Softball travels to BC -- KY Oaks Day -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Derby/Oaks weekend Louisville, KY!

Glad to see the festivities back on the first weekend in May. Normalcy. Be safe, wear your sunscreen and stay away from strangers if you're heading over to Churchill this weekend... wait.. do that anywhere you go, every weekend! Those are general pieces of life advice!

There are a couple picks I've got my eye on.. I like one of the favorite's Travel Column & Coach for the long shot. 

Post time: 5:51 p.m. Friday at Churchill Downs. Purse: $1.25 million. Grade: 1. Distance: 1 1/8 miles. TV: NBC Sports Network.



Who do you got winning the Lillies?  Let us know in the comments. And you can see Paulie's Picks for the Oaks, and the Derby tomorrow by going to his horse racing site:  PAULIE PICKS

Fun fact, my boyfriend is the person who ordered the Lillies/Roses for the winners circle.  He is in floral wholesale and imported the roses from Columbia & the lillies came from California.  He sells them to Kroger every year for the events. 

SOFTBALL

Louisville (17-23-1, 11-17-1 ACC) is eighth in the current ACC standings while Boston College (11-27, 6-19) is 13th.  The Cards are coming off of a stretch of nine straight games played against top-25 opponents after a four-game series against then-No. 21 Duke, a midweek game at No. 14 Kentucky, followed by last weekend's four-game set against No. 7 Florida State. In that stretch, the Cardinals went 2-6-1 with three games going into extra innings and three games decided by one run. And an 11-inning 0-0 tie against the Seminoles.

Louisville leads the series 8-4. Carmyn Greenwood leads the team and the ACC and stands eighth in the nation with 59 hits.  Taylor Roby has a team-high 12 home runs and 36 RBI standing tied for second in the ACC in home runs and fourth in RBI. She has also produced a team-best 10 multi-RBI games.

Roby (10-9) leads the team with a 2.54 ERA in 30 appearances and 129.1 innings of work.  Its evident that this team is at its best when Roby starts in the circle for the Cards. 

For the Eagles, junior catcher Gianna Boccagno has one of the strongest arms behind the plate in the country. The Florida native leads the ACC with 15 runners caught stealing in 2021.  In all, opponents are just 22-of-37 in stolen base attempts against Boccagno this season.  BC leads the ACC with 17 runners caught stealing.

ACC Team Leaders Caught Stealing

1. Boston College 17

2. Pitt 13

    L'ville 13

Its Senior Weekend for the Eagles. Junior pitcher Susannah Anderson is among the ACC leaders in several categories this season. The ace of the BC pitching staff, Anderson is 7-15 with a 2.40 ERA in 25 appearances in 2021, good enough for 13th in the ACC.

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

We've decided to take the weekend off from podcasting with it being a slow weekend on news/games and or teams on the road.  Plus, with the festivities, its a good opportunity to spend time with our people.  We hope you get to spend time with yours too.  

Go Cards

~Daryl 

Lax Falls to UNC -- Golf Hosts Regional -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 Lacrosse Bows to North Carolina

North Carolina has not lost since May 24, 2019. The Tar Heels are the clear and obvious choice as the favorite to be taking home the hardware at the end of May 2021. Along the way, North Carolina wants to take home another ACC title and no one is going to stand in their way.

Unfortunately for Louisville, the Cards were the first off the chopping block with a first round match-up with North Carolina. Louisville fell to the #1-seed 19-6.

UNC scored less than 90 seconds into the game, but Louisville had an answer roughly a minute later as Caroline Blalock found the back of the net. Over a span of the next 10 minutes, North Carolina went on a 6-0 run to take a big lead.

The Ally's took turns trading goals as Ally Hall had an unassisted goal at the 15:54 mark to end the run. UNC's Ally Mastroianni responded with a goal over her own shortly after. Louisville's Ally Hall did find the back of the net one more time before halftime for her 100th career goal.

North Carolina would go on to score after Hall's second goal of the match before Louisville put two shots back-to-back inside the net. Nicole Perroni would score unassisted while Hannah Morris would feed a pass from Blalock two and a half minutes later to score and get the Cards within 9-5. The Tar Heels would close out the half scoring the final two goals for an 11-5 lead at the break.

