Louisville Run Rule Beats Rain -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Thump Cuse 13-5

When you see a final score of 13-5, you might think one team teed off on the other for most of the game. If I told you a team led 5-0, you'd probably say "Yeah, that tracks." What might surprise you is that it was Syracuse who led 5-0, and they did so in the middle of the fifth inning. Louisville scored ten runs in the bottom of the tenth and walked off the game in the bottom of the sixth with a run-rule. The Cards needed those runs, as the game was moved up to beat the rain, and Louisville couldn't afford to extend into the weather or lose a game to Syracuse. The Orange are now just 18-21 (4-13) on the season. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start yesterday, and the ball was flying in Ulmer Stadium. After two quick outs, Zabala gave up a double and a two-run homer followed to give the Orange a lead in the opening frame. The Cards went 1-2-3 in the bottom half and that was that. Louisville had a chance in the second following a one-out double that saw Madison Pickens end up on third when she advanced on the throw. Unfortunately, she lost the race to the plate on the next ground ball when the shortstop came home instead of getting the out at first. Syracuse hit another two-out home run in the top of the third, and Alyssa Zabala's day ended after she got the final out of the inning. 

Louisville followed going down 3-0 with another 1-2-3 inning and things were beginning to look a little grim for the Cards. Anna Wise replaced Zabala in the fourth, but gave up a double to open her day. She got a strikeout and used two ground outs to get out of the inning, but she was relieved after her first batter of the fifth. A single opened the fifth and it was clear that Wise wasn't missing too many bats. Before that, though, Louisville showed signs of life again in the bottom of the fourth. Bri Despines walked to open the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and reached third on a productive ground out. With Pickens at the plate, Syracuse chose to intentionally walk her to give them a double-play opportunity. Jordan Williams obliged, hitting it to the short stop, but Pickens reached second anyway. Despines held at third and Louisville had two in scoring position with two outs. They failed to score once more. 

When Brooke Gray replaced Wise in the top of the fifth, she got off to an inauspicious start as well. A four-pitch walk put runners on first and second with nobody out. A single loaded the bases and a sac fly scored a run. Another walk reloaded the bases and another sac fly made the score 5-0. After a steal put two runners back into scoring position, Gray finally got out of the inning with a strikeout. 

Enter the Louisville offense. The Cards opened the inning with a strikeout, but then proceeded to put ten straight batters on base. Louisville went walk, bunt single, walk, Despines grand slam (5-4), HBP, single, single (5-5), double (7-5), double (8-5), and walk before Syracuse finally got the second out of the inning. You may have noticed a discontinuity in the scoring. That's because Louisville broke the 5-5 tie with a double steal of second and home. They were feeling it. The second out was a sacrifice fly, extending the Cards' lead to 9-5, but they still weren't done. Easton Lotus laid down a bunt single, and then Louisville executed another double steal to make it 10-5. Lotus stole third as well, but Syracuse finally got out of the nightmare inning with a ground out. 

With the lead, Gray settled in and sat the Syracuse batters down in short order, giving up a two-out single but being relatively unbothered. After the offense took over and the pitching let the Orange down a bit, their defense stumbled in the bottom of the sixth. Camryn Lookadoo started the inning with a grounder to first, but it was booted and the error put her on base. Madison Pickens laid down a bunt, which was scored a hit, but Syracuse's 3B tried to get the out anyway and earned a throwing error to move the runners into scoring position. Jordan Williams walked to load the bases with nobody out. Syracuse got the first out of the inning on a foul out, but the game would end on yet another error. Ava Venturelli singled to center to score a pair, and the charging center fielder was unable to come up with it cleanly, allowing Williams to come home as well and completing the run rule. 

Thirteen straight runs is great, but Louisville probably can't depend on that in every game. They'll get another chance to win in a more normal game today when the Cards and Orange compete for game two of the series. That one will be at 1PM on ACCNX. The rain should be done, so head down to Ulmer for Louisville's penultimate home game if you're feeling up for it. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball shuts down Ga. Tech to sweep series -- Monday Cardnal Couple

 3-1 Complete Game for Alyssa Zabala in win. 

Since we have moved out of Cards WBB coverage for the time being, let's catch up on one of the spring sports at UofL. Louisville Softball picked up a nice win against Georgia Tech today at Ulmer Stadium to go 29-7 on the season and improve to 6-3 in the ACC. Alyssa Zabala went the distance in the circle for the Cards, picking up her seventh win of the season while allowing just three hits. 

