Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Softball Cards sweep in Jacksonville, Lacrosse plays OSU today

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SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Softball downs Stony Brook, Bethune-Cookman

-Lacrosse hosts Ohio State

The University of Louisville softball team swept two Friday in the Jacksonville University Tournament...knocking off Stony Brook 8-0 and beating Bethune-Cookman 8-1. A good day for Cardinal pitching...both Rachel Le Coq and Caralisa Connell picking up complete-game wins. The Cardinal bats had 14 hits in the first game and 11 in the second game, continuing their hot-hitting ways. Louisville had 21 hits last week against Minnesota.

CARDS 8 - Stony Brook 0


An early start (9:45 a.m.) in 55 degree weather for the opening game and it took the Cards an inning to get untracked. In the top of the second, Kayla Soles punched a double  to right and rode home on Hannah Kiyohara's home run blast to left field...her first round-tripper of the year. 2-0. C-A-R-D-S!

Louisville tacked on two more runs in the third. Katie Keller singled up the middle, Alicja Wolny advanced her to second after getting hit by a Allison Cukrov pitch and Taner Fowler doubled to right to score Keller. Soles got her second hit of the game, an infield single, to score Wolny...the Cards were up 4-0.

In the fifth, Fowler drew a walk and advanced to third on a Jordy Trimble double to center. Soles hit a sacrifice fly to score Fowler and Maggie Ruckenbrod drove home Trimble on her double to right. Le Coq had allowed just two hits from the circle and UofL led 6-0 after five at-bats.

Keller added another single in the sixth and scored on a Fowler single to increase the lead to 7-0 Cards.

The Cards pushed another across in the top of seventh when
Kiyohara singled and scored on pinch-hitter Chrisanna Roberts single to right. 8-0 Pearsall's squad for the final.

LeCoq allowed a scant three hits, retiring 13 batters in a row, to go to 3-0 on the season.

Cards 8 - Bethune Cookman 1

Katie Keller carried the big bat with a 4 for 5 plate bonanza in game two for Louisville, including her fifth homer of the year.

After a scoreless first, Louisville drew first blood when Trimble doubled to left and scored on a Ruckenbrod sacrifice fly to right. 1-0 Cards after two innings.

Two Cardinal singles helped get the score to 2-0 in the third. Keller and Wolny hit safely and Keller got home on a Soles fielder's choice.

B.C. cut  UofL lead in half with three singles off Caralisa Connell in the top of the fourth. Louisville had scoring opportunities in the 4th but failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity with one out.

The bottom of the sixth saw UofL bust it wide open. Keller started off the inning with a blast to left and touched them all. After Wolny was hit by a pitch (for the fourth time of the day.....seriously...why you gotta be hatin' on her, pitchers?)  Brittany Sims came in to pinch run...advanced when Fowler and Trimble both got on base with errors and scored on a Soles single. Ruckenbrod also reached first on a Bethune miscue and Fowler ran to the plate to make it 5-1 Cards. Soles scored on a BC fielding error and a Kiyohara ground out got Trimble home, and Roberts produced a single to left...scoring Ruckenbrod to make it a six-run inning and 8-1 UofL lead.

CARDINAL COUPLE'S  2012 most popular Lady Card Student-Athlete  (as voted by our readers) Caralisa "Carl" Connell (3-1) gave up four hits in the win and fanned nine batters.

The 6-1 Cards play two again tomorrow...Ohio State at 11:45 and Jacksonville at 6:30.

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The #13 Ohio State Buckeyes come to the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium to open their season against Kellie Young's squad at 2 p.m. today.

OSU went 11-6 in 2012 and returns eight starters from a squad that defeated UofL 21-7 last year in Columbus.

Tayler Kuzma and Heather Gravinese star on the defense, Tori DeScenza is solid between the pipes for OSU and leading attacker Jackie Cifarelli returns to lead the offense.

For Louisville, a winner 13-3 over Canisius last Sunday, freshman Kay Morissette led the Cardinal offense with four goals. Last year's leading scorer Nikki Boltja had three in the Cardinal triumph. Morissette was later named LAX freshman-of-the-week.

Bundle up if you go...but show up if you can. This is an exciting squad to watch and they attack the goal....Louisville had 32 shots against Canisius while holding the Golden Griffins to just 18. And, it's "Black Out" Day...so dress accordingly. The first 100 through the gate get a lacrosse t-shirt.

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