Things turned sour in the second half. UNC scored eight straight over the span of 23 minutes. The 19-5 lead was more than enough to trigger a running clock.

Caroline Blalock did score the final goal of the match with just 21 seconds remaining to bring the score to 19-6.

For the Cards, they drop to 5-11 on the year but remain in the Top 25 for now. They will now be at the mercy of the selection committee to deem them worthy of making the tournament this year. Louisville faced 12 ranked opponents on the season and had one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Rachel Florek had a notable performance in goal. Despite the onslaught she faced from the UNC offense, the senior keeper recorded 13 saves to go with a .406 save percentage for 54 minutes of play.

Hall, who reached the century mark in goals, is just the 11th Cardinal to do so.

Paulie caught up with Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter after the match and you can hear his remarks below: 

LINK :  SCOTT TEETER POST UNC GAME

Golf to Host an NCAA Regional

On the lighter side of news, Louisville women's golf will make history as they host their first ever NCAA Regional. 

For the seventh straight season and 13th time in program history, Louisville golf will be competing in the postseason. They are one of 18 teams that will be in the Louisville Regional, which will be played at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville, KY.

The Cards have some tough competition in town for it featuring six ranked teams: #1 South Carolina, #8 Auburn, #9 Florida State, #16 Arkansas, #18 Texas, and #21 Texas Tech.

The top six teams as well as the top three individuals not from one of those six teams will qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Louisville Regional will be held May 10-12.

Derby Festivities

www.kentuckyderby.com

Typically, today we would see the Pegasus Parade marching down Broadway as well as many Louisvillians participating in Thurby at Churchill Downs. With COVID-19, things are still altered, but fans are allowed at Churchill Downs. The parade did not happen like it has in past years, but the City of Louisville did take Pegasus around town a couple different days for people to watch from home and cars. At the track, a 50% capacity is the mandate, and if you go, take a poncho -- it's gonna rain on you. 

We are quickly approaching Oaks and Derby (and Paulie still hasn't given us good picks for the two events *cough cough* all eyes on you Paulie). Many folks have some wonderful Derby traditions. I've had my fair share of going to different Derby parties as well as the opportunity to perform "My Old Kentucky Home" with the UofL Marching Band three times.

You can follow Paulie Picks daily this week to see how he's doing each day with the picks and the results at Churchill. He does well, as a rule, with what he gives you -- and it doesn't cost you a penny to look at his selections !! 

LINK:  PAULIE PICKS

There was no live performance of it last year, but UofL invited current members and alumni as well as other colleges and universities in Kentucky to perform and was featured May 2020. You can enjoy that video below.

Do you have any Derby traditions? We'd love for you to share those!

Happy Thursday, Happy Derby season, and Go Cards!

Jared 

Lax vs. UNC in ACC Tourney Today -- Justine Sowry Presser -- Balogun to Duke -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOUISVILLE LACROSSE TO FACE UNC IN FIRST ROUND ACC LACROSSE ACTION. 

It'll be Louisville vs. North Carolina today in the first round of the ACC Tournament. All eight teams go at it today, with the Cards and Heels taking the field at noon. 

Louisville is the #8 seed in the tourney, UNC the #1 seed...so, it'd be a pretty big surprise to the world of Lacrosse and sports in general if the Cards pull off the win. They met during the regular season, back on March 18th, when UNC traveled to Louisville, faced the Cards in Cardinal Stadium and took a 19-7 win. 

This time, the squads are in Chapel Hill, and UNC is still the #1 squad in the nation, sporting an unblemished 15-0 record.  The Cards come in ranked #19th in the nation and are 5-10 on the season. Louisville is currently on a four game losing streak and went 1-9 in ACC regular season play, defeating Virginia Tech...the #7 seed. 

Sweet Caroline ! 

The Cards will have Caroline Blalock on the pitch, she was named to the All-ACC Second team yesterday, and Bella Karstien received All-ACC Freshman team honors. 

