A Down Day for Spring Sports -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Women's Tennis Drops First Match of Season

After a hot 9-0 start, the women's tennis team tasted defeat for the first time this season yesterday when they fell 4-2 (with one unfinished) yesterday to Nebraska. Louisville's #2 single, Sena Suswam was tied 4-4 in the third set of her match, but the total team score deficit was insurmountable, so the match was ended on time. The Cards got singles victories from Raven Neely and Nikolina Jovic and a doubles win from Aleksandra Mally and Chloe Hamlin. 

The Cards fall to 9-1 on this season, but still have plenty of time to redeem themselves from last year. Their record was sparkling heading into the meat of conference play at this time last year before it all fell apart. This year's squad looks much more prepared for what is to come and a road loss to Nebraska should not derail their confidence. Louisville will get a quick chance to bounce back when they take on Wichita State today at 3PM in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Softball Drops Two on Friday

Walks and errors will haunt. After the two games last Friday in which Louisville had 0 walks and 0
hit batters, it seemed like they may have turned a corner in pitch control this season. In the five games since, Louisville has racked up 20 walks and five hit batters. Against Northwestern, after two walks and an error led to a first inning deficit, Louisville turned around and led for the rest of the game... Until the 7th inning. Carrying a five run lead into the top of the seventh, the Cards gave up five runs in an inning with three walks, a hit by pitch, and an error. This included a walk to load the bases, a run walked in, and a run scored on the hit batter.

The Cards finished the nine inning game against the Wildcats with three errors, 10 walks, and two hit batters. None of the walks were intentional. Louisville's offense has shown up, for the most part, in their games so far this year, but the defense and pitching are letting them down in key situations. Louisville got RBIs from Celene Funke (1), Megan Hensley (3), and Rebecca Chung (2). There isn't much else to say about a complete meltdown against Northwestern, their second loss to NU in as many weeks.

Against Michigan, the Cards were just outplayed. The Wolverines racked up 10 hits and 6 runs in just 6 innings at the plate (they were the home team). Louisville did have 1 error and 1 walk, but those were not the issue in this game. Michigan simply got on base and punished, taking 5 earned runs off of Danielle Watson in just 2 innings pitched. Michigan's Meghan Beaubien pitched a gem, allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 HBP. She struck out 8 Cardinals (well, 5; there were some repeat offenders). Celene Funke had the only hit. 

The Cards fell to 3-4 yesterday, and will have to face both teams again this weekend. Louisville gets Michigan today at 12:30 and Northwestern tomorrow at 10AM. After that, the Cards will need to bounce back quickly to get their season on track. They will continue to play in the weekend tournaments until the middle of March when series play begins in earnest. There are a lot of games remaining in the season, but there has not been a lot to be confident about so far in the first 7. Louisville needs a strong performance in the two remaining games this weekend, even if they turn out to be losses. As a former player, getting blown out is not particularly inspiring, more like just frustrating. Keep up with the Cards on Twitter to see how they respond to yesterday's games when they take on Michigan today. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Jeff is back from the other side of the world, and we're joined in the studio by Mike Gilpatrick as
Jared and Daryl sit this week out. Join us as we discuss how Louisville softball can turn things around quickly in year one under Aprile, what's next for tennis, talk lacrosse, and preview Louisville basketball against Miami after the long break. Join us on 100.9 WCHQ FM, also available at wchq.com, on the new WCHQ app, or via their YouTube channel for a live stream via the Internet.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-