Softball Beats CMU; Big Game for WBB -- SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Hangs on to Beat CMU 13-9

After it looked like a run-rule was in order early in yesterday's game against Central Michigan, Louisville ultimately had to buckle down and defend a much closer than expected lead against the Chips. In the end, the Cards never trailed, and put the game away with a 3-run sixth to deflate CMU's comeback hopes. 

Lindsey Mullen got the start yesterday afternoon and put herself in a bit of a jam early. After a leadoff flyout, Mullen split a pair of singles with a strikeout. A steal put runners on second and third with two outs, but Lindsey was able to coax a full count infield pop-up to end the inning. Louisville's offense immediately went to work to protect her. Easton Lotus opened with a single, and Chelsea Mack followed with a bunt single, again proving why even a sacrifice bunt isn't safe for the defense against her. Bri Despines punished the Chips right away with a first pitch double to score Lotus. Char Lorenz then singled straight up the middle to score the pair, and moved to second as the defense tried to throw out Despines at home. A steal put Lorenz at third, and CMU finally got an out by striking out Madison Pickens. Taylor Monroe had an RBI single to score Lorenz but was thrown out trying to stretch for second. Katie Thatcher stepped in, determined she didn't need anyone on base to pick up an RBI, and dumped her first home run of the season over the fence in left-center. A flyout ended the inning and the Cards led 5-0.

Mullen flirted with danger again in the top of the second, as she and Pickens (starting at catcher) struggled to get on the same page. A leadoff single turned into a runner in scoring position on a passed ball. Another single put runners on the corners and another passed ball put two in scoring position. Mullen got the first out with a weak grounder straight back to the circle that held the runners. She then walked the younger Lotus sister to load the bases with one out. Mullen was able to dig deep and find the outs, though, putting up a pair of Ks to strand the bases loaded. 

Ally Alexander opened the bottom half with a single and moved to second on an error. She got a bit greedy, though, and the catcher got her revenge for the error, when Alexander was picked off by a throw behind. The pickoff was costly, as Lotus then doubled to left-center. A productive ground out from Mack moved Lots to third, and Despines singled her home. Another Char Lorenz single put two in scoring position as Lorenz advanced on the throw, and Pickens made up for her out in the first with a two-run double. Pickens, unfortunately, overran the bag at second expecting a throw home, but the cut off went to second instead and she was too late to retreat. Louisville added three to their lead and held an 8-0 advantage.

Lindsey Mullen's luck ran out in the third. Though she picked up her fourth strikeout of the game on the second batter of the inning, it followed a leadoff double. A bunt single put runners on the corners, and a one-out single scored a run and left two on. Izzy Harrison came on in relief, but her outing was short lived. After nine pitches walked the bases loaded and a run in, Ryann Sanders took the circle to face Emma Lotus. Lotus walked for the second time, this time intentionally after a wild pitch scored a run and opened a base. Sanders then got a pop out and a flyout to end the inning. As Mullen put all three runners that scored on base, she inherited the runs, giving her a final line of 2.1 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. It wasn't terrible given that we haven't seen much of her this season, but it does potentially speak to why the circle has largely been limited to Alyssa Zabala, Sam Booe, and Brooke Gray. 

As CMU's offense warmed up, Louisville's cooled off. The Cards saw a new pitcher in the third and went three up, three down on just seven pitches. Sanders came back out for the fourth and got a good start, picking up a pair of fly outs to open the inning. Back to back two-strike singles were followed by a full-count single to score a run, and Holly Aprile called on Sam Booe in relief. Booe gave up a single to allow a second run to come in, but picked up a ground out to end the inning. 

The Cards added two more in the bottom of the fourth, with the top of the order leading the way again. Lotus got her third hit in as many at-bats, and Mack had another bunt single to advance her. Despines moved both up with a ground out, and Lorenz matched Lotus's continuation of the perfect day by doubling in the pair. Pickens at bat is listed as "out at first 1b to 2b" so I have to assume it was a bunt attempt. Why they left off the "grounded out" part is unclear, but oh well. Louisville extended their lead back to 10-5. 

With Booe in the circle, Aprile shuffled the defensive lineup to get Despines behind the plate. Pickens was moved to right and Thatcher stepped off the field into the DP slot. The move didn't appear to help a ton, as Booe gave up a pair of singles to open the inning anyway. She settled in, though, as the Cards used three straight ground balls to end the inning, never throwing it to first (FC to third, FC to second, FC at second unassisted). The offense faced another three up, three down in the bottom half. 

Sam Booe became the next victim of CMU's resilient offense. A leadoff single was followed by a full-count walk and a four-pitch walk, and Aprile pulled the plug again. In a five-run game with the bases loaded and nobody out, Aprile turned to Brooke Gray as her fifth pitcher of the day. It looked like a great decision, as Gray struck out the first two batters she faced to quickly flip the script of the inning for CMU. Unfortunately, it took one swing of the bat to flip it right back. On the eighth pitch of a full-count at-bat, Carly Sleeman sent one over the fence in left-center for a grand slam. Another full count drew a walk, but Gray got the flyout to end the inning. Booe was credited with three of the runs, and Louisville's lead was just 10-9. 

