Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Cards gored by Bulls

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Nevins' three hitter shuts down Cardinal bats

-Radio tomorrow


The University of Louisville softball team falls to South Florida 3-0 in semifinal action in Tampa Friday evening.

A case of the Cards not getting the hits needed against the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and USF striking for three runs in the third against starter Rachel LeCoq.

Louisville got two hits from Maggie Ruckenbrod and one from Katelyn Mann but couldn't piece any runs together against Sara Nevins in seven innings. Louisville allowed only three hits as well...but they came at a crucial time, getting all three in the third inning. Caralisa Connell came in to provide 3.2 shutout innings of relief, allowing no hits and striking out five.

Louisville had runners on second and third in the second inning but couldn't push anything across the plate

It is only the third shutout thrown against Louisville this season...Texas being the last team to blank the Cards, back in March.  

South Florida gets Notre Dame in the final game Saturday...the Irish running roughshod over Depaul 9-1 to advance.

The Cards most certainly will make the NCAA Tournament at 46-11 but may have put their chances of hosting a regional in jeopardy by losing in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals. The NCAA Tourament pairings and site will be announced Sunday.

12 runs Friday, zero runs Saturday. What a difference a day (and a pitcher) can make...


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We take to the airwaves again this morning at 11 a.m. for another exciting hour of Cardinal Couple Radio on Crescent Hill Radio.

We'll discuss plenty of softball, basketball, volleyball and other topics of interest concerning UofL women's sports.

You can get in on the fun by listening at:

http://www.crescenthillradio.com

You can also tweet Jeff during the show at our Twitter account @CardCoupleRadio.

Join us, won't you?


-Paulie

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Cards crush Orange

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Early production, Trimble's blast send Cards to the semifinal


Sandy Pearsall may have said it best. In an interview that we'll play on the Saturday Cardinal Couple Radio Show, I asked Coach P. about the overall power of the Louisville batters..

" I was talking to the assistants about that the other afternoon. I said to them...what if we were the opposition and had to look across the diamond and see what Louisville had coming up to bat against us. Holy cow! We're scary..."

Louisville was scary, indeed on Thursday...pounding Syracuse for 12 hits and 12 runs in a 12-3 win.

Louisville wasted no time in unpacking the hitting sticks. In the bottom of the first, Katie Keller led things off with a single, moved to third on a Jordan Trimble bunt and scored when Maggie Ruckenbrod reached on a grounder to second.
Katelyn Mann cleared the bags with a triple to make it 3-0. Hannah Kiyohara's single brought Mann in and Kayla Soles smashed a triple to score Kiyohara. 5-0 Cards before the chalk dust on the first base line had settled.

Syracuse tried to make a contest of it. They settled down and got the Cards retired in the second with two hits but no runs. They cut the gap to 5-3 in the top of the third with a pair of home runs.

Louisville was nowhere finished with the offensive firepower, though.

Soles started the home half of the third with a two out fielder's choice. Taner Folwer took one deep to left that appeared to be caught at the fence...but the umpires ruled it a trapped ball and Fowler was awarded first base. After Keller was plunked by a pitch to load the bases, Trimble emptied the bags with a blast to left-center. It was her sixth homer of the year and second grand slam. 9-3 Louisville.

The Cards added three more in the fourth. Kiyohara scored when she reached on a fielder's choice and Soles singled. That set the stage for Fowler's two run blast to left that made it 12-3 Cards. The game was ended after five innings because of the eight-run rule.

Rachel LeCoq went three innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Caralisa Connell was "good Carl" in the final two...holding the Orange scoreless and striking out three.

Louisville advances to play #2 seed South Florida today at 6:30 p.m. The Bulls handled Providence 3-0 in the final game of the day.

In earlier action, #4 seed DePaul won a pitcher's duel with Georgetown 1-0. #1 seed Notre Dame shut out Seton Hall 6-0.

On a opening day of BIG EAST Tournament play where five teams managed a total of only four runs combined, Louisville showed why they were the offensive leader in just about every imaginable offense stat in the BIG EAST this season.

May the bats be with you again tomorrow...Cards!

