MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- LeCoq closes door on Tigers
- Syracuse vs. Louisville in WBB tonight
The start was shaky for the #15 Louisville softball team Sunday in the Citrus Classic but the end result successful as the Cards defeat #11 LSU 6-2.
Starter Caralisa Connell was having "one of those afternoons" ...loading the bags with three straight walks in the second inning. A wild pitch made it 2-0 LSU and a fourth base on balls loaded the bases again with two outs.Exit Connell, enter Rachel LeCoq. End LSU threat with a strike out.
Louisville responded in the top of the third against LSU pitcher Rachelle Fico. Katie Keller singled and reached home on a Alicja Wolny double. Maggie Ruckenbrod's base hit plated Wolny and the Cards had tied the game.
UofL took the lead in the fifth inning, Keller scoring after receiving a base on balls and scoring on a Ruckenbrod fielders' choice.
Maggie Ruckenbrod delivered an insurance run in the final inning with a bomber over the left field fence to make it 6-2...her first home run of the season.
LeCoq (7-1) with the clutch relief performance...holding LSU to just three hits and no runs in 5.1 innings. The Cards produced 11 hits total.
"This was a great day for Louisville softball. I thought our team did a tremendous job and really came ready to play. A big key to our win was Rachel LeCoq shutting down LSU. I also thought we had great offense throughout the game." said Sandy Pearsall after the triumph.Jordan Trimble has been sick and did not play. Jasmine Smithson-Willett has been battling a stress fracture but saw limited action. Hoping two of my favorite players on the team can get back to full time participation soon.
Louisville returns to Ulmer Stadium for the Red and Black Classic March 8-10. A good group of opponents coming in to play...Michigan, Miami (OH), Austin Peay and Illinois State.
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Quentin Hillsman isn't a confident man.
" I worry about it every day. I'd be worried if we beat Villanova because we've been on both ends. We're not in that room with that little S-curve thing they talk about...Hopefully we come out Monday and have some legs left after this and win this Louisville game."
(Connecticut, Notre Dame, Louisville, St. John's, Syracuse, South Florida, DePaul and Villanova.)...but a 'Cuse win would guarantee a nicer seeding...since SU has lost their last three games.
Louisville is guaranteed a top four finish and double bye in the BIG EAST Tournament regardless of how they do...they own the tie-breaker over St. John's if they end up at 11-5 in conference each.
The players that the Cards have to worry about? It begins in the paint with Kayla Alexander, the 6'5" do-it-all center. She and forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas had 22 points and 11 rebounds each against 'Nova Saturday.
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| Head Coach Quentin Hillsman will be active on the sidelines tonight. |
Louisville has their work cut out for them. The Cards will need to go toe-to-toe with the aggressive, physical, chip-on-their-shoulder Orange and if Louisville can get the three-ball working (Laura Sweeney from Villanova blasted the 'Cuse from the deep Saturday) the Cards chances for success go up dramatically.
Game time 9 p.m. on the CBSSN network.
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Even tho Cards got a double bye, still want them to beat Syracuse.
ReplyDeleteLarry
Yes! A win over Cuse on the road is huge. Momentum and standing wise. If ranked third, the Cards go into the quarterfinals and if they win, they get the 2nd place conference finisher if they advance. A four seed gets you the top conference finisher, if they advance to the semifinals.
ReplyDeleteWho do you want? UConn on their home court or Notre Dame? Would the fans, mostly UConn fans, cheer for you to beat Notre Dame? A team that handled Louisville easily in South Bend. OR do you want UConn in the semis, in front of their home base?
Can't wait to see the tournament seeding...
Paulie
For me it's all about NCAA seed at this point. Beat Syracuse tonight, win BE quarterfinal and take a shot at either ND or UConn in the semis. That would hopefully be enough to get us a top-16 NCAA seed. Fall below a 4-seed and we have to beat a higher-seeded team in the second round here at the Yum! to make the Sweet 16.
ReplyDeleteTwo points--first, gotta get past the quarterfinal opponent in the Big East tourney to get to UConn or ND, second, there is hardly any difference between 4 and 5 seeds, as they play each other in the second game of the NCAA's, and very little difference between 2 and 3 seeds, they play each other in the sweet sixteen. Best thing the Cards can do is win as many as they can.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the 4-5 matchup but I'd still rather be the #4. ESPN's latest Bracketology has us as a #5, with Georgia the #4, in the Spokane Regional with Stanford as the #1. Given a choice of potentially facing a #1 in the Sweet 16 I'll take my chances with Stanford over Baylor, for sure. (I believe that if we are a 4/5 seed the NCAA would have to put us in a region not headed by UConn or ND because of conference affiliation. Am I correct?)
DeleteIs a 3/2 possible?
ReplyDeleteWe lost this game because Jeff had our team jack up 32 3. He blamed our players toughness and inability to embrace contact. I do agree that we will be lucky to win a game in the BE tourney and NCAA. No consistent players on our team. We are in deep troble if we have to play a good defensive team in the tourney. Trap, press and make us shoot outside shots and you will win 99% of the time.
ReplyDelete