Softball falls to Duke 4-3; FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Good Friday morning Louisville fans, 

It sucks to be the one to report the season ender for any of our favorite programs at UofL... yesterday was a looooooong day out at Ulmer stadium.  But at least it was a gorgeous sunny day for everyone to enjoy at the ballpark.  A quick recap of the day's games before getting into Louisville's heart breaker. 

CLEMSON 2 - GEORGIA TECH 0 

The day started out with a great pitchers duel between Clemson/Georgia Tech that ended in a 2-0 win for the Tigers.  Made possible only by sending the ball yard twice into right center field, redshirt Junior Cammy Pereira did the damage at the plate for Clemson.  Freshman, Valerie Cagle got the win moving her record to 25-4. The ACC Player of the Year, threw her 10th complete-game shutout and matched her career-high 14 strikeouts as the Tigers advanced to the ACC semifinal.

VIRGINIA TECH 4 - NOTRE DAME 1 

Game two played host to the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish swept the Hokies in the 4 game regular season series and the Hokies got revenge on Thursday afternoon, ending Notre Dame's 14 game win streak.  Winning pitcher, and ACC pitcher of the year, Keely Rochard threw a four-hitter, striking out seven and walking three. She pitched out of bases-loaded jams in the fourth and fifth innings. Tech committed two errors Thursday — both by third baseman Cameron Fagan. The one run Tech allowed was unearned. The Hokies will face 13th-ranked and top-seeded Clemson (41-5) in a semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday. Virginia Tech won two of three games at Clemson in February.  It will be a pitching showdown between the two programs, I'm sure! 

FLORIDA STATE 2  - NC STATE 0 

Game three of the day featured the Florida State Seminoles and NC State, who advanced with a 4-2 win over UNC on Wednesday. Again, it was the homeruns that made the difference in the game. FSU's redshirt freshman, Devyn Flaherty, sent the ball into right center field for the solo HR and the game winner in the bottom of the second, her fifth HR of the season. NC State’s only two hits of the evening came from redshirt senior right fielder Tatyana Forbes during the second inning and redshirt senior center fielder Angie Rizzi during the third. Kathryn Sandercock, started and pitched her sixth complete game of the season.  Sandercock only faced 24 batters and threw a total of 77 pitches, including 5 strikeouts, against the Wolfpack.

And now for the day's finale... game four.

DUKE 4 - LOUISVILLE 3 

It looked like it was going to be a short night for the Cards as they were the away team in this game, Duke got off to a hot start with what looked like to me, an obvious homerun shot to left field by Junior Kristina Foreman in the bottom of the first inning.  The 2nd baseman trotted around the base path before attempting to round third, she was tagged by the Louisville defender and called out by the umpires.  The ball ricocheted off the camera operators scaffold and back into the playing area which prompted a review by the umpires.  It was later determined that it was indeed a homerun and Foreman rightfully took her trot across the plate and the Blue Devils took a 3-0 lead.

The Cards responded in the top of the second to load the bases.  But not without another review and overturned call by the umpires on (what looked like an obvious call to me in live play) a play at 1B where Cassady Greenwood beat the throw by a half a step.  Senior centerfielder Celene Funke found herself with bases loaded and no outs.  The struggling senior poked one over the defense to centerfield to score a run and keep the bases loaded with nobody out.  A fielders choice would give Duke their first out of the inning on the force at home by Vanessa Miller.  Carmyn Greenwood singled on a hit to third base and everyone advanced.  Maddy Newman was able to send one to deep right field which allowed speedy Celene Funke to score and tie it up on the SAC FLY.   Taylor Roby ended the offensive spark with a strikeout.

The two early half innings combined for the most runs in a game all day. 

Duke was able to secure the victory in the bottom of the fourth when Foreman, again, scored for the Blue Devils.  She was walked before scoring from first base on a double by senior first baseman Rachel Crabtree.   Duke then had a stellar defensive play in the top of the fifth to kill all momentum by the Cards' bats.  Maddy Newman saw a serious left field shift that featured 2 short stops but was able to find the gap for the single.  However a mistake on base-running ended the threat for Louisville.  Roby got out on a diving catch by the catcher at the away dugout, who then immediately popped up and put Maddy in a pickle where she was tagged out attempting to reach back to first.  

The Cards left runners on in the fifth and the sixth to end their season and hope for an ACC championship.  In a shocking turn of events, Celene Funke led the Cards at the plate going 2-3 on the day.  Roby takes the loss moving her to a 12-14 record this season.  UofL finishes the season with a 21-28-1 record.  The roster featured seven seniors this season. 

Like I said, it was a long day out at Ulmer and the Cards just ran out of gas.  I hate that we had to see tears from a couple of Cards, but that just shows how passionate they are about this program.  Even if they don't see it now, they did push this program a little further in the national softball realm.  Congrats to the seniors on their careers here at Louisville.  We, at Cardinal Couple, will always cheer for your successes!  

(Louisville Softball photos by Jared Anderson) 


WOMENS SOCCER

Former University of Louisville women's soccer midfielder Emina Ekic has been named a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American.

In addition, she was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region First Team.

It marks the third straight season that Ekic has been named a USC All-American, as she was named a Second Team All-American following her sophomore and junior campaigns.

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR PODCAST

I will be out for radio this and next week as i am wrapping up the ACC tournament with the championship game Saturday at noon and vacation next weekend. Case will also miss the broadcast due to a wedding.  But i do believe the rest of the gang will be in tow! Be careful out there and don't forget to wear your sunscreen! 

Go Cards 

~Daryl