For 3- 1/2 innings, this one was a scoreless affair. The Cards finally broke through for a run when they managed to "fill the bags full of Cards" when Easton Lotus opened the bottom of the fourth with a single and Camryn Lookadoo and Madison Pickens were hit by pitches. Taylor Monroe sent a deep fly to center that was caught... but Lotus tagged and scored for UofL.

Ava is a junior for the Cards from Taunton, MA. 

Ava Venturelli made it 2-0 Cards with a solo home run and the Cards added their final run of the game when Lookadoo hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Chelsea Mack. 

Georgia Tech opened the seventh with a solo home run off Zabala, but she sent the Bees to the dugout out with three straight outs after that and ended the game. 

The Cards return to action Tuesday when they travel to Richmond, KY to face Eastern Kentucky University. The Colonels are 18-15 on the season...but 11-4 at home. It's scheduled for an ESPN+ broadcast...starting at 6 p.m.  

paulie

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

WBB Drops Back-and-Forth Battle; Softball Stays Hot -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Lose Second Straight at Home 73-68

After last week's drubbing at the hands of Virginia Tech, it looked as if Louisville women's basketball had course corrected when they beat Georgia Tech by 18 in Atlanta. That clearly wasn't the case, unfortunately, as the Cards looked all out of sorts against Virginia in a crucial home loss yesterday afternoon. What looked to be another episode of Louisville sleepwalking for two or three quarters before turning on cruise control to win easily turned into a highway pileup as the Cards allowed an extended 22-8 run over the final 7:37, ultimately losing the fourth quarter 26-14. 

It was just the third time Virginia has defeated Louisville all time and just the second since Louisville joined the ACC. The last victory for the Hoos in the series came in Charlottesville on March 1st, 2015. The Cards and Cavs split the series in Louisville's first season in the ACC. That loss was Louisville's second in three attempts against Virginia. Since, Louisville had been on an 11-game winning streak.

The first quarter looked fine for the Cards, although the defense left a bit to be desired. The Cards shot 54%, outpacing UVA's 44%, but an extra three for the Cavs put them ahead 16-15 after the first. Both teams cooled in the second, shooting a combined 33% from the floor. Louisville hit just four shots in the quarter. Again, Virginia had an extra three (and two extra buckets), and extended their lead to six at halftime. The Cards headed to the locker room trailing 32-26.

Whatever Coach Jeff Walz had to say in his halftime speech probably wasn't PG. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Virginia was just 5-10 in conference and 13-13 overall entering the game. Maybe he pointed out that the Cavaliers had already knocked off FSU and UNC as ranked teams and Louisville didn't want to join that list. Whatever it was, Louisville seemed to take it to heart, calling up a 28-15 third quarter performance to invert the lead in the game. The Cards shot 50% from the floor and hit three three's in the third quarter. The defense was still suspect (UVA shot 40%), but it seemed fine given the scoreboard. Like I said, it looked like another iteration of a game we've seen numerous times this season. Right up until it didn't.

Carrying a 54-47 lead into the fourth quarter with the Yum! Center now fully engaged, Louisville opened the scoring in the final period (after a couple of misses) with a steal and a fast-break layup to extend the lead to nine. It would never see double-digits. Over the next couple of minutes, basket trading kept the lead at nine before the wheels fell off. A 10-1 run erased Louisville's lead. In that time, Virginia's Camryn Taylor picked up her fourth foul. Taylor, who has fouled out of a handful of games this year, was a bit of a liability defensively. Did Louisville expose that liability? Nope. Taylor played the last five minutes of the game without picking up her fifth. Olivia Cochran, on the other hand, fouled out with two minutes to go, having just picked up her fourth before heading to the bench earlier in the quarter. 

Virginia's run, which I mentioned eventually stretched to 22-8, was 17-3 before Louisville made a field goal. The Cards went over six minutes without scoring from the floor, and made it to the free throw line only twice. In the meantime, Virginia did whatever they wanted on the offensive end, including pull down rebounds. The game was on a silver platter and Louisville fumbled it away. Sydney Taylor hit a three with seven seconds left to make things interesting, but Louisville had to foul to try to get the ball back and the excitement ended quickly. Here's where I make a quick note about a frustrating NCAA rule. The timeout advancement is fine, I get it. However, if you make an attempt to inbound the ball and it is denied by the defense, you shouldn't then get the free advancement. What's the point of guarding the inbound pass at all at that point? 

