Late Rally Boosts SB Cards -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Beats #13 Stanford 8-3

The Louisville softball team opened their long homestand and ACC season with a resounding win last night. The Cards brought in the Cardinal from Stanford and treated the #13/16 team to an 8-3 defeat in just Louisville's second game at Ulmer this season. Louisville is facing Stanford in their first ACC series of the year, but it's a bit out of sequence, as the Cards will host a pair of midweek games sandwiching the Cardinal Classic before their next ACC series comes on the road starting on March 13th. 

Alyssa Zabala took the start for Louisville yesterday evening and got off to a bit of an unfortunate start. Zabala put herself squarely in the crosshairs for an earned run by hitting the first batter (who had already fouled off three 2-strike pitches) and then allowing a steal. A productive groundout put the runner on third and a single made the score 1-0. Another single put two on before a flyout gave the Cards two outs. Zabala intentionally walked the bases loaded to get a force out at any base, which turned out to be unnecessary since the next batter grounded out to first. Louisville escaped with just a 1-0 deficit, but they responded with a 1-2-3 bottom half. 

Zabala still didn't have the strikeout pitch working in the second inning, but she was much more efficient in her return to the circle. Despite a long full-count at-bat (which went 10 pitches) that ultimately resulted in a flyout, Zabala was able to go 1-2-3 in the second and used just 17 pitches. The Cards tried to get the small ball going in the second inning after Bri Despines took an HBP on the first pitch of the at-bat. Camryn Lookadoo bunted her to second, but a pair of groundouts ended the inning. Zabala looked like she might be in a groove in the third, but she still wasn't able to miss bats. Three pitches saw two outs, but she opened the third batter in the inning with three straight balls. Needing to bring the ball back into the strike zone came back to haunt her, as the 3-1 pitch was smoked to straightaway center to put Stanford up 2-0. A flyout ended the inning. 

Louisville once again got their leadoff hitter on when Ava Venturelli walked, and the speedster freshman Addy O'Dell replaced her on the base paths. O'Dell advanced to second with one out when Easton Lotus reached on a fielding error. Both moved up on a Chelsea Mack ground out, but a strikeout kept the score at 2-0. The top of the fourth saw Zabala yield to Anna Wise in the circle, and Wise got to work quickly, with a strikeout and a groundout. An error and a wild pitch put another runner in scoring position, but Wise picked up another K to end the threat and keep Louisville in striking distance. For the third straight inning, Louisville got their leadoff batter on base, this time on a single by Despines, but for the third straight inning they stranded runners in scoring position. The threats continued to grow, though, as Louisville had the bases loaded with one out before a strikeout and a groundout squashed the chance. 

Wise continued to be effective in the fifth, pitching around a one-out walk. A single put runners on first and second with two outs, but Wise cleaned it up with another groundout. Then came the Cards. Again, they put the leadoff runner on base, and this time it was with the top of the lineup at the plate. Lotus singled and Mack sacrifice bunted her to second. It looked like the threat might come to nothing again when Madison Pickens struck out, but Despines homered to right to tie the game at two. Louisville wasn't quite done, though as Lookadoo walked to follow. A four-pitch walk to Taylor Monroe gave Louisville two-on with two-out and Stanford went to the bullpen. The new pitcher advanced the runners with a wild pitch, but it didn't matter anyway as Riley Janda worked a full-count walk. Venturelli singled straight back to the pitcher on her first pitch and scored a pair of runs before a flyout ended the inning. Louisville flipped a two-run deficit to two-run lead at 4-2. 

Stanford got a runner on in the top of the sixth via walk, but it was no issue for Wise, who followed it with two groundouts to end the inning. The big inning in the fifth meant Louisville opened the sixth with Lotus again, and she made it five straight innings with the leadoff runner on base. This time she walked, though it looked like she'd be stranded early by a strikeout and fly out. Despines had the bat working, though, as she singled to keep the inning alive. Lookadoo brought the big bat this time, knocking a three-run homer to left. Again, a walk followed the home run and a single followed the walk. Venturelli picked up another RBI by singling, but Louisville couldn't take advantage of a wild pitch putting runners on second and third. Nevertheless, the Cards led 8-2 with Stanford down to their final three outs. 

The nice thing about a six-run lead is that you've got a lot of cushion. Louisville didn't need it, but when the Cardinal opened the top of the seventh with a home run, the Cards still had a five-run lead and still had little stress. Even a grand slam keeps you ahead. Wise shook off the home run with a first pitch groundout straight back to the circle, though she wasn't able to duplicate that on an infield single on the next at-bat. Louisville ended the threat and the game with a nice defensive play, turning a 5-4-3 double-play, which is quite difficult to do in softball, and the celebration began. 

While small-ball might be Louisville's primary form of attack this season, it was nice to see that they have some pop as well. A pair of home runs, both scoring multiple runs, would have actually been enough to still win this game. Louisville got down early, but they didn't let the ranking and the situation overwhelm them. The Cards stayed focused and kept themselves threatening, and eventually it paid off. Louisville will try to take the series in game two today at 1PM. While the finale tomorrow will be on ACC Network, today's game will be streaming only on ACCNX. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case