Softball to Bama, Swimming winning

FRIDAY at CARDINAL COUPLE.

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-Softball Cards travel to 'Bama Bash.

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-Swimming leads BIG EAST Championships.

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-Track signs four.

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-Uh Oh...here comes the road.

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-PANERA Contest.

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The University of Louisville womens' softball team spends the next three days in historic Tuscaloosa, Alabama participating in their second tournament of the season. They'll kick off the activities against a BIG EAST foe...Syracuse....today at 1 p.m. The 'Cuse knocked off Louisville in the finals of the BIG EAST tournament last May in Louisville's Ulmer Stadium 2-1. Ace pitcher Jenna Caina returns for them. The Orange (4-0) have gotten off to an excellent start to the season, winning the Georgia State Tournament last weekend. The bats are working well for the Orange...they outscored opponents Tenn. Tech, Morehead State and Georgia State 33-3 in the four games.

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Louisville will face Alabama in the second game Friday. The Crimson Tide (5-0) is off to a great start also...winning the Easton All-Alabama Classic last weekend...running up 47 runs against Samford, Alabama A&M, Jacksonville State, South Alabama and Troy. The two teams will meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. and Louisville will have Saturday and Sunday games against Texas-San Antonio while there.

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Sandy Pearsall prefers to think that this matchup against Syracuse isn't a revenge or payback game for Louisville...she looks at the season ending series with the Orange as payback time...but we're guessing the returning Cards from last season wouldn't mind having a good outing against the tricky hurler Jenna Caina...

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The Cards (3-2) will most likely use the pitching trio of Tori Collins, Carlisa Connell and Chelsea Leonard again this weekend. Collins had a one-hitter last weekend against Tulsa. Louisville has gotten productive offense power from Alicja Wolny, Jordan Trimble, Jennifer Esteban and Colby Wherry this season and the dangerous Chelsea Bemis, 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year, is always a threat.

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Day two of the BIG EAST Swimming Championships concluded yesterday with both the Louisville men's and women's squads in first place. Both squads are trailed by Notre Dame in second. For the ladies, a win in the 200 free relay capped off the evening. Aileen Cole, Nicole Landisch, Lacey Bobo and Grite Apanaviciute edged out the Irish in a time of 1:31.44.

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Cole took second in the 50 free. She was followed by Landisch in third, Apanaviciute in fifth and Bobo and Krissie Brandenburg tying for sixth.

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Lindsey LaPorte finished sixth in the 500 free for the Cards and Breann McDowell eighth.

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The Cards got another win when Sarah Andrews took the 200 IM. Stephanie Juncker finished fifth.

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Action continues today at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.

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Ron Mann, Louisville track and field coach, announced the signing of three athletes to the women's track and field team for 2011. Rachel Serafin is a shot put and discus champion from Pennsylvania and will add to the already strong group of 'throwing girls' on campus. Megan Klein comes in from Lexington and is an accomplished distance runner at Paul Dunbar High School. The Cards also picked up Hannah Cox, who holds the school records at her high school (Christian Academy, Knoxville, TN.) in the long jump, triple jump, pentathlon and 4X200 relays. She also pole vaults. Mann promises many more good recruits are on the way and will be adding Cardinals all the way up thru mid summer.

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Jeff Walz's Lady Cards return to action Saturday...on the road in Tampa to face the South Florida Bulls. Despite just one win in BIG EAST play, the Bulls are a dangerous opponent. OK...enough of the obligatory, complimentary nonsense. The Bulls are horrible. Besides sisters Andrell and Andrea Smith and the occasional sighting of Porsche Grant...they're not a great or talented team. St. John's blasted them by 20 in the latest game down in the Sun Dome. Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame and WVW have 25+ point wins over them. They did manage to beat visiting Seton Hall by four in front of 521 people back in late January and early in the season scored victories over Wake Forest and Auburn...but they're a bottom feeder in the BIG EAST and will most likely view their game Feb. 26th. at Villanova as the only chance left to stay out of the BIG EAST cellar.

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A four point loss to Pittsburgh on the road and falling by six to Marquette shows that they'll give opponents a tussle at times...but Cincinnati beat them and so did Providence. USF is last in the BIG EAST in scoring defense, field goal defense percentage and 13th in scoring margin, They trail the rest of the conference in three point field goal percentage and are 15th in rebounding defense. If Shoni Schimmel, Monique Reid and Becky Burke have shed the demons that invaded their bodies in Syracuse that caused them to be incapable of hitting a cow in a pickup truck...the Cards should be OK in sunny South Florida.

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It is the road, however...and the mere mention of walking into an opposing gym for basketball strikes fear into the hearts of most of the Cardinal faithful. When it's away jersey time, the Cards are 2-4 on the year...with wins at Villanova and Cincinnati...which isn't saying much. This one is a "gotta have it" scenario for Walz's bunch if they are going to reach the magical 9 wins in the BIG EAST...

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WE'RE going to take the high road, though...and predict that Louisville will regain the shooting touch, play inspired defense, learn how to block out and go for loose balls and pull out the win Saturday. May not be by 25+...but any "W" is a good "W" when you play in the best conference in college basketball. Maybe another one on the Monique Reid 'payback' list...USF came into Freedom Hall and gored the Cards 63-60 last year.

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WE draw for another PANERA Card tomorrow. Entries have been good this week, but since it is a random draw, why not get your entry in and see if you get lucky. A recent chat with Panera managing partner Archie Karel revealed that PANERA is about to invade the Highlands with a new location. WE approve and wait patiently for the day that they expand to friendly Fern Creek or Jeffersontown.

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