Nyla Harris once again paced the Cards with 17 points. She finished one rebound shy of a double-double in her 37 minutes. Kiki Jefferson did pick up the double-double, collecting 10 rebounds to match her 10 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Sydney Taylor also came off the bench, and she was the only other Cardinal in double figures as she scored 15. The remainder of Louisville's starting lineup could only combine to match Harris's 17 points. 

The FRED Report

F - Free Throws: Louisville's free throw shooting was pretty good if you look at just the second half. They were 7-7 in the third quarter and 5-6 in the fourth. Unfortunately, we can't ignore the second quarter in which they shot just 2-7 from the line. 14-20 is still 70% on the button, though, so it's a lowercase 'f'. 

R - Rebounding: This one is weird. Louisville had three fewer rebounds (39-36) and five fewer offensive rebounds (17-12), but they outscored Virginia 19-10 on second chance points. Virginia averages a 4.4 rebound advantage in their games, while Louisville averages 5.7 more boards than the opponent. Louisville just about hit their mark exactly and held Virginia below their average. That was a lot of preamble to award a lowercase 'r'. Could it have been better? Yes, of course, but I'm not willing to say it was rebounding that did Louisville in. Rebounding down the stretch? Maybe.

E - Effort/Execution: Ha. That fourth quarter was not good. The game was in the grasp and then it wasn't. Louisville shot just 29% from the floor in the final stanza and had the six minute shooting drought. They also had 15 turnovers and, oh by the way did I mention?, lost at home to a .500 team at the end of February. If you want more, they also trailed at halftime. No letter.

D - Defense: Virginia averages 15 turnovers per game. They turned it over 14 times. They average 73.4 points and shoot 40% from the floor. They shot 42% in this one. Had Louisville's defense been an average of what it had been throughout the game, Virginia would have scored just 60(ish). Giving up 26 points to that Virginia team in the fourth quarter would undo pretty much anything good Louisville had done in the first three quarters anyway, but they hadn't done much. No letter. 

Final tally: f-r-_-_ and I'm being generous with the rebounding score. This is not at all what you want to see from Louisville coming down the stretch. 

The Cards have two games left in the regular season. Fortunately for Louisville, those two games are against their direct competition for the four-seed and the final double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Unfortunately, that means they have to play FSU and Notre Dame (on the road) to close out the year. It's all to play for in these last two games, and Louisville can still finish the regular season strong. The Cards are back in action on Senior Night at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday night. 

Softball Wins on Walk-off Grand Slam

After the early morning loss to Furman on Saturday, Louisville seemed up against it in an even earlier start yesterday against Bowling Green. The Eagles scored three runs in the top of the first to put the Cards under pressure immediately. After tying the game in the second, both teams would go without scoring for quite some time. Louisville exploded in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early, closing it out with a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam from freshman Ava Venturelli to win by mercy rule 11-3. 

Brooke Gray got the start for the Cards in this one and was dinged up early. She ultimately pitched a clean second inning but gave up three hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks in those two innings. She struck out four, but also hit two batters. Lindsey Mullen relieved Gray and gave up one hit and one walk with two strikeouts in two full innings, and Alyssa Zabala put up an identical line in her two innings while taking the win. 

Louisville got offense from up and down the order, with Riley Frizell leading the way. Frizell had three hits in four at bats and knocked in four runs. Venturelli, by way of the grand slam, also had four RBI on one hit in one at bat. Chelsea Mack matched Frizell with three hits, going 3/3 on the day, and scored two runs. Bailee Richardson scored two runs on a walk and a hit and Gabby Holloway had an RBI and a run on two walks. Vanessa Miller, Pickle Winkler, and Jac Hasty each had a hit and a run, with Miller and Winkler also picking up an RBI and Miller and Hasty each adding a walk. 

All in all, the Cards finished with 11 hits in 26 at bats and they added five walks to only one strikeout. Louisville left just six on base. Louisville, who moved to 12-2 with the victory, will open their home season tomorrow when they host Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers will come into Ulmer for a 5PM start on Tuesday. No video is listed. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Newcomers in the New Year; Part 1 -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

New Faces in Spring Sports

The turning of the calendar page to January means all kinds of things. For example, now I can officially ignore the oversized planner that spanned the 2023-24 academic calendar in favor of the more compact 2024 planner that I bought in November rather than only unofficially ignore it. It also means that we'll start to think about spring, despite winter beginning just over two weeks ago. Funny how your brain works, right?