Louisville will need top performance from those two, plus scorers Ally Hall, Hannah Morris, Nicole Perroni, Kokoro Nakazawa and a strong effort from goal-keeper Rachel Florek and the defense, if they are to get past the TarHeels. 

Good luck, Louisville Lacrosse!! 

JUSTINE SOWRY PRESSER

Louisville head Field Hockey Coach Justine Sowry held a presser yesterday to talk about the Field Hockey squad playing in the NCAA Tournament and other things yesterday. Although I was unable to take part in it, due to a prior, scheduled appointment elsewhere, our Daryl Foust took part in the Microsoft Teams Q&A session. 

Daryl's thoughts: 

"It was cool to tune into Coach's PC today. (My co-workers also got to listen in. Ha-Ha. 

I got to ask the questions we came up with and I appreciated her answers. Sowry started off her post-season media campaign with a quote I doubt a lot of others around the tournament field could mirror in "coolness" -- she mentioned that she wouldn't normally be sitting wherever she was remotely talking to us about "hockey"-- she'd be prepping for the Derby.  She did not say what that meant, or whether she actually goes to Churchill Downs for the First Saturday in May or hosts the squad  at her house for "the greatest two minutes of sports" -- and I didn't ask. But, she did say she's got HOT ROD CHARLIE (8-1) who will come out of the #9 gate hole winning the roses. 

Sowry was very easy to listen to, she had a calmness in her voice that I imagine the team can feed off as they look ahead to their first NCAA Tournament game  (Sunday, MAy 2nd against either UConn or Rider) at 3 p.m.

With as weird of a season it has been, I believe the team can find inspiration and weather whatever storm comes their way. As far as HOT ROD CHARLIE goes...be sure to check out PAULIE PICKS this Saturday to see what he thinks of the Louisiana Derby winners chances. 

You can hear Sowry's remarks at the link below: 

LINK:  Juaatine Sowry 4/27/21

BALOGUN TO DUKE

Elizabeth Balogun entered the transfer portal on April 6th. and has decided that Duke will be her destination for the upcoming 2021-22 women's basketball season. 

Balogun joins former Cardinal WBB student-athlete Nyah Green on the Blue Devils roster and will be under the direction of head coach Kara Lawson. 

Balogun never really lived up to the promise that being ACC Freshman of the Year brings. At Louisville, she was hot and cold from the three-point range and  never really looked totally comfortable play "Walz Ball" to me.  One thought that she might step up into a leadership role after the graduation of Jones, Shook, Dunham and Diop -- but it never developed.  

Her 2019-2020 numbers were 28 games played and 26 starts. She saw an average of 24.1 minutes a game, averaged 8.1 pts., and 4.6 rebounds.

Her 2020-21 numbers were 29 games played with just 16 starts. She saw an average of 19.6 minutes a game, averaged 5.8 pts., and 3.8 rebounds. 

It's a good fit for Balogun. She should get the playing time she seeks. Kianna Smith emerged as a preferable choice in the lineup and Balogun's time shrunk. Her length will be missed and those occasions when she was hitting the three. But, players want what players want and, will go search for it. In Balogun's case, it's a new coach to the ACC and college basketball that has tons of playing experience. Kara Lawson is drawing some good talent because of her playing acheivements and work on ESPN and other platforms. How that will translate out into coaching should be interesting.  

We wish Elizabeth the best of fortunes at Duke and hope she has a great career there -- except when the Cards face the Blue Devils. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

paulie

ACC Lacrosse Tournament -- Thank You Softball Seniors -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ACC Lacrosse Tournament Set

The ACC Lacrosse Tournament is all set. Unfortunately for Louisville, Virginia Tech was sneaky and cheated the Cards out of the 7-seed. Louisville is the 8-seed and will face 1-seed North Carolina.

Louisville (1-9 ACC) beat Virginia Tech (1-8 ACC) in the regular season and would have given the Cards the tiebreak over the Hokies. However, Virginia Tech had a couple schedule changes between weather and COVID-19 protocol and were not eager to make up their final game, giving them a half game edge over the Cards.