-Paulie

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Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Unfinished business...Softball heads to Tampa

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards open BIG EAST Tournament against nemesis Syracuse


It has been an outstanding season so far for the Louisville Softball squad. With a 45-10 record and third place finish in the BIG EAST regular season, UofL can point proudly to their achievements so far and kudos go to the team for providing two pitchers with 20 or more wins and two players with over .400 averages at bat.

There is still some unfinished business at hand, though.

First on the docket...defense of their 2012 BIG EAST Tournament title. The road will not be easy in the single-elimination event. Opening foe Syracuse hung one of Louisville's ten losses on them back on March 29th. in Ulmer Stadium. It was the conference opener for both schools and the Cards fell in the second game of the double header 4-2 after winning the first challenge 8-1. Louisville rebounded to take the "rubber match" 9-0 the next day.

There's also the history of Syracuse's success against UofL in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Orange holds a 2-1 advantage - defeating the Cards in the finals in 2010 and 2011 in Ulmer Stadium. Gone from those teams is SU pitching ace Jenna Caira, but so is Cardinal shut out star Tori Collins.

Louisville holds a 12-8 lifetime advantage over Syracuse. The Cards will look to advance to a Friday, May 10th. semifinal duel against either #2 seed South Florida or #7 seed Providence. The final game of the championship will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. and will be televised live of ESPN2.

Junior second baseman Katie Keller provided the greatest offense spark for the Cards in the 55 game regular season...batting .420 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI's, and 58 runs scored. Senior first baseman Alicja Wolny was close behind with a .417 average, 10 fence clearers and 51 RBI's.
Senior centerfielder Jordan Trimble slugged for a .387 mark...driving in 24 runs and scoring 47.

The duo of Caralisa Connell and Rachel LeCoq had 291 strikeouts in 354 innings pitched. Connell tossed for a 2.17 ERA while going 25-4. LeCoq produced a 1.69 ERA to go with her 20-6 record.

The word on Connell is that she is healthy and available for BIG EAST play. She pitched just one inning in the three-game set against Notre Dame...control problems allegedly being the reason for the lack of circle time.

Louisville has reached the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament every year since joining the conference in 2006 and advanced to the finals in five out of their seven appearances.

The Cards are hovering on hosting a first round regional site for the NCAA Tournament. A three-day sweep in Tampa would most certainly bolster those chances of getting to play at Ulmer Stadium in mid-May. They have displayed the ability to hit the cover off the ball at times...but were shut down by Notre Dame pitcher 3-1 in the final regular season game in South Bend.

For Louisville, a chance to gain one of the two post-season trophies still exists...if they can win three on the Bulls home field. The bats need to be popping and the pitching precise and powerful.

A great time to start a winning streak. We hope the bags are full of Cards leading up to Mother's Day and that home plate delivery comes often.

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Thursday and Friday action of the quaterfinals and semis will be available on bigeast.tv

Louisville plays at 4 p.m. Thursday. The first game of the day is at 10 a.m.



-Paulie

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Monday Cardinal Couple -- UofL bats fall silent...Notre Dame takes BIG EAST regular season

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Irish foil Cards attempt to take regular season crown

-Lacrosse excluded from NCAA Tournament


Louisville took their quest for a back-to-back BIG EAST Softball regular season title to the final day of the regular season but fell 3-1 to Notre Dame Sunday in South Bend.

It would have been nice if they could have saved a few of the 15 runs they scored Saturday against UND in the second game for a rainy day.

Instead, they ran into Notre Dame pitcher who was having no such Cardinal batting barrages. She limited UofL to six hits and had a shutout working through six innings. She also helped her own cause by driving in a run and scoring another at the plate.

Notre Dame struck first with a run from two singles and held that 1-0 advantage until the fifth inning when they got a two-out, two run double to take it to 3-0.

Louisville started the top of the seventh with a lead off homer from Katie Keller, her 12th. of the season. Hannah Kiyohara followed with a double to give the Cards a nice situation with the tying run at the plate and no outs...but UND's Winter sent the next three Cardinal batters to the dugout.


