DANGEROUS TOPPERS TO FACE LOUISVILLE
Western (29-10) will take on the Cards in a 6 p.m. in-state rival match after getting the second no-hitter of the season from superlative pitcher Miranda Kramer over the weekend against Charlotte. If she's in the circle tonight, it could be a long night at the bat for Sandy Pearsall's squad.
Kramer has a 20-7 record and a microscopic 0.80 ERA. That's second best in the nation. She also has 346 strikeouts...which is numero uno in D1 Softball. If she's selected to throw against Louisville...we could have another pitcher's duel on our hands if Maryssa Becker enters the circle for Sandy Pearsall.The Cards' Oregonian sophomore has built a 13-5 record and sports an impressive 2.23 ERA. She also backs up her tosses at the bat...driving in the only run in Louisville's 1-0 win over Boston College over the weekend.
Look for the Cards Kelsi Jones and Jordan McNary to try and wreck Kramer's party. Jones (.392) and "Mac" (.390) lead Louisville in hitting and Jones leads the ACC in doubles (17).
After last night's exciting 2-1 Louisville walk-off win against UK in Jim Patterson Stadium...which was primarily a pitcher's duel...we could be in for a similar treat on the northeast border of the Belknap Campus when "Big Red" brings the Toppers off The Hill to take on Louie's Birds. We'll recap it tomorrow.
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THE BEST IN THE CONTEST
In our April Contest, which was to pick the total number of runs Louisville would score in the final 11 games of April, Joe Hill and Nick O. are battling it out for the win. Tonight's game is the final chance to score. We realize that a few got rained out in the contest...and did think about extending it through the Pittsburgh series this weekend...but decided that the spirit of the event was April-oriented and that it will still finish in April.
Nick O. picked 10 runs and the Cards have scored 16. Joe Hill selected 23. If Louisville can score seven tonight, Joe would win a $25 gift card in addition to the Absolutely Fabulous CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirt. If the Cards get blanked on the scoreboard...Nick O. wins the shirt.Holding down 3rd place is our "steamed columnist" Worldwide Jeff McAdams...who would need the Cards to erupt for 10 runs tonight to hit his guess of 26.
We're going to change it up a bit for the May Contest.
We'd like you to tell us which of the UofL women's sports teams is your favorite and why. Entries should be 100 words or less. It can be a current or past squad. We'll run a few of them as the month goes on and then select our favorite. Judging the entries will be our dutiful operations manager Sonja and yours truly...the Paulster. We are not entering. Neither is Worldwide. We'll be truly objective here and may have a third-party not associated with the site look over our favorite entries and help decide.
There's a $25 Gift Card to a dining establishment in it for you if you win. Our second favorite submission gets
You've got all month to get them in. It's free, of course, and you can put your thoughts into any of the daily comments sections or send them to us via e-mail.cardinalcouple@twc.com
We'll judge based on creativity, content and your heart-felt emotions. Then, we'll slow dance and take a walk down a moon-lit beach while...
OK, you get the idea. Send 'em!!
paulie
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What an exciting win by baseball last night! Hopefully softball can get the bats working against WKU. Maybe they'll rest Kramer for the weekend series they have coming up. She is as hard to hit as anyone in Division I softball.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the chances of Louisville getting an NCAA softball bid this season?
Come on softball, score seven runs tonight!
The Real Joe Hill
Cards are going to need a strong finish. They are #49 in the RPI and not getting any votes in the USA Today or ESPN polls. I'll surmise that if they can get to the Championship Game of the ACC Tournament, they've got a shot as an at-large selection if they don't win...a win gets them an automatic bid.
DeleteA win tonight over WKU would improve the RPI since the Toppers are getting votes in the polls and are higher in the RPI than the Cards. Beating Kramer would be a favorable thing for UofL as well.
Looks like GREAT weather for Softball! C'mon out and hang out tonight! Boat race, shmoat race...come watch the girls of spring at Ulmer!
Paulie