The Cards, who are ranked #19 in the most recent poll, seem to be in a position to still make the NCAA Tournament, but upsetting an undefeated Tar Heels team would guarantee a bid.

Louisville hosted North Carolina earlier this season at Cardinal Stadium. The Cards had a couple offensive spurts, but like everyone that has faced UNC, Louisville fell by a large margin in the end.

UNC has not lost since 2019, when they fell in double overtime in the NCAA Semifinals to Boston College. The Tar Heels are also looking to win their fifth straight ACC title (there was no tournament in 2020).

For the Cards, Ally Hall is two goals short of scoring 100 career goals. Rachel Florek has 335 career saves, ranking first in program history. Her .427 career save percentage is third in program history. 

This match is scheduled for Wednesday at noon on the ACC Network. In other action Wednesday, #4 seed Notre Dame get #5 seed Duke at appox. 2:30 p.m., #2 seed Syracuse faces #7 seed Virginia Tech at5:00 p.m. and #3 seed Boston College will go against #6 seed Virginia at 7:30 p.m.

Softball Concludes Home Season, Thank You Seniors

Louisville Softball concluded its home season on Sunday with a doubleheader against #7 Florida State. The Seminoles took the first game by Mercy Rule victory while the second game ended in a 0-0 tie after 11 innings and more than three hours due to a scheduled flight home.

A 1-2-1 series against one of the favorites to win the NCAA title is a plus in my book. It also knocked the Seminoles out of first in the conference and allowed Clemson to take the lead in the conference. Somewhere our buddy Arthur has a big smile on his face.

Louisville recognized a total of eight players, seven from the current season and Caitlin Ferguson, who played her final season in 2020.

Both Paige and Riley Schindler have had some unfortunate luck with injuries, which prevented them from playing the last couple years. Madison Ciaccio had appearances in dozens of games throughout her career and often subbed in at first base. Jordyn Wolfe has seen plenty of action in the outfield and as a pinch runner but also has been plagued by an injury the last couple of weeks. Jennifer Leonhardt joined Louisville for her final year of eligibility and has made a significant contribution in the circle and is second on the team in strikeouts. Maddy Newman spent four years as a starter at second base and has been a behind-the-scenes leader for much of her career. Celene Funke repped the Louisville jersey for five seasons and was one of the most recognizable student-athletes at Louisville known for her charisma and energy.

This senior class has had to overcome a great deal between a mixture of injuries, a coaching change, COVID-19, and now having one of the toughest schedules in the country. Even with so many obstacles, this senior class has proven to be strong leaders and kept the energy level high. We thank all of the seniors for everything they've done for this program.

The Cards sit at eighth in the ACC currently. They have eight games remaining: a four-game series at last place Boston College and a four-game series against North Carolina, who is currently 10th in the conference. Louisville is 3.5 games ahead of Pitt, who is 11th. The Cards need to finish in the top ten to qualify for the ACC Tournament at Ulmer Stadium in mid-May.

(Softball and Lacrosse photos from Jared Anderson) 

Other News

Louisville head Field Hockey Coach Justine Sowry has a press conference this afternoon to discuss the upcoming NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. The Cards still have a few more days before their quarterfinal match-up on Sunday. We'll bring the words to you in tomorrow's Cardinal Couple.

It is Derby Week in the Ville so the parties have begun. Our horse handicapper extraordinaire Paulie is hard at work doing his research for your Oaks Day and Derby Day picks. Stay tuned this week to see what advice and recommendations he has....he's handicapping Weds. thru Sat. this week. Check out his handicapping site PAULIE PICKS at: 

Paulie Picks

The "naming" of Derby Day weekdays began a few years ago with "Thurby" for Thursday at the Downs. Of course, Firday has always been Oaks Day and Saturday is Derby Day -- but recently someone came up with "Mondby" for Monday "Tuesby" for Tuesday and Wednesday has now become "Louisville's Day at the Track"  Someone offered "Wednesby" but that's just going too far, right? 

Happy "Tuesby" and Go Cards!

