Cardinal Alum Takes Head Coach Position -- Softball Hosts Cardinal Classic -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Most of the Louisville fan base has turned its attention to men's basketball due to yesterday's news. Granted, I was one of them. Athletic Director Josh Heird has decided to part ways with Louisville men's basketball head coach Kenny Payne. While my views might not reflect the rest of the crew on our site here, I am glad to see a much-needed change coming over there.

Let me be clear that our focus is on the Joy and Excitement of Louisville Women's Athletics, but we also understand how budget-drive football and men's basketball are. When the success of those programs dip, it's many other sports suffering the effects from the suffering budget.

Thankfully, our current women's sports and even alumnae continue to accomplish great things, which brings me back to the reason Cardinal Couple is still here. We've seen several former Cardinals go onto professional careers by continuing to play. Others have moved onto coaching or reporting roles such as Mo Reid (asst coach for Bellarmine women's basketball), Becky Burke (head coach for Buffalo women's basketball), and Katie George (ESPN reporter).

Callie McKinney Named Head Coach for Bellarmine Women's Soccer

We can add another Cardinal alum doing impressive things. Louisville women's soccer alumna Callie McKinney has been promoted to head coach for Bellarmine women's soccer. The Franklin, Tenn. native played for the Cards from 2016-2019. During her playing career, McKinney played in 72 matches. The midfielder scored three goals and recorded three assists.

Following her playing career, McKinney joined Bellarmine women's soccer as a grad assistant in the fall of 2020. She was then promoted to a full-time assistant coach in 2021 and spent the last three seasons in that role.

Paul Babba held the title of head coach for Bellarmine in 2022 and 2023. The Knights had a 5-16-14 in that stretch. Babba departed to become associate head coach for Cincinnati women's soccer earlier this week leaving Bellarmine without a leader. There was no doubt in promoting McKinney to that position.

"First off, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity," McKinney said. "I am thankful to Scott and (Athletics Chief Operating Officer) Pam Stackhouse for giving me this opportunity to lead the Bellarmine program. I am also thankful to (former head coach) Paul Babba, who has prepared me well for this and for being such a great mentor and friend."

Hopefully, this means we will see Bellarmine on the Louisville schedule as either an exhibition match or regular season match in the fall.

Softball Hosts Cardinal Classic

Louisville softball is action for a long weekend. The Cardinals will host the Cardinal Class over the next four days with Holly Aprile's squad playing one game each day. The only game on Thursday will be Louisville vs South Dakota. First pitch is slated for 7:00pm and will be aired on ACC Network.

On Friday, Louisville will face Illinois at 6:00pm. Saturday will feature Louisville vs Michigan at 6:00pm and Sunday will be a rematch against Illinois at 5:00pm.

After getting swept by Virginia Tech, Louisville now carries a 16-8 record on the season. The Cards hit .287 as a team with several players above .300. 

Louisville and South Dakota have never met before so tonight will be the first ever meeting. The Coyotes are 14-13 on the season after defeating Tennessee State last night.

South Dakota has faced six 'Power Five' conference teams so far and have gone 0-6 in those games. They have not run-ruled anyone but have been run-ruled once in an 8-0 loss to Murray State on opening weekend. They hit .238 as a team with two players hitting over .300. South Dakota has outscored their opponents 93-88.

We plan to have in-person coverage for the games this weekend.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared