Softball Wins and Winning, Lax, and WBB

 Softball Wins and Is Winning

That's not a typical headline we get to write, but it is the case on this opening weekend of Softball.

In the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida in the Tampa/St. Pete area, the Softball Cards are in the middle of a game against Missouri after it got rain and lightning delayed yesterday.  That means the Sunday schedule will have Louisville vs Howard at 10am, Missouri vs Prairie View A&M at 12:30(ish), and then hopefully the conclusion of the Louisville vs Missouri game.

Hey, it's an outdoor sport, you do whatcha gotta do to get as many of the games in as you can.

The game stands at a score of 2-0 with the Cards leading 23rd-ranked Missouri in the bottom of the 3rd with 2 outs.  The Cards are (or will be?) batting.  Taylor Roby is on 2nd, and Korbe Otis is on 1st with Sarah Gordon coming to the plate to bat.  The scores came all in the bottom of the 3rd: Easton Lotus singled, then advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch.  Daisy Hess doubled to right, scoring Lotus, then Roby doubled to right, scoring Hess.  Otis then drew a walk to get on base and that's where the game stands.

The Cards did have an earlier game in the day against Southern, with Sam Booe in the circle for the whole thing.  In five innings of pitching, Booe only allowed a single hit, while the Cards rounded 10 to take advantage of the college run-rule to end the game after just four and a half innings.  Taylor Roby went 2-for-2 at the plate with a two run homer in the mix.  Vanessa Miller and Paige Geraghty both had triples in solid performances at the plate as well.

Booe's no-hitter was going strong until the top of the fifth inning, and I want to know what commentator said something to jinx it.  She retired the first 10 hitters she faced and never faced more than three batters in any inning of the game thanks to a solid defense backing her up.

As mentioned, the Cards will face Howard today at 10:00 am and will hope to finish the Missouri game in the afternoon, depending on the lengths of games, and team travel schedules.

Colorado Visits Lacrosse

After a tough battle against Denver on Friday, the Colorado Buffs come to visit the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium starting at noon.

CU makes the drive up I-65 from Nashville where they tangled with Vanderbilt on Friday, going down to a 10-11 loss in overtime.

Charlie Rudy and Morgan Pence are the main attackers for the Buffs, and there seems to be some early uncertainty between the pipes with Danielle Heintz and Grace Donnelly spending time in goal.

With Louisville hosting, you can catch it on ACC Network Extra streaming.

Clemson Comes to Town

Oh yeah, there's a basketball game as well.  The Clemson Tigers will match up against a UofL team scrabbling to get back into the national rankings in the chaotic ACC.

The Tigers are in the lower ranks of the conference, at 5-9, but that has proven to not be a solid determining factor on who wins games in the ACC this year.  And one of the prime examples is from the end of December when Clemson knocked off a very good Virginia Tech team.

Louisville will be looking to climb out of the quagmire of teams all at 9-4, tied for third in the league.  This, of course, has particular relevance when it comes to ACC tourney time to get the double-bye.  Of course there are four more games past this one to help determine that, including one against Miami, another participant in the 9-4 mosh pit.

Amari Robinson, a name I feel like we've been calling for a decade, leads the Tigers.  She hails from Douglasville, GA, which, you know, has a penchant for producing some pretty good hoopsters.  Robinson averages over 13 points per game.  Ruby Whitehorn is the only other player to average in double-digits.

Will Walz continue the Konno, Kasa, Harris version of the starting lineup?  Or has Chrislyn Carr's recent high scoring efforts earned her a place back in the opening look?  Your guess is as good as mine, but if you can't be at the KFC Yum! Center for the game, it can be found on ACC Network Extra, and you should be able to make it a nice double-header with Lacrosse which should finish up right around in time for the 2:00 pm tip-off.

Do note that 2:00 pm is a changed gametime, with the original tip scheduled for 6:00 pm, but moved because...well, apparently there's a big football game, or something like that.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

Even Louie is fed up with the officiating

Case, Jared, Paul, and myself had a lot on our plates as we dive headlong into the overlap between winter and spring sports.  Basketball, Softball, Lacrosse, and plenty more discussion happened.

Check it out at anchor.fm:

https://anchor.fm/cardinal-couple/episodes/Spring-Sports-Underway-e1uqeb5

and it can also be found in any quality podcast directory.

-- JMcA