Jared 

Softball vs. FSU -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CARDS DROP ONE, BATTLE FSU TO A TIE AT ULMER

Yesterday brought a rarity in the second game of Softball played between Louisville and visiting Florida State. The squads went 11 innings (four over the normal softball affair) and the score was still 0-0. FSU had set a "we got get out of here by..." time frame for departure from Louisville and when that was reached, the contest was ended and will go into the books as a tie. 

It was the second game of the afternoon between the two.

 I won't go into a lot of detail ont the first game, because the Cards got shellacked by FSU 9-0 and it was a five-inning, run-rule affair. The Noles blasted Louisville for four runs in the second and five more runs in the fourth inning, teeing off on Cardinal pitchers Jen Leonhardt, Gabby Holloway and Payton Hudson for 11 hits. 

I would imagine the Noles were a bit surly in that first game, having lost to Louisville in the second of two on Friday 5-1....and then having to sit around and stew and seethe all day Saturday. 

Game two is the story today, so let's get into it. Plenty of time to get this one in, right?  (with the shortened five-inning previous game).

Wrong answer, Chumley. 

The much-anticipated pitching duel between Cardinals ace starter Taylor Roby and FSU's Kathryn Sandercock was all it was hyped to be on our Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast Saturday. Through five innings, both were showing their mastery of the opponent's bats and the only real hint of any run production came in the fourth inning when Roby doubled with one-out, took third on a ground ball but wasn't able to touch home plate. 

After five innings, FSU Lonny Almeda made the decision to pull Sandercock from the circle and go with Caylan Arnold. The call was a understandable one, Sandercock had tossed three innings of shutout softball in game one and had 85 pitches under her belt for the day. And Arnold is another in the stash of excellent circle-dwellers on the FSU roster.  

Cardinal skipper Holly Aprile was not ready to rest Roby yet, though and the Mt. Washington, KY redshirt junior went seven innings, striking out five, and allowing six hits. Her teammates were backing her up with solid defense and Aprile, seeing that Roby's pitch coint was already up to 127, turned the ball over to Gabby Holloway after seven frames. 

The 11th and final inning provided the fireworks of the day. FSU began the inning with a single, the runner stole second and went to third on a Cardinal fielding error. No outs. Holloway got a out, finally and then Dani Morgan drilled a shot to shallow centerfield that looked like it might produce a run. 

Not gonna happen, though, as Cards centerfielder Celene Funke made a diving catch of the ball, scrambled to her feet and fired a perfect bullet to Cards catcher Cass Greenwood, who then tagged out the runner on third trying to get home. The *bang-bang* double play got the Cards out of the inning. 

Louisville added to the excitement in the bottom of the 11th. The Cards got a "Big Sis" Carmyn Greenwood single, Roby got intentionally walked by former UofL hurler Danielle Watson, who was in to relieve in the circle, and the Cards had two on with two outs. Watson, though, managed to get the next Cardinal out and preserve the shutout. 

This was one that seemingly could have gone on until this morning, but, FSU had a plane to catch and it ended as a tie. 

It was the first game to end in a tie in the history of Louisville Softball, which began in the year 2000. 

Before the game, Cardinal Softball senior student-athletes Paige and Riley Schindler, Maddy Newman, Jen Leonhardt, Celen Funke and 2020 grad Caitlin Ferguson were honored for their efforts and dedication to the school and program. 

The Cards roll back into action Derby Day (May 1st) but they'll be far away from the madness on Central Avenue, playing the Boston College Eagles in a double header in Beantown 

(PHOTOS FROM JARED ANDERSON) 

"Gotta run to the Airport, you say? 
Hey! Follow me!!" 

"Or me !!" 

Have a marvelous Monday!

paulie

Sunday Cardinal Couple

Field Hockey Gets In

The NCAA Selection Show for Field Hockey was last night at 10pm.  The massive field of 12 was announced and UofL was able to get one of the very few at-large bids for the tournament.