Louisville didn't threaten much in the game. Back-to-back singles from Kiyohara and Taner Fowler gave UofL two on with one out in the second...but both got stranded.

LeCoq takes the loss to go to 20-6 on the season. She pitched 17 innings over the three-game series, leading to the question:

Is Caralisa Connell OK?

With two losses in the three-game series, the Cards actually fall to third place in the final BIG EAST standings, South Florida sneaking past Louisville for second place in the conference. Louisville ends the regular season with a 45-10 record and went 18-4 in the BIG EAST. South Florida went 18-3.

Typical head-scratching BIG EAST philosophy at work here. Why don't all the teams play the same amount of conference games...and why can't all the teams play each other? The Cards and South Florida did not meet in conference regular season play. USF did not play Notre Dame.


A brief return to Louisville and then it's off to Tampa for the BIG EAST Tournament. The Cards will be the #3 seed and play on Thursday against Syracuse. The Orange were 23-28 on the year and 10-12 in the BIG EAST.

Louisville's game time is 4 p.m. We're still checking to see if there will be TV for the Thursday and Friday games. We hope the BIG EAST TV at least streams it live on the internet, if nothing else...

Saturday's championship game will be shown on ESPN 2.

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Louisville Lacrosse finished the season 11-6 but was not selected as one of the 26 teams for the NCAA Lacrosse Championships.

Five from the BIG EAST did get in...Syracuse (16-3) the regular season and tournament champions got the automatic bid. Georgetown, Loyola, Notre Dame and Connecticut got at-large bids.

The Loyola Greyhounds were 10-8 on the season but did defeat Louisville in regular season play.

A tough break for the LAX Cards.

We have no doubts that Louisville will qualify for the BIG EAST and NCAA post-season events next season. Since the "American League" will not have a Lacrosse competition, it looks like the Cards will still be in the BIG EAST in the sport for 2014.

We hope they upgrade the format to allow eight teams participate in the post-season tournament.

Louisville was peaking at the end of the year and that will continue until next spring. We drove by the Lacrosse Stadium around 10:30 Friday morning on our way to park for the Oaks...and the team was practicing as we went by. Had to give them a horn-honk and shouted "Lacrosse Rocks!" out the window. I got a few raised crosses in reply and a few whoops.

-Paulie

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Sunday Cardinal Couple --Softball takes doubleheader at Villanova

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Softball Cards take two one-run victories

-Tennis eliminated from BIG EAST Tournament 4-2

-Lacrosse today vs. Cincinnati


After producing 23 runs a week ago in a double header, the University of Louisville softball team could just manage six yesterday against the Villanova Wildcats. They were enough, however, to allow Louisville to take both games and improved their record to 41-6 and 14-1 in the BIG EAST.

All that bragging we did on their offensive prowess on Saturday's Cardinal Couple Radio Show must have gotten to their heads. Either that, or the Villanova team tuned in and vowed to make liars out of us...

Louisville 1 - Villanova 0

It was Whitney Arion who provided the only first game fireworks...a second inning fence clearer that put Louisville up 1-0. The Cards had a chance in the fourth to add to the lead...with two outs Arion wrangled a walk, Hannah Kiyohara got plunked by a pitch and Jasmine Smithson took a base on balls to load the bags for Katelyn Mann. Her blooper poke to shallow left was corralled by VU shortshop Ali Lowe to end the threat.

Rachel LeCoq with another fine pitching performance...allowing just four hits and striking out seven WIldcats to go to 16-4

Louisville 5 - Villanova 4

The Cards jumped out to a 1-0 lead for Caralisa Connell in the first inning of the second game. Alicja Wolny drilled a double and got to home when Maggie Ruckenbrod singled.

'Nova tied it in the bottom of the third and took a 4-1 lead on a bases-loaded, three RBI triple from Beth Smetana.

It stayed a three-run VU advantage until the top of the sixth. Kiyohara singled for UofL and Chrisanna Roberts came in to run. Jordan Trimble drew a walk and both Cardinals scored on Mann's single. With the score 4-3, Whitney Arion singled and Katie Keller received a base on balls to load the bags full of Cardinals. Alicja Wolny slapped a grounder to the Villanova second baseman...who mishandled the ball and Wolny beat the throw to first. Mann and Arion scored on the play to make it 5-4 UofL.