While we're just getting into conference play in basketball, spring sports will be on us in hurry, so let's take a little bit to look at the new names we'll need to get used to in softball and lacrosse this season. This will be a two part series, as I'll cover softball today and lacrosse on Saturday. 

Softball Sees Big Turnover

The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away. Last season's softball team saw quite a bit of the taking, so a fair bit of giving was needed to fill the spots. Right out of the gate (we're going to go in number order because it's easiest to compare the rosters) we see a change. 

Wearing 00 for Louisville in 2024 will not be Cassie Grizzard, as she transferred to Virginia Tech. Instead, it will be Izzy Harrison, the junior transfer from UK. Harrison is a right-handed pitcher who made 10 starts in 27 appearances for the Wildcats. She threw 47 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. The Franklin, Indiana native was 3-3 in decisions at UK, with a 6.40 ERA. She threw two complete games. Harrison is a one-way player, as she saw only one at-bat in her two seasons with the Cats. Louisville needs to replace a lot of pitching, so we'll hope that Holly Aprile can calm Harrison down in the circle to reduce the number of walks and runs allowed.

Brooke Gray is the big name here. Gray comes in as the KY Gatorade Softball Player of the Year and Kentucky's Miss Softball. Gray was the MVP of the 2022 and 2023 state tournaments, both of which Ballard won. In her final two seasons with Ballard, Gray was 57-0 and struck out 687 in 376 innings. Her ERA was 0.82 as a junior and 0.81 as a senior. Gray is among the most lauded incoming freshmen that Louisville has had in any sport, especially as a hometown hero. Gray will join Alyssa Zabala as the two leaders on the pitching staff, as the Cards have to replace starts vacated by Taylor Roby. Gray can't help fill the void in the batter's box, but she should be a sight to see in the circle. Oh yeah... and Gray wears #1.

We won't dwell on the missing number 2 here, as Paige Geraghty retains the 3 (it's Sarah Gordon, the star catcher who transferred to Georgia. You remember her. Let's not talk about it.) We got one whole player before a new face showed up again. Bailee Richardson transfers in from Georgia State and wears number 4. I wrote a bit about Richardson at the time that her transfer was announced, because it was the summer and news was gold. Richardson was the team leader in RBIs (33), doubles (8), home runs (9), and slugging percentage (.551). In that article, I prognosticated that Richardson would slot in next to her former teammate, Daisy Hess, on the left side of the infield. With Easton Lotus at second, that would still seem a safe bet. I also suggested that might move Ally Alexander to catcher. We'll talk more about that in a bit.

After Pickle Winkler, we say goodbye to the number 7 as Hannah File graduates, but we haven't gotten rid of the 8. That's right, someone will step into the very big shoes left by Taylor Roby and wear the 8. Ava Venturelli is a freshman outfielder from Taunton, Massachusetts. You may remember that Louisville needs an outfielder as Korbe Otis also departed. Venturelli (a few times typing that and she might just become Ava) was a three-peat champion in high school and was nominated for the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior. She was named the 20th overall recruit by Extra Innings and was No. 71 in the Extra Elite 100. Venturelli hit .479 with a .565 OBP as a senior and had 9 home runs and 35 RBIs. Her power was down a bit, but perhaps because she was being walked after hitting .457 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs as a junior. 

Two more newbies come after Vanessa Miller. Chelsea Mack is a sophomore transfer from UK, joining Harrison as a player changing allegiances. Louisville's new #10 was a role player for UK, as she saw just 13 at-bats last season. She was used as a pinch runner effectively, as she stole 8 bases and scored six runs. One of each of those came in UK's win over Louisville. Mack hit .231 with three singles and had one strikeout. Experience is hard to come by as a freshman, but I think that the outfielder could find a spot in this lineup.