With nine automatic qualifiers for a 12 team tournament, only three at-large bids were available.  The top two teams in the NFHCA poll were UNC and Michigan.  Both got the automatic qualifier bid for their conferences (ACC and Big 10).  Ranks three through five are UofL, Iowa, and Northwestern (ACC, Big 10, Big 10) and these are the three teams that got the at-large bids for the overall tournament.  Ranked 6th is Liberty, who did not get into the tournament.  With the at-large bids exhausted, the Big East AQ bid went to UConn, ranked 7th.

(I should point out here that the at-large bids were not based on the NFHCA poll, but they did track perfectly with the poll, and I use it here to highlight the absurdity of the NCAA's decision-making with respect to field hockey.)

UofL will play Sunday, May 2nd at 3pm.  They will be playing the winner of UConn vs Rider (Northeast Conference).  The 1st and 2nd rounds will be hosted by Penn State, while the semifinals and finals will be hosted by UNC.  There is no information available that I've been able to find for live streaming the first and second rounds, but the semifinals will be on ESPN3, and the finals will be shown on ESPNU. A good guess would be ncaa.com , they hosted the selection show. 

Lacrosse vs Notre Dame

UofL closed out the season in a loss to Notre Dame, 15-11.

The Irish were in control for most of the game, stretching out an eight goal lead at 10 minutes into the 2nd half.

The Cards went on a 6-1 run to narrow the lead to only three before Notre Dame got a goal in the closing minute of the game to reach the final score.  The hero of the run was Nicole Perroni.  The Canadian sophomore (Whitby, Ontario) got the first hat trick of her career in the run.

Caroline Blalock also got a hat trick in the game, while Hannah Morris put a pair in the back of the net.  Single goals to Ally Hall, Kylea Dobson, and Kokoro Nakazawa would account for all of the scoring from the Cards.

Paulie caught up with Louisville Lacrosse head coach Scott Teeter post-game and you can those remarks below: 

POST NOTRE DAME SCOTT TEETER

Next up for Lacrosse is the ACC tournament.  All eight teams in the ACC will participate in the tournament, with UofL getting that 8th seed.  That matches the Cards up with top seed UNC in the first round of the tournament also hosted by UNC.  The game will be at noon on Wednesday, presumably on the ACC Network Extra, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Today's Activity

Things are starting to calm down slightly from the crazy spring of sports that this has been with the extra load of fall sports also playing in the spring.

Only two games on the slate for today and they're both Softball finishing up their weather-altered schedule with FSU.  Their double-header will kick off today at noon with the 2nd game at 2:30(ish).  The first game will be on the ACC Network with the second one shifting over to the streaming on the ACC Network Extra.

A Personal Note

I and my family would like to thank you all, the readers of Cardinal Couple, and the listeners of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, for your expressions of sympathy and support on the death of my father, Charlie McAdams.  My father looked forward to each day's article, and to the Saturday "radio" podcast.  The staff and readers/listeners were more than just names to him.  As an avid sports fan and UofL fan, you all were kindred spirits to him.

We appreciate your support.

Jeff

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Speaking of the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast, we were on the air again yesterday as normal.  Missing Case, we did have Daryl join us this week as she had a day off from button pushing... given the rescheduling of the Softball series versus the Noles..

We celebrated Jared and Katy's engagement, discussed the ACC Commissioner's visit to UofL's ACC Network studios, Softball, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, and wrapped up Volleyball for the year.  Check out the fun below!

JMcA

Softball Splits Double Header -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Break No. 7 FSU's 16-game Win Streak

Due to the schedule change, Louisville and FSU got a double header underway yesterday around 3:00 PM. While the Cards looked like they might make a game of that first matchup for the first few innings, it was ultimately a game to forget as the Cards fell 10-0 in seven innings. To their credit, Louisville avoided a mercy rule, but just narrowly, as they trailed 7-0 after six. The Cards managed only two hits and a walk on offense, while giving up two errors and 12 hits on the way to the Seminoles' ten runs. Fortunately, there was another game to cleanse the palate.