Rachel LeCoq got her second win of the day in relief of Connell...going 2.1 innings and retiring the final five Wildcats she faced in a row.

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Louisville women's tennis got eliminated by #2 seed USF in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament yesterday in Tampa, FL. The Cards fell 4-2 to the #2 seeded Bulls.

Once again, the scoring selectivity has me baffled. Eight matches were played, one was stopped before it was finished and one doubles team and two singles participants won matches...but the Cards received only 2 points.

Manuela Velasquez and Mandy Brown succeeded in doubles and Velasquez and Rebecca Shine won their singles matches.

The Cards now await the NCAA Regionals. 64 teams will begin play on May 10th. at various regional sites yet to be determined.

The NCAA Championships will be held at the University of Illinois this year from May 16th - May 27th. Florida will look to add their third straight NCAA title in the events.


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Louisville Lacrosse takes the field for a home contest against the Cincinnati Bearcats today at 1 p.m. The Cards look for their first BIG EAST win of the season against our northern neighbors.

Louisville (8-6, 0-5) is led in scoring by Nikki Boltja, who should get plenty of chances to find the net against UC (5-6, 0-5). 

Paulie

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Cards crush Panthers 8-5, 15-0

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-# 8 Cards score 23 runs in double header to beat Pitt

The University of Louisville softball team, after a slow start, pounded Pitt pitching for 23 runs in a doubleheader Wednesday at Ulmer Stadium. Kasey Kasem would have referred to it as a "solid gold hit parade"...Louisville getting three home runs in the 12 inning attack against the Panthers 

Louisville 8 - Pittsburgh 5

The Cards took awhile to warm up in game one on a beautiful, low 70's clear day at Ulmer Stadium...the game scoreless and the Cards hitless after three innings. Pitt grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the third inning off starter Caralisa Connell and pushed that to 2-0 in the top of the fourth. Savannah Hill was looking good in the circle for the Panthers.

Then the Cards did their version of Thunder Over Louisville.

Jordan Trimble started the bottom of the fourth with a single, which was also Louisville's first hit of the game. After getting retired at second on a Alicja Wolny fielder's choice, Mags Ruckenbrod singled and set the plate for Whitney Arion's two RBI double. Hannah Kiyohara followed with a single to score Arion to make it 3-2 UofL. Taner Fowler followed with a two-run blast to left-center that gave Louisville a 5-2 lead. Jasmine Smithson-Willett drew a walk next...and scored on a Katie Keller single and throwing error. Trimble batted for the second time in the inning and singled again to score Keller and Trimble reached the plate on a throwing error following a Wolny grounder.

All of a sudden, it was 8-2 Cards.

Pitt chipped away at the lead with two runs in the sixth and a score in the seventh...but it wasn't enough to catch the Cards.

Carl gets her 24th. win of the year...allowing five runs, eight hits and striking out seven in seven innings pitched.

Louisville 15 - Pittsburgh 0

The Cards got off to a much earlier offensive attack in the second game...placing a run on the board in the first an threatening for much more. Trimble and Wolny singled with one out. Ruckenbrod received a base on balls to load the bases. Whitney Arion walked next to force in Trimble...but Pitt starter Alexa Larkin got out of the jam by getting out the next two Cards at the plate.

Sandy Pearsall's charges added four runs in the second. Katelyn Mann started a two-out charge with a home run. Keller and Trimble followed with a single and double and both scored on Wolny's double. Ruckenbrod followed with a single to plate Wolny. It was 5-0 Louisville after two.

The Cards put on another fireworks show in the third. 10 runs on 10 hits. Alicja Wolny's three-run homer was the event of the inning...but Mann had a two RBI double that almost got out of the park, Wolny added a two RBI double her second time up in the inning and Arion produced a run-scoring double also. RBI singles from Ruckenbrod, Brittany Sims and Ally Vaughn put Louisville ahead 15-0 after three.

The Pitt outfielders must have thought the heavens were raining softballs.

Rachel LeCoq pitched a strong five innings with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed to improve to 15-4.

