Oaks Day -- SOFTBALL at #3 FSU -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Hello readers and Happy Derby Weekend!! It is Oaks Day in the Ville and you know we prefer to cover the females on this website. 14 fillies will face off in the 147th running of the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Post time is schedule for 5:51p.m.  

If you're heading out to the track, enjoy and don't forget the sunscreen!!   I will be working and then plan on playing 18 holes before the fillies race for the lillies!  Let's hope for a safe day for the horses too. 

The field

Wet Paint is the 5-2 favorite in the 2023 Kentucky Oaks odds and has won four of her last five starts. Botanical, who has won four in a row, is second in the Kentucky Oaks odds 2023 at 4-1. Southlawn (8-1), Affirmative Lady (10-1) and Pretty Mischievous (10-1) round out the top 2023 Kentucky Oaks horses according to oddsmakers.

Cheers to smart and successful bets!! 🏇🏇🏇 🍸🎫💸🤑💰

(Don't forget, you can get Paulie's Picks for the entire OAKS Card at his horse racing website...Paulie's Picks ! Conveniently found at his website:

Paulie's Picks

Softball

Photo: Jared Anderson

Just about every sports related program on campus and in the city hits the road on this celebratory weekend. I assume the reason being to avoid having visiting teams delaying travel for those coming into town for the Derby… and probably to keep the squads out of the possibility of trouble as well. Plus, Floyd St. intersects with Central Ave. and Central Ave is a mess Friday and Saturday. With closed streets, one way temporary set up and 100,000-150,000 people jammed into the area, it is a bit crowded. 

Whatever the reason being, the Cards are wrapping up the regular season on the road at #3 Florida State. As Jared covered in Thursday’s post, the Cardinals are playing some of their best softball in recent years right now. They are on a 9 game winning streak, sweeping the series between both of their last conference opponents against Virginia and Boston College. UofL (35-14) enter the final weekend of the season with a 16-4 ACC mark. Louisville's 16 ACC wins are tied for the most in program history since joining the league in 2015. That same season, the Cardinals finished the season with a 16-7 conference record. It would be great if the Cards could get at least 1 victory over FSU this weekend.

Photo: Jared Anderson

Louisville leads the ACC and is ranked 11th nationally with a .327 as a team with five starters hitting above .300. Korbe Otis leads the team with a .408 batting average, 64 hits and 59 runs. She is a perfect 19-for-19 in stolen bases. She leads the ACC and tied for third in the nation with seven triples. She also paces the ACC in runs scored and is tied for third on Louisville's single season list with 59.

Alyssa Zabala leads the team with 14 wins and 81 strikeouts in 103.2 innings while Roby carries a team-best 2.26 ERA with 55 Ks in 102.1 innings of work.

Photo: Jared Anderson

Florida State leads the series 16-7-1

The last time the two met was April 23-25, 2021 at Louisville and Florida State won the first two games of the series 10-0 and 9-0. In the series finale, the teams were tied 1-1 in the 11th inning when the game was called due to 'travel constraints'. 

Louisville is making its first trip to Tallahassee since 2018.

FSU has not lost to UofL in Tallahassee since 2016.

Florida State enters the weekend with a 44-8 overall record and a nine-game win streak following a midweek 8-7 win at No. 17 Florida. The Seminoles lead the ACC standings with a 19-2 record in conference play.

(To sum the series up in Elvisian logic...it's now or never for the Cards to decide their regular season fate.)

As a team, the Seminoles are batting .313 with six players hitting above .300. Jahni Kerr leads the squad with a .383 batting average while Katie Dack and Michaela Edenfield have belted out 10 home runs apiece.

The Seminoles' are lead by Makenna Reid in the circle, who was named to the TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 List and Kathryn Sandercock, who was a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist.

The teams will play on Friday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra with Saturday’s (2 p.m.) and Sunday’s (Noon) games being aired on the ACC Network.

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Its also Cinco de mayo today, for those who celebrate.  Happy weekend everyone! Be safe out there y'all! 

As Always, Go Cards! 

~Daryl