Taylor Roby started in the circle in the second game for the Cards and put up another glowing performance. She opened the game with a strikeout and never really looked back, despite an inning opening error in the third. Her 1-2-3 first inning set the stage for the Louisville offense to jump on top of a strong FSU squad and Carmyn Greenwood did just that. She led off the bottom half of the first inning with a solo shot to left field. After Maddy Newman struck out, Roby and Makayla Hurst put a pair of runners on base with back-to-back singles, but a strikeout and a pop out ended the threat.

The Noles and Cardinals both went 3-and-out in the second which led to that inning-opening error I mentioned in the third. Jenna Servi skied a throw to first from third which allowed the runner to waltz to second base with nobody out. Roby went to work trying to limit the damage and hold onto Louisville's lead, but it wasn't quite meant to be. Three straight groundouts would have been enough to end it, except for the fact that FSU's second baseman was quick and the balls were all to the wrong spot. The first out advanced the runner to third and the next brought her home. 1-1.

Louisville responded with a run of their own in the third, and it was again Carmyn Greenwood setting things up. Greenwood opened the inning with a base hit and sprinted down to second shortly after. Maddy Newman then hit a ball right at the shortstop, freezing Greenwood but allowing Newman to get on base. Infield singles count the same. Roby, uncharacteristically, popped out to third on the first pitch, but Hurst put the ball in play, and good things can happen when you do that. A grounder to the third baseman in the gap could have been a double play, but an errant throw from the second baseman not only allowed Hurst to pull in safely at first base, but it also gave Greenwood the opportunity to scamper home. Charley Butler singled, but a strikeout ended the inning. 2-1 Cards. 

That final run would have been all that Louisville needed. Roby was fantastic, as we saw last week, and she allowed just three more FSU baserunners over the final four innings on two walks and a single. One runner advanced to second, but it was with two outs and the threat was short-lived. Despite not needing anymore runs, the Cards decided to grab some anyway. Former Cardinal Danielle Watson returned to Ulmer for the first time yesterday, and, in the first game, she was sharp. In the second game, not as much. She entered in the bottom of the fourth and retired the first five batters she saw, giving her one out in the bottom of the sixth, with Florida State still just one run back. 

She followed those five consecutive outs with a pair of walks. Celene Funke stepped in, said thank you very much for the baserunners, and fired a double down the left field line to move everyone up two bases. After a strikeout, it appeared Watson may escape with just one added run, but that brought Carmyn Greenwood back up. Greenwood has been one of Louisville's most consistent offensive players, and she continue that last night, sending a single to right field to plate two and give the Cards a 5-1 lead. Roby came back for the top of the seventh and gave the Noles a strikeout, flyout, lineout inning and that was that. 

Louisville knocked off their second top-25 team of the past week, but we'll see if they can continue any of the momentum from this one. Despite being just two games under .500 after their win over Duke last week, the Cards are now six games adrift and need a lifeline. Another big boost or two with wins over FSU could be nice. They'll have today off to prepare for the final two games of the series as inclement weather in the forecast rescheduled today's games earlier this week. The two teams are back in action at 12PM tomorrow on the ACC Network.

Check out Jared's interview with Coach Aprile postgame here: Holly Aprile vs FSU 4.23.21

Field Hockey Could Be Set for NCAA

UNC won their fourth straight game in overtime yesterday when they narrowly escaped Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons were vying for the ACC's automatic qualifying bid and took the Tarheels to two overtime periods before the golden goal session ended on a penalty stroke for UNC. UNC was going to get into the tournament no matter what, but if they had lost yesterday's game, Louisville may have been in trouble. By staking their claim to the AQ, an at-large bid remains open for Louisville, who should be squarely in now. The NCAA selection for the tournament is tomorrow, with play beginning next week.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'm out this week but that shouldn't stop everyone else from bringing you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. There's softball, volleyball, field hockey, and more to talk about this week so be sure to tune in to the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. This week's podcast will be a little late, but you can find the live show on at 11AM on the Cardinal Couple YouTube channel and the show is available to replay there as well. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball series vs FSU Schedule change -- Tennis loses to Duke 0-4 -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Fridays with Daryl! 

Good morning UofL fans!  How is it Friday again already?  A lot to unpack.. we watched Volleyball bow out of the tournament, that was a bummer. 

