Softball Drops Game One -- DERBY DAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall 3-1 to Boston College

The Louisville softball team headed to Chestnut Hill for a weekend series with a chance to build on their record as the postseason nears, but they got off to a disappointing start. The Cards gave the Eagles their seventh conference win and just their 12th overall while they fell to 17-24-1 themselves after the 3-1 loss. With just seven games remaining on the schedule, Louisville will need to get more wins under their belts quickly to have a chance at much of a postseason.

The Cards went to bat first and opened the game with a pair of singles. Unfortunately, those singles yielded just one baserunner after Carmyn Greenwood was called out for leaving first early. With a strikeout from Taylor Roby and a groundout from Makayla Hurst, Roby headed to the circle for BC's first inning at the plate. The Eagles managed at double, but it came with two outs, and Roby popped out the next better to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Louisville got to work early with a Cassady Greenwood single. Rebecca Chung followed her with another single, but was thrown out trying to stretch for second. Charley Butler sent a single through the middle to score Greenwood from third and Louisville had the lead. Unfortunately, the Cards could get no more from the momentum as Celene Funke grounded out on a full count and Sydney Bickel struck out. Their lead would be short lived, though, as one-out and two-out doubles from BC in the bottom half tied the game at one.

For the remainder of the game, Louisville would leave five runners on base but score no more runs. Their best opportunity came in the third inning when Hurst and Roby stood on second and third with two outs, but Cassady Greenwood couldn't bring them in. It took BC until the fourth inning to break the tie, but it was another double that gave them the lead, as a one-out hit scored a baserunner from a previous single. In the next inning, the Eagles opened with a solo homer to give them a 3-1 lead, which would turn out to be the final score. The home run ended Roby's day, and Gabby Holloway finished things out by allowing just one hit over the remaining 1.2 innings.

Louisville will try to win the next three games of the series, which starts today. They'll get a double-header underway with the first game at 12PM on the ACC Network Extra. The second game is set to go at 5PM, at which point the Cards will hope to be fighting for a series lead.

Derby Day in the Ville

It's the annual city holiday as the Derby returns to its rightful place on the first Saturday in May. As is tradition, we'll take this week off for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as Daryl mentioned yesterday. It is expected to be a beautiful day, so be sure to enjoy the fresh outside air. Check out Paulie's Handicapping Site (formerly Handicapping Heroes) to make informed bets whether at the track or via your phone. Enjoy yourselves, don't lose too much money, and revel safely and responsibly. Happy Derby!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-