On a day where the Cards beat the eventual rain, they filled the skies with their own falling objects. The air traffic controllers at nearby Louisville International Airport were probably going nuts with all the unidentified flying object to the north of them...

In the "Tell your statistics to shut up" department...nine Cardinals are batting over .300

Katie Keller         .432         Jasmine Smithson-Willett  .333 
Alicja Wolny        .424         Katelyn Mann                    .319
Maggie Ruckenbrod  .386     Whitney Arion                   .315
Jordan Trimble    .361         Hannah Kiyohara               .314
Kayla Soles          .337


Home run Derby leaders:

Keller   10
Wolny    9
Fowler   7

Hits parade:

Keller   63
Wolny   56
Ruck     51

Driving them in (RBI's):

Keller   45
Wolny   42
Ruck     35

Getting home (runs scored)

Keller   52
Wolny   36
Trimble 35

Louisville has scored 315 runs this season and allowed just 104. As a team, they are batting .345 and opponents just .220.

The Cards are #8 in the nation with a 39-6 record and tied for least losses in the BIG EAST with a 12-1 mark.

USF              13-1
Louisville    12-1
Notre Dame 10-1
DePaul         10-1
Georgetown  7-6


-Paulie

Tuesday Cardinal Couple -- Adding four will make Louisville a hard team to beat.

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-New blood will make Lady Cards WBB even more dangerous

-Maggie Ruckenbrod named BIG EAST Player of the Week.

-WNBA Draft: No surprises here, Griner selected first.

A very early glance at the possible 2013-14 University of Louisville womens' basketball roster brings a gleam to this writer's eyes and a smile to his lips. Returning starters Shoni Schimmel, Nita Slaughter and Sherrone Vails will be seniors. Bria Smith and Sara Hammond juniors. Add Jude Schimmel, Tia Gibbs, Shawnta Dyer, Megan Deines, Asia Taylor and Cortnee Walton to that group and you have 11 players who have logged extensive minutes for the Cards as either starters or valuable off-the-bench contributors.

Davi Holmes, who joined the squad late in the season, makes 12. Her two-sport skills in high school (hoops and volleyball) show her to be an excellent shooter, rebounder and passer. We hope she recovers from the knee injury that sidelined her before she ever got to play in a game for the Cards.

Then, there's the new kids on the block.

Monny Niamke will be eligible and gained valuable experience by practicing with the Cards this season during her red-shirt season. A lightning-quick, 5'5" point guard who started for Lindsey Wilson her freshman season, Niamke has shown she can distribute, put shots up and play aggressive defense when her number is called. She'll see plenty of court-time for the Cards in 2013-14 and we wouldn't be surprised if she manages to wiggle her way into a starter or first off the bench role.

Emmonnie Henderson brings strength, rebounding prowess and the ability to score from different locations on the court to the Cardinal front-liners. Lack of depth at the "4" and "5" won't be a problem for the Cards in 2013-14 and Henderson is the type of player that can easily post "double-doubles" against opponents because of her ability to get inside and score and rebound. She'll be a prime contributor to the paint crew and will push the returning starters for playing time.

Janelle Cannon set the juco world on fire with her legendary scoring abilities this past season. We're guessing that her role at Louisville will most likely be a two guard that will be there to add greatly to the Lady Cards three-point skills...she's solid on defense as well and transition. Was Walz will use her specifically for we have no way of knowing yet...but we have a feeling that you'll hear P.A. announcer Sean Moth boom the name "Cannon" quite frequently in 2013-14.

Starr Breedlove is a speed merchant 5'8" point guard from New Jersey who led her Trinity Valley juco team to the championships as a freshman in 2011-12 and sat this season out to work on her game under personal instruction. Walz recruited her as a point-guard and based on what we've seen of her...her skills directing the offense and getting the transition game moving are as good as any point-guard the Cards currently have on the roster. She'll challenged Bria and Jude for court time and possesses a solid three-ball and mid-range jumper.

Graduate two and add four. Four good ones. The contributions from Shelby and Mo will be missed...most certainly...but Walz hasn't just replaced...he has reloaded.