Our buddy and columnist Jeff McAdams lost his dad... I hope he had an easy week returning from Omaha after the Cards loss and laying Charlie to rest.

I have had a HECK of a M-F work-wise on all fronts.  The softball Cards lost in undisciplined fashion Wednesday evening to the UK squad, it freaking snowed that morning... and we anticipated softball schedule changes for the weekend.  But there is good news to share!! 

SHE SAID YES !!!

Our pal, photographer and CARDINAL COUPLE columnist Jared Anderson has announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend, Katy! Congratulations to the lovely couple! I almost called them a Cardinal Couple until I realized Katy is a FSU grad/fan! I wonder if there's any coincidence to the weekend of the engagement announcement and that FSU in in town for Softball ?!?   

Speaking of Florida State... the visiting softball squad..

Schedule Update: Cardinals and #7 Seminoles Will Play 

Friday Doubleheader at 3 p.m.; Sunday Doubleheader at 12 p.m.

UofL Softball (16-21) will take on its third-straight top-25 opponent this weekend when the Cardinals play host to #7 FSU (31-6) in a four-game ACC series starting on Friday.

With rain in the forecast for all day Saturday, 

the weekend schedule has been altered to open with a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. 

The final two games of the series will be played as a Sunday doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.

 

On both days, the first game will be televised on the ACC Network with game two airing on ACC Network Extra.

Prior to Sunday's 12 p.m. doubleheader, UofL will honor 2020 senior Caitlin Ferguson followed by the 2021 departing seniors.


Series Record: Seminoles lead the series 14-6.

The last time the Cards played Florida State at Ulmer...remember the beautiful sunset? Our Jared Anderson caught this magnificent photo.

Last Meeting: April 6-8, 2019 - Ulmer Stadium

RECAP: The Cards upset No. 3/3 Florida State winning the three-game series 2-1. The first game of the series resulted in a 2-0 win. The second game of the day ended in a 4-1 victory for the Seminoles. The final game of the series resulted in a 10-9 victory for the Cards. In the bottom of the seventh, the Cards rallied back from a 9-7 deficit with a three-run walk-off double from Rebecca Chung.

• With the win the Cards clinched the series, marking the Seminoles' first conference series loss since 2012.

About the 2021 Seminoles

Florida State heads into the series riding a 15 game winning streak. During that streak, the Seminoles have recorded seven shutouts while only allowing 15 runs. Last week in Syracuse the Seminoles hit 13 home runs, including a six home run game against the Orange, tying a program record.

 
RS-Senior Caylan Arnold and RS-Sophomore Kathryn Sandercock are leading the Seminole pitching staff. They have combined for 25 wins and 158 strikeouts. Arnold leads Florida State with 94 strikeouts and Sandercock leads the team with a 1.30 ERA and a 16-1 record.

Former Card, Danielle Watson returns to Louisville now with FSU. Listed as a RS-Junior, the RHP left Cards suddenly in December of 2019. She's third in line in the circle for the Seminoles.


Tennis falls in ACC tournament to Duke

The University of Louisville women's tennis team bowed out of the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference with a 4-0 loss to No. 14-ranked Duke Thursday morning in Rome, Ga.

The Cardinals dropped the singles match losing at the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Chelsea Sawyer and Raven Neely fell 6-3 to Chloe Beck and Karolina Berankova. The point was clinched when Tatiana Simova and Dina Chaika fell 6-3 at No. 3.

Moving to singles, Duke added to its lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Chloe Beck over UofL's Raven Neely. Next to fall was Louisville's Andrea Di Palma at No. 1 dropping the match to Georgia Drummy 6-3, 6-2. The match was clinched at the No. 6 spot, when Dina Chaika fell 7-5, 6-0 to Hannah Zhao.

The Cards end their season at 9-13.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

I'll be back on for podcast this weekend. I think I recall Case saying he was out, Jared might have some ENGAGEMENTS now but like I stated, we've got a lot to unpack, so make sure you tune in tomorrow morning. 11 a.m.  

As always, go Cards go! 

~Daryl