Softball downs Bellarmine -- Awards for Robinson, Van Lith and Otis --ACC Tourney Begins Today ! -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 

A busy Tuesday and a busy Wednesday coming up for UofL and ACC women's sports. Let's jump right in to it ! 

SOFTBALL SINKS KNIGHTS 13-0

It was opening day for the Louisville Softball home schedule for 2023 and the Cards got things off in fine fashion by run-ruling the Bellarmine Knights 13-0 on a beautiful day out at Ulmer. 

Louisville wasted no time in unleashing the bats, with a seven-run bottom of the first inning. Sarah Gordon's double to right-center scored pinch runner (for Taylor Roby) Mia Forsythe and Daisy Hess. Ally Alexander's single brought Gordon home, and the Cards continued to play "small ball" when Paige Geraghty's single to the Bellarmine pitcher scored Elena Ornelas. Korbe Otis sacrificed home Vanessa Miller to make it 5-0  Geraghty scored on a wild pitch and so did Alexander to complete the scoring in the impressive bottom of the first, 

Geraghty picked up two more RBI's in the second when her single to center scored Vanessa Miller and Roby. The third inning brought two more Louisville runners across the plate when Korbe Otis slammed a two-RBI home rum to left that scored Hess and her. It was 11-0 after three and Bellarmine had to be wondering when the onslaught would stop. The Knights were facing Cassie Grizzard inside the circle and had but two singles to show for their efforts. 

Louisville plated their final two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Alexander and Pickle Winkler singled and came home on a Geraghty triple to right. Geraghty had five RBI's on the day. 

Grizzard allowed three hits from the circle and had four strikeouts and no walks in picking up her first win as a Cardinals pitcher. 

Louisville has unleashed the bats in the last four game with 40 runs and the Cards are on a five-game win streak. They return to action Friday at 2 p.m. -- hosting Northwestern at Ulmer Stadium. 

THEY SAID IT:

CASSIE GRIZZARD POST GAME

PAIGE GERAGHTY POST GAME

CARDINALS BEING RECOGNIZED

All-ACC honors for Hailey Van Lith and Kasa Robinson. It's Hailey's second year on the All-ACC First Team and Kasa's third year on the ACC-All Defensive team. 

Van Lith leads the Cards in scoring with 19.4 ppg and Kasa leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.4.

In addition, Hailey has been named as a finalist for the Drysdale Award. The award honors the nation's best shooting guard and Hailey is one of five finalists, along with Keishana Washington (Drexel), Ta'Niya Latson (FSU), Diamond Miller (Maryland) and Zia Cooke (South Carolina).

Moving to softball, Korbe Otis was named the ACC Softball Player of the Week last week. She batted .615 with three doubles and a home run last week. She's off to a good start this week with a two-RBI homer against Bellarmine, also. Otis is a sophomore from Littleton, Colorado. 

 ACC WBB TOURNAMENT STARTS TODAY

It's ACC WBB Tournament time in Greensboro ! The action starts today at 1 p.m. when #12 seed Wake Forest faces #13 seed Virginia. #10 seed Clemson plays #15 Pitt  at 3:30 p.m. and #11 seed Boston College and #14 seed Georgia Tech conclude the first day action at 6:30 p.m.

The games today will be shown on the ACC Network and through Saturday. Sunday they switch to ESPN. You can follow Cardinal Couple on Twitter for updates and news all five days, as we will have multiple sources here reporting and covering the games. 

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM

You've got until 1 p.m. today (Jared prefers noon...FYI) to get your picks in for the Cardinal Couple ACC Tournament Pick 'EM.  Get the most right out of the 14 games and win a $25 gift card to Cracker Barrel. Second place gets a $15 card to Taco Bell !! 

Impress your neighbors. Baffle your co-workers and drive that little old lady down the street who always spies on you through almost closed curtains crazy with wonderment. All ya gotta do is submit your entry in the comments section and it don't cost anything !! We asked your parish priest and he said go ahead and participate !  You could be a winner !!! 

Make sure and also submit a total final points scored for the championship game, in case of ties. I like festive ties, how about you? 

We had 17 entries as of 8:30 p.m.Tuesday. Keep 'em coming !!!

Any and all questions can be sent to Jared via e-mail to Jared at  eupherjared@gmail.com or Paulie at cardinalcouple@twc.com . Or just stand outside Daryl's house and shout out your question. She won't mind (and probably won't answer). 

THE CARDINAL CHIMPS HAVE VOLUNTEERED THEIR BRACKET PICKS AS AN EXAMPLE:

Day One Winners:  Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech

Day Two Winners:  FSU, Syracuse, Clemson, Georgia Tech

Day Three Winners:  Louisville, Syracuse, Clemson, Georgia Tech

Day Four Winners:  Louisville, Georgia Tech

Champ:  GEORGIA TECH   

Points:  138

paulie