Char Lorenz

Jac Hasty

Next is one of the reasons I'm confused about Louisville's infield. Jac Hasty is a C/INF from Chesapeake, Virginia. Hasty joins Kiley Goff (39) and Char Lorenz (42) as incoming catchers, so I'm just going to talk about them all here. Goff seems most likely to win the spot. She's a senior transfer from Maryland who started her career in her backyard at Purdue. She's from West Lafayette. In her freshman season, she started 40 games and played in all 44. She was second on the team in runs and hits and led the team in triples. Last season with Maryland, she started 54 games, primarily as a catcher. She led the team in runs and led the Big Ten in thrown out baserunners. On the base paths herself, Goff was 18-22. Pretty good. Hasty and Lorenz, both freshman, will have their work cut out for them against a veteran like Goff, especially one with her numbers already in college. Both freshmen come with success of their own in high school, so we'll keep an eye on how this battle plays out. 

Kiley Goff

For the first time after Hasty at 11, we have two players back-to-back that are returning, both of whom I've already mentioned (12-Lotus, 13-Zabala). Riley Frizell is the next newcomer at 14, and she transfers in from Missouri. The infielder (wait, there are a bunch of those) started in 49 games for the Tigers last year, 28 times at 1B and 21 times at DP. We'll have to get used to a regular designated player without Roby playing two ways every other game. As a junior, Frizell hit .216 with five doubles, a triple, five homers, and 22 RBI. Her OBP ticks up a bit to .284, but her .665 OPS isn't stunning. Where she excels is on defense. Frizell finished with a .977 fielding percentage as a freshman, dropped slightly to .962 as a sophomore (only 2 errors on 53 chances), and then posted a 1.000 fielding percentage last year with 213 putouts and five assists. Louisville needs consistency on defense. Perhaps Frizell can help provide it.

Had Frizell worn 77 like she did at Mizzou instead of 14, we would have had six uninterrupted players, so the next four (Forsythe, Holloway, Hess, and Alexander) are veterans on the team. Katie Thatcher wears 24, replacing Mikayla Hurst in the number. (I didn't mention it earlier, but Jac Hasty inherits the 11 from Taja Felder.) Thatcher is a utility player that bats and throws left-handed. The freshman from Rock Falls, Illinois is an on-base machine, as she hit .553 as a senior. She turned 57 hits in 51 runs and 42 RBIs while only hitting 9 homers. Though not listed as a pitcher on Louisville's roster, Thatcher was 19-3 with a 1.81 ERA and 214 strikeouts last year. She was named to the first team all-state team last year and was first team all-conference in the last two. Thatcher was named the 2023 Sauk Valley Player of the Year.

Maddi Grant wears 25, Sam Booe wears 51, and I've already talked about Kiley Goff and Char Lorenz. That means that Lindsey Mullen (28) is the last newcomer (players only) on the squad. Mullen is a freshman from Leesburg, Virginia and is a right-handed pitcher. We'll see whether or not she plays both ways at UofL, but Mullen added a .469 average and 8 homers to her sparkling 0.39 ERA last season. She also struck out 193 batters in 89.2 innings. Mullen was the 4C Co-Region Player of the Year last year and helped her team to the state quarterfinals. Lindsey will join what looks to be an impressive bunch of arms to try to solidify what has been a sore spot for the Cards of late, despite strong individual performances. 

In addition to the players, Holly Aprile's coaching staff sees a bit of a shakeup this year. Griffin Joiner remains the first assistant, but the rest of the staff (with the exception of an undergraduate manager) turns over. Bryce Neal and Casey Bonk are out as assistant coach and director of operations and Aprile brings in two assistants as well as a new ops director in response. Bryan Sabatella comes over after two seasons as the hitting and infield coach at Utah Tech and DeeDee Morris joins the staff after 8 seasons as an assistant at Mount St. Joseph University. Morris joined the Mount after a year as a Graduate assistant at her alma mater, NKU. Jeremy Randolph is the new director of operations, coming to Louisville after two years in the same role for the UCF baseball team. Randolph played most of his collegiate ball for Wright State before moving to Alabama as a graduate transfer. Randolph led the Tide in appearances (22) and saves (9) in 2019 before being drafted by the Cardinals in the 26th round. He joined the staff at UCF after one year in the minors. 

All in all, the Cards welcome 11 new players to the roster and say goodbye to just seven. It should be an exciting season this year as Louisville looks to build on an NCAA Regional appearance from a year ago. The Cards will get underway in just over a month as they kick off the season at the FGCU Classic on February 9th.

As I mentioned, tune in for the continuation of this miniseries on Saturday when we look at lacrosse.

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

All photos are official player portraits from gocards.com.