers...then back to Louisville to prepare for a weekend series against always tough Notre Dame.

Rutgers (13-21, 1-4) enters the game after going 1-2 against UConn. They'll be facing a Cardinal squad that is currently on a five game winning streak. #25 ranked UofL romped in state rival UK last Wednesday 6-0...the final non-conference game of the season for the Cards.

Today's doubleheader will give Pearsall a chance to use all three of the Cards pitchers. Kristen Wadwell is the Cards ace hurler, with a record of 13-7, and the senior has struck out 98 batters in 127 innings pitched. The other main pitcher for the Cards is sophomore Tori Collins (8-3) who has recorded 83 swing and misses in 82 innings on the mound. Freshman Chelsea Leonard (4-2) completes the Cardinal pitching staff with 58 KO's in 39 innings of work. Collins looked very sharp after a rough first inning against UK and both Collins and Leonard are averaging over 1 strikeout per inning.

Melissa Roth leads a potent Cardinal offense that has outscored the opposition 193-141. Roth leads the team in batting average, slugging average, on base percentage, hits, home runs and triples. The Cards (25-12, 4-2) have five players with batting averages over .300 and five players with slugging percentages over .400.

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The ballpark is going to the dogs. At least it will on Saturday when Cardinal fans are invited to bring their canines to Cardinal Park for a free doggie bag and watch the Cards doubleheader against the Irish and the UofL lacrosse match against Jacksonville.

No word yet on whether the dogs will be able to run the bases after the game.

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Our buddies Shannon over at Cardinal Dominance and Charlie at UofL Card Game accompanied other members of the media on a walk thru of the renovated Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Tuesday. Leading the trip was UofL athletic director Tom Jurich. Great recaps and photos are featured on their sites. PJCS will hold over 57,000 when completed later this summer. You can access their web sites over on the left side of this page.

Hard to believe, but the UofL Spring Football game is this Friday. Admission is free and the gridiron action begins at 7 p.m. First year coach Charlie Strong has the guys out there hitting and hustling with a renewed purpose according to the reports I'm getting and I invite you to join Sonja and I out for a great evening of fun and Cardinal football action. Strong will be holding a seminar for women interested in learning more about football later this summer.

No need to worry, ladies...you won't need to put on the pads and do windsprints. I've heard Strong speak on several occasions and found him to be an informative, knowledgable and entertaining speaker. He also knows how to motivate his football players. Who was that other guy here before him?

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Another sign that I'm getting older:

Tony Dow, who played Wally in the sitcom "Leave It To Beaver" has turned 65. No word on whether he and Eddie Haskell are planning a party at the Cleaver household. If they do, someone better keep Lumpy away from the sandwiches and chips. Wonder why no one has attemped to make a 21st. century series remake of the popular sitcom? I still remember falling for the urban legend that Eddie Haskell moved on to be Alice Cooper after the series ended. (Jeez, Paul..you little dope!)

Written by Paul (One day left to get your taxes in the mail, folks.)
4/14/10