Softball Falls in Series Finale at GT -- Cheer Squads Win Championships -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 GEORGIA TECH RUN RULES SOFTBALL CARDS 12-2

What a difference a day makes in the sport of softball. Louisville had the bats working in fine fashion Saturday against the Yellow Jackets and the Cardinal pitchers held GT to just two runs in a 10-2 win.

Sunday was a different story. 

The Atlanta ACC member blasted Cardinal pitching for four home runs and held UofL batters to just two runs and four hits to take the series finale 12-2 on Sunday.  The series splits 2-2 for the squads -- Louisville drops to 15-17 overall now and 9-12 in ACC play and the Yellow Jackets go to 12-20 overall  and 6-16 in the ACC. 

The Cards got started on the right foot, with a 2-0 lead, going into the bottom of the third. Makayla Hurst singled in Carmyn Greenwood in the first inning for Louisville's first score and Taylor Roby crushed her 11th home run of the season in the third to make it 2-0.

Things changed in the bottom of the third, though. Tech plated four runs in that inning nd would plate four more runs in the fourth and fifth innings each to get the run-rule victory.

Taylor Roby was one of four Louisville pitchers to enter the circle and went three innings, allowing three runs on just two hits. Six walks helped GT's cause, though, and the Rambin' Wreck touched Gabby Holloway, Jen Leonhardt and Payton Hudson for the remainder of their run production. 

Blake Neleman went all five innings in the circle for GT, and improved to 6-5 on the season. 

Louisville returns home for a four-game series against Duke this upcoming weekend. Duke is in fourth place in the ACC standings with a 27-9, 15-9 mark. Five squads in the ACC have either eight or nine conference wins, the separating factor is in the number of losses each has.  Syracuse is 8-8, Notre Dame 9-10, North Carolina 8-9 and Virginia is in tenth place with a 9-16 ACC record. 

The top ten teams, figured by conference record percentage and the Cards currently sit in ninth place.  The qualifying teams will participate in the 2021 ACC Softball Tournament in Louisville, KY May 6th-9th.  The top six squads get a first round bye, while seeds #7-10 play on the first day to advance to the round of eight.

13 of the 15 ACC Conference members play softball -- Miami and Wake Forest do not field teams. 

CHEER SQUADS TAKE TWO TITLES

UofL's Spirit Squads took home first place in two of the six National Championship categories this weekend in Daytona Beach, FL

The All-Girl team won their 17th National Cheer Association title (NCA) since 1998, besting Oklahoma State, Iowa State, South Carolina and Missouri in the final five competition. 

The Small Co-Ed squad also grabbed the gold and won their division, beating out Arkansas St. and Coastal Carolina. 

In the other events: 

-- The Cards finished third in Large Co-Ed, behind Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

-- The Dance Team squad (the LadyBirds) placed second behind  South Carolina

-- The Hip-Hop Dance Team was second, behind BYU. 

-- Louisville had two teams n the Group Stunt performance and they grabbed second and fourth places. 

(I never knew there were so many different aspects of Cheer and Dance, but have certainly enjoyed their performances at UofL athletic events over the years.) Congratulations to all the participants and the winners !! 

Have a meaningful Monday! 

paulie