Is it October yet?

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Louisville softball catcher and designated hitter Maggie Ruckenbrod has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week for her sterling performance over the last few days.

All she did was bat .500 (9 for 18), score six runs, drive in four runs, hit four doubles and two home runs.

Golly, Ruck...if you not going to try, why even show up?

The young lady also possesses a rocket arm behind the plate. Ask any number of would-be base stealers who have arrived at the bag to find a Ruck throw already waiting for them in the second baseman or shortstop's glove.

No St. Louis blues here... Missouri Maggie makes 'em pay. At the plate and behind it.

Louisville returns to action tomorrow with a doubleheader against Pittsburgh. First game begins at noon.

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For those of you who like to follow the college WBB stars after they graduate and head to the WNBA, the 2013 draft was held last night in Bristol, Connecticut.

Shocking as it may seem, Baylor's Brittney Griner was selected as the #1 pick...by Phoenix. She was reportedly thrilled to be joining Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi.

Elena Della Donna went second...the Delaware star grabbed by Chicago. Skylar Diggins was next and the Notre Dame guard will play for Tulsa.

Other first round picks:

4) Tayler Hill (Ohio State) Washingon
5) Kelsey Bone (Texas A&M) New York
6) Tianna Hawkins (Maryland) Seattle
7) Tori Young (Oklahoma State) New York
8) Kayla Alexander (Syracuse) San Antonio
9) Layshia Clarendon (California) Indiana
10) A'dia Mathies (UK) Los Angeles
11) Kelly Faris (UConn) Connecticut
12) Lindsey Moore (Nebraska) Minnesota

Seven of the top 12 picks played against Louisville in the 2012-13 season (Griner, Diggins, Bone, Alexander, Clarendon, Mathies and Faris).

Other BIG EAST players that were selected:

14. Sugar Rodgers (G'Town) Minnesota
17. Nadirah McKenith (St. John's) Washington
25. Shenneika Smith (St. John's) Washington
35. Andrea Smith (South Florida) Connecticut

I was surprised that neither DePaul's Anna Martin nor Katherine Harry were part of the first three rounds. Big money probably awaiting them in Euro or South America hoops, though. WE figured Monique Reid most likely wouldn't get a call...knee issues and all and thought that someone should pick up Louisville's other senior Shelby Harper...just for the fan draw she'd bring to a team.

Isn't it about time we get a WNBA franchise here in Louisville?

Louisville will have seniors Shoni Schimmel, Sherrone Vails, Tia Gibbs, Asia Taylor and Nita Slaughter available for the 2014 WNBA Draft. How many of them will get picked? Or, why not add a few to join them and start our own WNBA franchise?

No, I will not accept or seek the head coaching job. Jenny would be a good pick, though. The Louisville Force. My choice for the name. Jeff and I could do radio broadcasts...

-Paulie


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Monday Cardinal Couple - The Sandy Pearsall Interview

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Interview with Softball's Sandy Pearsall

(CARDINAL COUPLE'S exclusive interview with head UofL softball coach Sandy Pearsall. We hope you like it!)

CARDINAL COUPLE: Looking at this veteran team you have returning...do you have one team leader?

Coach Pearsall: We actually have multiple leaders on this team. We do develop a group of players to lead this team and we start them off in their sophomore year...so we've built this leadership group over a period of time. We have Jordy Trimble involved in that, Chrisanna Roberts..our senior leaders. Also some one who has come on the field and has been involved with leadership is senior Alicia Wolny. We'll miss leadership that we had from Kristin Austin, Chelsea Leonard, Tesha Paysen. Those three were instrumental is leadership, but I think these three are definitely headed in that direction.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Any chance at all of Leonard coming back to pitch at all?

Coach Pearsall: No. The knee won't allow it. She'll graduate this year. She'd have eligibility left, if she wanted to go somewhere else and play...she could...but to get this to work out we had to career end her here. Basically, we couldn't have gone on this year without a replacement pitcher. We wish she could have had four years playing for us.

CARDINAL COUPLE: So, that leaves Caralisa Connell as your main pitcher. Some Cardinal fans are wondering...if there is a weakness on this team this year, it is pitching?

