Friday, March 29, 2024

Softball Visits Pitt -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE



Happy Friday, Cards fans! Jared checking in here after Daryl took yesterday for me. I want to thank Daryl for stepping up and taking Thursday's write as I did not get home from lacrosse until shortly after 10:00pm and still had editing to do. Being out in the cold isn't as bad when it's covering a Louisville team winning.

There was major news in the realm of Louisville Athletics yesterday, but it was unrelated to women's sports. We do want to take a moment to congratulate Pat Kelsey on being named the new head coach of Louisville men's basketball. We understand that the revenue earned from men's basketball impacts the budget for Louisville's women's sports and we want to see those women's teams be provided with every resource possible.

On the women's side of things, we shift our focus back to Louisville softball. After spending a majority of the month at Ulmer Stadium, the Cards hit the road to head to Pitt this weekend. The Cards are 20-13 on the year and have lost four of their last five games. ACC play has been tough for Louisville, as they spent a couple home weekends against top 20 Virginia Tech and top 5 Duke.

Pitt has had a troublesome start to the season to say the least. The Panthers enter the weekend 8-22 and hold an 0-9 record in conference play. Eight of those nine conference losses were by run rule.

The Panthers have been outscored 200-89 and have allowed double-digit runs against them on eight different occasions. Two players bat over .300 with only one breaking 30 hits. Pitt's bullpen has been anything but good this year. The six pitchers have a combined ERA of 8.80 with the best of the group posting a 5.89 ERA.

On paper, this is a series Louisville should win with ease. The Cards have a strong pitching group with Alyssa Zabala ranking near the top in the country in wins. Louisville also knows how to put runners on base and get the offense going.

The concern is Louisville's defense. Fielding has been a concern for a few seasons but has been poor the last few games. Clean up the fielding and the Cards can run against just about anyone in the country. Don't forget that every game against then #4 Duke went down to the wire and two of the games against Virginia Tech were just as close.

Due to weather concerns, the Cards and Panthers will play a double header today starting at 3:00pm ET. Both games will be streamed on ACCNX. The final game of the series will be Sunday at 1:00pm.


Happy Friday and Go Cards!

Jared

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