The Cards responded one more time, with Alexander opening the inning with a double. Lotus followed with a ground ball to third that was ruled a single and an error, as the throw missed the mark but was late anyway. Alexander scored and Lotus moved to second. Mack singled up the middle and moved to second on the throw home, where Easton was beaten to the plate by the throw from her sister Emma in center field. Despines tripled to score Mack, and Lorenz's perfect day ended on a pop up. Pickens singled to score Despines, and Ava Venturelli had a pinch-hit double. Pickens held at third, though, and a foul out ended the inning with no more runs. Louisville pushed the lead back to 13-9, which is where it stayed. Gray pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and the Cards celebrated the victory. 

Louisville's top of the order showed why the offense can be so dangerous today. The first four hitters in the lineup all hit at least .750, with Lotus going a perfect 4-4. Among their 13 (!) hits, those four accounted for 18 total bases. They scored 11 of Louisville's runs and had eight of the RBIs. Preeeeeetty good. They also didn't leave any runners on base. Louisville, as a team, finished with 20 hits for 31 total bases and only left three runners on base. The Cards saw the ball well, striking out just once as a team and drawing no walks. That's right. They had 20 hits on 34 at bats and had just one strikeout. They didn't reach base via walk or error, as both CMU throwing errors were ruled hits before the errors. 

On the pitching side, it was a weird day. There's a strong chance that the cold and wind played a part, but nine earned runs on fifteen hits and seven walks is a yikes. Louisville matched the seven walks with seven strikeouts, but those seven Ks came from pitchers who threw just two of the walks. They'll want to clean that up. 

Louisville made the decision, as the wind stayed strong and the temperature dropped, to cancel yesterday evening's game against Northwestern. The Cards will face the Wildcats in the final game of the Cardinal Classic today at 1:30. Louisville moved to 14-5 with the win yesterday, and they'll see if they can continue what has been a good showing against Big Ten schools so far this year. If you don't feel like heading out to sit in the 30 degree weather at Ulmer, the game will be available on ACCNX. 

WBB Closes Regular Season at Notre Dame

Today is a big one. College Gameday is in South Bend for #25 Louisville and #3 Notre Dame for what is a huge game for both teams. After the win on Sunday against UNC slipped through Louisville's fingers, the Cards find themselves on the wrong side of the double-bye cut line entering the final day. Everything went wrong for Louisville Thursday, despite the victory over Clemson, as Duke beat the Tar out of the Heels, and FSU upset Notre Dame in South Bend to set up a four-way tie for third in the conference. 

This game has been big for Notre Dame since last Sunday, when they lost in double-overtime in Raleigh. The loss put ND and NC State on a collision course for a tie atop the league, with NC State holding the tiebreaker. Notre Dame's loss on Thursday made today's game even more dire. The Irish must win and have NC State lose at SMU to take the top spot. They'd also like to avoid a three game losing streak to close the season, and a Louisville win would give ND back-to-back home losses. Things aren't looking good for Louisville in the "Notre Dame motivation" department. 

On the Louisville side, the Cards are in a pickle. Four teams are vying for two spots among the double-byes. On decision day, UNC plays Virginia in Chapel Hill, and Duke and FSU play each other in Tallahassee. Let's look at the scenarios. One of Duke and FSU will go to 14-4. Louisville holds the two-way tiebreaker over both teams, so the two-way scenarios are simple. If Louisville wins and UNC loses, the Cards will be the 3-seed. If Louisville loses and UNC wins, Louisville will be the 5-seed. 

Now here's where things get a bit tricky, as Louisville and UNC getting the same result triggers a three-way tie. The first three-way tiebreaker is the record amongst the teams in the tie. Louisville has played each team just once, which puts them at a minor disadvantage. Louisville will be 1-1 in this category regardless of who wins the Duke/FSU game. UNC played Duke twice, going 1-1, and FSU once, going 0-1. That means a three-way tie with Duke would be UNC (2-1),  Louisville (1-1), and Duke (1-2). A three-way tie with FSU would see all three teams at 1-1, which triggers tiebreaker 2: record against highest rated teams. Now the battle for first comes back into play. UNC beat NC State, so if the Wolfpack are first in the league, UNC wins the three-way tie and Louisville then holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over FSU. If the Irish are first, FSU takes the three-way tie and UNC holds the head-to-head over Louisville.

Because UNC holds both three-way tiebreakers over Louisville, the Cards cannot get the 4-seed with a loss. Louisville and UNC both losing would mean Duke/FSU winner takes the 3-seed and UNC takes the 4-seed. However, this also means that Louisville can guarantee themselves a double-bye with a win. If Louisville beats Notre Dame, the Irish will be second in the league, regardless of the result of the NC State game against SMU. That means that UNC will win either three-way tiebreaker, and Louisville holds the head-to-head over Duke and FSU.

So, despite all the convoluted tiebreaker scenarios, Louisville's fate is actually pretty simple: win and you get a double-bye; lose and you don't. No pressure, Cards.

Today's game tips at noon on ESPN. 

ACC Tournament Pick 'Em 

Later today, we we ill know the seedings for the ACC Tournament. We will have our annual Pick 'Em...and you can enter in pour comments sections..up to tip off Wednesday. We will also have Sonya's pick in  the comments later today...winner hets their choice between a Cracker Barrel Gift Card or a Wagner's Restaaurant ( a UofL favorite...) Gift Card...a $25  card!  The tournament is free, just make sure to enter a total score for the final game guess, in case of ties. closest to wins... 

Fire away in the comments section when we have an offiicial finish...

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case