Coach Pearsall: It is our unknown, that is for sure. This is the year we'll expect Caralisa to step up, just like Tori Collins stepped up a few years ago when we weren't getting what we expected out of Kristen Wadwell. Seeing what "Carl", our nickname for Caralisa, did at the end of last year for us...she's done the work for us. I think she's going to have a great year for us. She's our strength on the pitching staff.

We did add Rachel Le Coq, who transferred from Colgate. She's embraced her role here and we've seen a lot of good things from her. Can she carry us? No, not now. Maybe a year from now...but she will give us a lot of innings of support...hopefully

CARDINAL COUPLE: Any truth to the rumor that you've reached a deal to bring Katie Petrino back to pitch...and promised to lend Connell to Coach Trimble on the golf team?

Coach Pearsall: (laughing) I don't know! I'll have to ask Carl how her golf game is! (Laughing). We'd take Katie back any day she wanted to come back because she is just the greatest competitor. I'm not sure that Carl's golf game is going to be strong enough to help the golf team but I'll check with Carl on that...(laughing).

CARDINAL COUPLE: Remember you drive for show and putt for dough.  You've been ranked third in the BIG EAST. How do feel about that? I mean, you only lose five games all year and you win the BIG EAST and third?

Coach Pearsall: Actually, it's probably because of the way the voters are looking at our returning pitching. South Florida had a great NCAA Tournament run, they return a powerhouse team and a great pitcher, so I can see where they deserve the top spot. Same for Notre Dame, they get back a lot of power, speed and good pitching also...so were comfortable with third. And, it's just pre-season stuff. The important thing is where you are at the end of the season .
 

DePaul returns a great team. Syracuse loses Jenna Caira, a great pitcher, but has a good pitcher to replace her that is a senior. You also have to watch out for Rutgers and Pitt, they're very capable teams. It's not a simple conference, it not an easy conference...and it's a case of where we still don't play everybody. We don't play South Florida in the regular season. Good and bad maybe? I'd rather play them in the regular season just to know what we might be facing come tournament time. We don't play DePaul in conference play, but we will go up against them in Vegas. Verdun, their big hitter and pitcher is back for them.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Talk a little about the season opener. You're headed to Las Vegas for three games.

Coach Pearsall: It's a great opportunity for us to see what we've got early on....obviously. Some great teams out there and we're looking forward to the tests. Just to get the season started.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Looking at the non-conference schedule, it looks to be the strongest I've ever seen for UofL softball...

Coach Pearsall: It's definitely going to be a big challenge for us. We schedule over a year out, so you're anticipating what you might have. If I'd known I was going to lose Leonard, I might have had some different thoughts in my scheduling but with that said...we do have a veteran team back and we need to be challenged. Carl needs to be challenged and we need to show we can step up to that next level, that next spot in our toughness. You have schools on there...LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, North Carolina...these are always extremely good programs. Oklahoma being the cream of the crop. They come back very intact and have actually added even more power. It's a great challenge for us. You're not going to get better playing the teams you can easily beat. If you can go out there and beat teams like this, that's a real accomplishment.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Basketball coaches talk about their players either having or lacking a "basketball IQ". Does that apply to softball as well?

COACH PEARSALL: Definitely. Like all coaches, we have kids who have played the game but not learned the game. They're directed, like in youth ball and club or high school, so they're told what to do but they are not learning the game. We work with them on situational things, like what to expect when they are batting and there is a certain count...like 2-1 or 0-2. They have to be able to learn the game to be able to play it at the highest level. Basketball coaches talk about wanting their kids to be "gym rats" and that apply to our players as well. They have to want to go do things on their own like going to the batting cages and working on hitting because the amount of time we are allowed to work with them is very limited.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Who is the hardest worker on your team?

Coach Pearsall: Wow. That's a tough one. There are kids who have really matured from their freshman year, like Hannah Kiyohara. Alicja Wolny. Taner Fowler and Maggie Ruckenbrod. Katie Keller. They go and they do a lot extra on their own. Our pitchers do a lot of work on their own. I have some kids that don't put in as much work on their own like I would like to see, but I'd say 80% of them do the extra work.

CARDINAL COUPLE: There has been talk about some additions and improvements over at Ulmer Stadium. Please go over those.

Coach Pearsall: Expansion is scheduled to take place at the end of this season. Some dugout improvements, like getting some bathrooms in there. In the stadium, there will be about another 100 seats added and a terrace on the top, so fans can walk from one side to the other. An expanded press box, too. And a covering over part of our stands, too that will provide some protection during bad weather or sunny days when people want to get out of the sun. We're also going to be building a new locker room and club house. This is really needed, this is greatly needed. The current one is a tight fit. We actually don't have enough lockers for our players. It'll be where the concession area and restrooms are now, right across from Ulmer.

CARDINAL COUPLE: Any final words for our readers?

Coach Pearsall: Just to thank them for their support and continued support. I hope we can continue to have that great fan support by putting a great product and program out there for them to cheer for and support.
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Saturday Cardinal Couple -- Softball ready for 2013

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Experience and power on hand for Softball

-Softball Dinner Saturday night @ Hyatt

Even though the weather in Louisville is below freezing, # 18 Louisville Softball is busy preparing for the opening weekend Feb 8th. in Las Vegas. The team uses the indoor Trager Center for the basics of batting and fielding and we're not sure how many holes have been put in the roof by Taner Fowler, Alicja Wolny, Maggie Ruckenbrod, Jordan Trimble and the rest of the Cards wrecking crew...but Sandy Pearsall has bats galore ready to take the Ulmer Stadium field this spring.

If there's any questions at all about the team that swept the BIG EAST last year and won 55 games, it's who will fill in for departed pitchers Tori Collins, graduated and married and Chelsea Leonard who has given up the game because of perpetually bad knees.

Caralisa Connell returns, and went 19-1 last season. Rachel LeCoq, a transfer from Colgate, is there as needed. Both freshman Jasmine Smithson-Willett and returning outfielder Jordan Trimble are able to step in the circle if needed...Coach "P" is very high on the freshman Smithson-Willett and has indicated she'll contend for a spot in the starting line-up if not throwing strikes and balls.

For Connell, a junior...it's a role she's carried before. In 2011, injuries to Leonard and Collins left Pearsall with just one pitcher...the freshman from Murfreesboro, TN. Pearsall combed the campus and came up with Katie Petrino, on campus to play golf for UofL and daughter of former football coach Bobby Petrino to bring to the roster as a backup hurler.

Connell pitched every game, every inning for a three week peroid and won 12 straight while going 20-7 on the season. There is no truth to the rumor that current golf coach Courtney Trimble has petitioned Pearsall to have Connell grab a five-iron and hit the links this spring.

Besides Smithson-Willett, two other freshmen are on the roster this year for UofL. Ally Vaughn was the 8th Region Player of the Year in Kentucky and the first baseman from Henry County High School is known to have great power at the plate. Brittany Sims was the #7 ranked player in the state. The utility player hails from Lexington (KY) Lafayette and was also a top discus performer in track and field.  

It'll be a tough lineup to crack. Fowler, Katelyn Mann, Keller, Whitney Arion, Ruckenbrod, Jennifer Esteban, Trimble, Wolny and Hannah Kiyohara all started regularly or played extensively for the Cards last year. 12 letter-winners return.

The crowds at Ulmer should be thrilled this season with a veteran and powerful lineup. If the pitching can hold, we think preseason #12 South Florida and maybe Notre Dame will be the only teams good enough to push the Cards out of the running for back-to-back titles.

Vegas...opening on Feb. 8th. Would be a great get-away weekend, if you want to combine roulette and round-trippers. I wouldn't bet against the Cards sweeping the Invitational in Sin City.

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The Softball Bullpen Dinner is tonight at the downtown Hyatt. Cocktail hour begins at 5:30 and dinner at 7:30 p.m. Washington All-American Danielle Lawrie is the featured speaker.

CARDINAL COUPLE had a wonderful time there last year and we're pleased and happy to be returning again this year. We'll have full coverage of the event in the Sunday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE and a preview of WBB vs. St. John's.

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