Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Softball splits in battle of the Birds -- Tuesday Cardinal Couple



CARDS WIN FIRST, DROP SECOND IN EXTRA INNINGS TO ILLINOIS STATE
ALISON SZYDLOWSKI
It was a battle of the Birds Monday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium and the Louisville Cardinals flew high in the first game...gaining a 10-2, five inning win over the Illinois State Redbirds...but falling back to ground with a 4-3, eight inning loss in the second game. 

 CARDS 10 - REDBIRDS 2

 Illinois State took an early first inning lead on Louisville 1-0 but Whitney Arion produced a two-RBI single in the bottom of the first to give the Cards a 2-1 lead. 

 After the Redbirds tied it in the top of the second, Cardinal Couple favorite Kayla Soles sent one over the fence with the bags full of Cardinals to make it 6-2 UofL. 

 Louisville added to the lead in the 3rd inning...one of Worldwide's "Sid team" members...Alison Szydlowski reached on Ill. State error and two Cardinal scored on the play to set the scoreboard at 8-2.

 "Szy" would strike again in the 5th inning...her two-RBI double bringing home the game-ending runs for a 10-2 Cardinal triumph. Maryssa Becker drew the start in the circle and allowed just three hits in the five innings of hurling...

 ILLINOIS STATE 4 - LOUISVILLE 3

 The teams were tied 1-1 early after "Szy" knocked home a single, but the Cards found themselves down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

 Another "Sid"...Sidney Melton tied the contest with an RBI single, though, to force the extra inning.

The Redbirds got two runs on Shelby McCombs in the top of the eighth...the Cards battled back with a Brittany Sims single scoring one and putting runners on 1st and 3rd. Louisville could not get the tying run across the plate, however, and McCombs (3-1) takes the loss.

 Next up, Louisville will travel to Oxford, OH to face Miami
for a 6:00 p.m. game. Louisville returns home for the weekend to host Virginia in an ACC Conference match up.
First pitch for that three-game series is at noon Saturday. 

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We are pleased to announce we will be featuring the CARDINAL COUPLE PICK'EM CHALLENGE again this year for the NCAA Women' Basketball Tournament. We'll have a $25 gift card for the winner and an absolutely fabulous Cardinal Couple T-Shirt for second place. 

 Your objective is to pick as many winners as you can in the 63 games that will be played. You get (1) point for each winner. In case of a tie, the first tiebreaker will be if one of the entries had the national champion picked correctly. If there are more than one with that selection, we'll look at who had the most teams successfully selected for the Final Four. 
If a tie still exists, we'll go back to the Great Eight and check that for most teams correctly picked. If a tie still remains, we'll shred each and every entry and have Bill the Goat pick a winner by just randomly showing up at someone's house wearing a Cardinal Couple T-Shirt and a $25 Gift Certificate tied to one of his horns...

 Entries can be left in the comments sections of articles after selection Monday or e-mailed to cardinalcouple@twc.com

 Here's a popular format people use to enter...selecting the winners for each round. (No, this isn't an official entry):

 ROUND 1

 DRAKE, WICHITA STATE, CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, MONTANA, TCU, HOUSTON, CONNECTICUT, FORDHAM, IDAHO, PRINCETON, LOUISVILLE, SOUTH ALABAMA, KENTUCKY, PURDUE, SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTH FLORIDA, MIAMI, DREXEL, HARTFORD, CAL-STATE BAKERSFIELD, IOWA, NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA, DAVIDSON, NOTRE DAME, DEPAUL, VILLANOVA, YALE

 ROUND 2

 WICHITA STATE, CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, TCU, CONNECTICUT, IDAHO, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, SOUTH CAROLINA, MIAMI, HARTFORD, IOWA, VIRGINIA, NOTRE DAME, YALE

 ROUND 3 

 CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON, CONNECTICUT, LOUISVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, MIAMI, VIRGINIA, NOTRE DAME

 ROUND 4

  WASHINGTON, LOUISVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA
or
ROUND 5

 LOUISVILLE, VIRGINIA

 WINNER

 LOUISVILLE
Entries open after the Selection Monday show (really, Mr. Obvious?) and will close at the start of the first game. It's free, it's fun and you could win a major award plus gain the respect and nods of recognition from those you have always despised deep down inside in places you never talk about. Where there is no hope or tomorrow, just a grueling day-to-day survival of...

 Jeez, where's that coming from? Have fun! Enter and win! 

 PAULIE
XXXXX




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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/10/2015 10:11 AM

    I'd love to see a Louisville v Virginia final, Paulie. In tampa. But, that has as little chance of happening as a blizzard in Louisville in March.

    Hey, wait a minute!

    :)

    The Real Joe Hill

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cardinal Couple3/10/2015 10:34 AM

      Charlie Creme's bracketology currently has Louisville as a #2 in the West, starting in College Station, TX. He has (8) ACC Schools in, but Virginia is not one of them.

      Paulie

      Delete
  2. Anonymous3/10/2015 12:38 PM

    Noticing on softball that they alternately either put up a bunch of runs or very few. How is the hitting on this team comapred to last year? There looks to be plenty of pitchers but they are all young. Is Becker still the ace of the staff?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cardinal Couple3/10/2015 12:47 PM

      Worldwide has been out to a few game and he'd probably be better with a diagnostic here...but from what I've seen...the Cards have pretty good hitting from Jones, Arion, Soles, Duncan, Becker, Smith, Puhafl, Melton, McNary, Szy, Sid and Sydney. I'm probably forgetting someone here..but that's 11 players and you can only put 10 in a lineup....including a DH.

      Pitching is young and has gone through a few rough sports but Becker is backed up by quality arms...all freshmen

      Delete
    2. JMcA3/10/2015 1:20 PM

      Becker is probably the ace of the staff, but freshman right-hander Shelby McCombs may have the most consistency and quality at the moment. Madi Norman has gotten some time on the stripe, but it seems like she psyches herself out when she gets in the game. By all accounts she's a great pitcher, but in game situations gets a little wild.

      Brittany Duncan is the big slugger that we've talked about before quite a bit...but she's just coming back from a thumb injury, so hasn't gotten up to the plate quite as much as normal. We've had a number of players reach the far side of the fence so far. Kayla Soles, Whitney Arion, Kelsi Jones, Sydney Benz, and Nicole Pufahl have all taken the ball for a ride so far this season. There may be one or two more that I'm forgetting.

      Delete

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