Softball Hosts Bellarmine -- Lax Climbs Rankings -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Softball Welcomes Bellarmine to Ulmer

Louisville and Bellarmine are no strangers when it comes to softball. The two foes have scrimmaged each other several times, especially in the Sandy Pearsall days. This time will be different as both teams will meet for their first official time as D1 rivals.

The Cards are fresh off a 3-1 weekend performance in the Cardinal Classic and will have had 48 hours to rest and prepare. Louisville sits at 6-7 early in the season and looks to get back up to .500.

Taylor Roby has been a do-it-all player so far. She leads the team with a .400 batting average and has hit four home runs so far. Her most recent home run landed on the top level of the berm. She has been in the circle longest while facing 129 batters.

Jennifer Leonhardt has taken a lot of pressure off of Roby by facing 77 batters and only giving up a .156 batting average. She has struck out a team-leading 22 batters. She has struck out nearly 30% of the batters she has faced.

Carmyn Greenwood has been solid as a leadoff batter with a .316 average. Over the weekend, the redshirt senior went 7-for-11. Greenwood has crossed the plate seven times already.

Celene Funke has used her speed to continue racing into the record books. The redshirt senior has 20 career triples, good enough for second in school history. The record is 26. Her 63 career steals is third all-time in school history and needs five more to move into a tie for second.

Bellarmine comes into the game with a 4-7 record, according to their website. This will be their first game on the road, even if it is no more than 10 minutes down Eastern Parkway. Their wins include a two-game sweep over Western Michigan and series splits with IUPUI and Dayton. 

The Knights carry a .289 batting average while averaging 3.73 runs per game. They have not been much of a threat with the long ball- just three home runs- but have been successful with base running and knocking runners in. Bellarmine has been successful on all 10 steals.

This game is set to start at 6:00 p.m., on Don Dobina Field at Ulmer Stadium. Attendance inside the stadium remains 20% with no tickets for sale. However, the berm allows for plenty of room to spread out while still having a good view of the game.

Lacrosse Climbs Rankings

Louisville Lacrosse took down Cincinnati 13-5 last week before falling to #8 Virginia 13-12 on the road just a few days ago. Still, the performances were enough to impress those who control the polls.

Three different polls have moved the Cards up in their most recent release.

-- Inside Lacrosse (IL) moved the Cards from #27 all the way up to #17. US Lacrosse Magazine moved the Cards from #20 up to #18. The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) moved Louisville from #25 up to #19.

Sitting at 2-2, Scott Teeter's squad has turned some heads this year. They are on a short scheduled break before visiting Central Michigan for a Friday afternoon match. The word is that Paulie has plans for an interview with Teeter before they head to visit CMU. We'll run it here when it happens. 

Cardinal Couple Pick Em

Paulie posted the final results in yesterday's article and it came down to the wire. Worldwide Jeff held a small lead up through the final day but NC State beating Louisville by a slim margin allowed David Watson to turn things around.

"Dave-O" gave his victory speech in the comments section yesterday. We are sure he'll be ready to take on a tougher challenge with the NCAA Tournament Pick Em, which is roughly a week and a half away. Pending the NCAA doesn't decide to give the Cards the bird (pun intended) Louisville will be dancing and seem to be borderline 2-or-3-seed.

In case you are going through bracket
withdrawals, here's a fast food Pick 'Em 

The Selection Show will be held on Monday, March 15, at 7:00 p.m., on ESPN. You will then have a few days to get your picks together. Once again, you can share in the comments section or by emailing Paulie (cardinalcouple@twc.com) or myself (eupherjared@gmail.com). We will try to post the picks from emails in the comments to add a level of transparency for those who like to keep their own tally.

Who knows what prizes Paulie will have for those who can win. Personally, I'll take a full-sized country ham or a peanut butter milkshake.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared