Cards Nearly Sweep Friday -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Upsets Denver in Opener

Louisville lacrosse, which we discussed a lot last week after Paulie and Jared's interview with Scott Teeter, opened their season yesterday with a midday game against the 15th-ranked Denver Pioneers. As Teeter  mentioned in that interview, the team was ready to play someone other than themselves. That showed when Louisville opened with a 5-1 first quarter. Louisville weathered storm after storm, ultimately holding on through a 1-4 fourth quarter to win the game 10-8. 

Denver opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game when Olivia Ripple scored from Raegan Wilson. Louisville was undeterred, though. Lauren Figas scored her first, an unassisted goal, just 35 seconds later to tie the match. With both teams back on level footing, they settled into a rhythm or, if you rather, a game of cat and mouse. Neither team could score for about ten minutes before Reese Whiteman, a sophomore set to see more time, scored from Negai Nakazawa with just under four to play in the quarter. That goal was the start of a 4-0 run to close the quarter with Ella Berg and Erin Nicholson scoring unassisted goals and Figas scoring her second on Nakazawa's second assist. 

The second quarter started basically the exact same way, with Olivia Ripple scoring her second goal just 1:22 into the quarter. This one was unassisted, but Raegan Wilson would add another point to her tally by scoring herself with 1:08 remaining in the first half. They were the only two scorers in the quarter, and Louisville held on to a 5-3 lead heading into the locker room. 

I think Teeter may have mentioned Olivia Ripple's trend during the break, because she didn't score the third goal of her hat trick until there was only 5:50 remaining in the third quarter. By that time, Nakazawa had extended Louisville's advantage by two, once unassisted and once from Berg. Figas matched the Ripple hat trick less than a minute later and Rian Adkins got on the board to push Louisville's advantage to five with 2:34 remaining in the third. 

The fourth returned to form for Denver in more ways than one. They scored less than a minute into the quarter, but this time it was Caroline Colimore. Adkins scored a minute and a half later to push Louisville's lead back to five, but it would be the last time they scored in the game. Fortunately, the defense was able to bear down. The Pioneers scored three more goals (including a fourth by Ripple), but their last goal came with 6:27 remaining. The Cards were able to keep them at bay for the remainder of the game and hold on for the huge season-opening upset. 

Louisville's defensive was aided by a player advantage, as Lindsey Wilmot of Denver was shown a red card with 4:18 to go. The penalties were certainly fewer than last season, as Teeter alluded to when discussing the rule changes, but there were still five yellows and a green to go along with the red. Louisville picked up three of the yellows, while Denver had the remaining penalties. 

Louisville's win was impressive, and a lot of the credit goes to the defense. Denver outshot Louisville by 16 overall (37-21), but the Cards were strong and forced a ton of uncomfortable shots. In the end, the teams finished with the same number of attempts on goal: 17. Louisville may not have had as many opportunities, but they were clinically efficient. J Pleck started in goal, as the senior inherited the position from the graduating Sara Addeche, and finished with a career high in saves with nine. Pleck also helped hold the Pioneers to 3-10 on free position shots while Louisville matched the goals with three on seven attempts.

In addition to the overall shots battle, Louisville had to weather being disadvantaged in turnovers (18-13) and ground balls (16-5). Denver just had the ball more often, which is why I give so much credit to the defense. The Cards did win the draw control battle 11-10. 

All in all, it was a great start to the season for Louisville. As expected, Teeter was spot on when he name dropped some of his expected standouts, and we'll surely see more from them and others as the season rolls on. Louisville is next in action when they host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 3PM. 

POST GAME SCOTT TEETER AND PLAYERS

Softball Goes 1-1 on Opening Day

Louisville softball one-upped the lacrosse team by playing two games on their opening day. Unfortunately for Holly Aprile's squad, they could only come up with the same number of wins. The Cards opened the evening with an 11-3 stomping of Middle Tennessee (who have officially changed their logo from MTSU to MT) but closed with a 9-4 loss against Liberty. 

Sam Booe got the start in the first game and pitched six strong innings. She struck out seven, walked two, and gave up five hits. Her three earned runs came on a three-run homer in the third inning. Booe was relieved by Brooke Gray in the seventh to keep Gray warm for game two. Gray snagged two ground outs and a strikeout in a quick inning. 

The real show in game one was Louisville's offense. Louisville was the away team in this one, and Easton Lotus (who has moved into the leadoff spot as we welcome the R-Jr back from injury) opened the game with a triple. After Char Lorenz, the R-Fr utility player, coaxed a walk, Lotus stole home to get the Cards on the board. Bri Despines, Louisville's new transfer catcher from Kent State, drew a catcher's interference call (savvy) to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Unfortunately, Louisville could add no more runs as the next three batters went down on a pair of flyouts and a strikeout. 

Louisville got back on the board in the second when a bases loaded error on a Lorenz grounder to short scored Chelsea Mack and Taylor Monroe. Despines scored Lotus on a sac fly to give Louisville a 4-0 lead. In the third, Mack drew a bases loaded walk to score Riley Janda and Lotus hit a productive groundout to score Thatcher. Middle Tennessee would break the shutout in the bottom of the third with the aforementioned homer to make the score 6-3. 

Louisville was held scoreless for the first time in the fourth inning, but they scored one run each in the fifth and sixth. Jordan Williams singled for Thatcher to score her second run of the day and Madison Pickens scored in the sixth on a bases loaded wild pitch. In the seventh, the top of the order got back to work, with Lorenz doubling in Lotus and then scoring herself on an error that saw Despines go from the batter's box to third base. Despines came home for the 11th and final run on a Pickens sac fly.

It was an exciting game for new Cards, as Despines was joined by freshmen Lorenz, Pickens, Janda, Monroe, and Williams in having a hit and/or RBI. It was also a great return to the field for Easton Lotus, who scored all three times she reached base (two hits and a walk) and earned an RBI. 

The second game was much tighter, but ultimately saw the away team take the victory again. Unfortunately, Louisville was the home team in this one. Alyssa Zabala took to the circle for the start of this one and held Liberty scoreless for the first two innings. A freshman connection scored the Cards first run when Taylor Monroe singled in Riley Janda in the second. The Cards lead was short-lived, though, as a two-run homer gave Liberty the lead in the third. Though the homer came with two outs, Zabala wasn't missing many bats in the inning. A double preceded a pair of line drives before the home run and a triple followed. Fortunately a ground out ended the threat. 

Louisville couldn't answer in the bottom half, unfortunately seeing Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz go down in order. Lorenz watched strike three on a full count, so it's hard to blame her but it stings a bit. After a fly out opened the fourth, Liberty put runners on first and second with a walk and a single. Another single scored a runner and advancement saw runners at second and third with one out. Zabala played with fire by giving up three straight foul balls to the next batter, but she ultimately picked up the swinging strikeout. Aprile still decided that it was time to give her a break and Gray came in to take over. A flyout ended the inning. 

The two teams exchanged 1-2-3 innings after that and headed to the bottom of the fifth with the score still 3-1. Katie Thatcher took a plunking to open the inning and we saw Aprile employ some of her traditional small-ball. A pinch runner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Ally Alexander followed with a single. Unfortunately, the single was to left center, meaning Williams couldn't advance and making the prior sacrifice functionally a free out. Aprile put a lot of faith in her contact hitters after that, trusting Chelsea Mack to lay down another sacrifice to bring the top of the order up with runners on second and third and two outs. Lotus delivered with a single to score Williams, and the catcher missed the catch on the throw in, allowing Alexander to come in and tie the game. A pop up ended the inning but Louisville had reset things going into the sixth. 

Liberty responded with small ball of their own. A single and a sac bunt put a runner in scoring position and another single scored the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, Louisville had an error of their own on the throw in, keeping a runner in scoring position. Liberty took advantage, singling for the third time in four batters to make it 5-3. A caught stealing by Despines and a pop up ended the inning. Louisville was unable to answer in the bottom half and the game moved to the final frame with the Cards down two. 

After some shuffling in the bottom of the sixth, Louisville was forced into an interesting substitution pattern in the seventh. Gray gave up a double to open the inning and Katie Thatcher moved into the circle in a change that put Despines back behind the plate and Pickens in right field. Thatcher wasn't listed as a pitcher on last year's roster and I really question the move to test her out in the circle given the situation. Liberty's leadoff runner stole third, and Thatcher threw four straight balls to follow. That runner stole second while Thatcher walked the bases loaded. I'm not sure if either walk was intended to get force outs on base, but a leadoff double while you're down only two is recoverable, so I don't understand what appeared to be giving up defensively. A sac fly scored a runner and a pinch runner stole second to keep runners on second and third with one out. A swinging bunt caught Despines off guard and her errant throw kept runners on second and third and allowed another run. Another walk to load the bases saw freshman Ryann Sanders called into the circle. A single up the middle scored two more before a double play ended the inning. From 5-3 to 9-3 just like that. Gross.

Louisville showed life with a leadoff double of their own in the bottom half. It was followed by a fielder's choice that failed to secure an out and gave Louisville runners on the corners with nobody out and the turn of the order coming up. Unfortunately, Mack, Lotus, and Lorenz weren't quite up to the task this time. Mack popped out, Lotus picked up a consolation RBI on a ground out, and Lorenz lined out to end the game. 9-4 final. 

After the encouraging start to the day and the comeback bid in the second game, I'm still scratching my head about the choices in the end. However, there's a long season ahead and Liberty isn't a bad team. We'll have plenty more chances to see the Cards succeed, starting with two games today against Rutgers (1PM) and Radford (3:30). Both are available (at a cost) on the FastPitch Network. 

Tennis Opens Season 4-1

I wanted to give a shoutout to tennis, who we haven't covered much yet this season, as they're doing well to open the year. Their latest victory was a sweep over Austin Peay. While that may not sound like much, it included a doubles win by Alice Otis and Elisabeth Iila over the 25th-ranked doubles pair in the country. The latest win the Cards' second sweep of the year is added to their victories over UNC Greensboro, UT Chattanooga, and Dayton. Their loss came on the road at Middle Tennessee. Louisville gets a week off before heading to Indiana next week. Conference play begins the week after with a trip to SMU on 2/23. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have three on board today as Jared cruises and Daryl tries to fight off illness. There's plenty to cover, to be sure, so be sure to tune in. You can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case