A Look at New Pros -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Former Cardinals Doing Well Early

Today's article (which is coincidentally kind of about success) will be pretty short and unfortunately shies away from women's sports. I wanted to peek at how some of our former fan favorites have fared (say that five times fast) in the early stages of their professional careers. This will be brief and there is plenty more out on the internet about more in depth statistics and about the guys I don't mention. With all of our talk about success recently, though, I felt like this would be a good time to talk about former Cardinals we loved getting off to good starts on the road that they hope can lead to success in their respective sport.

We also will point out that, although this is primarily a women's sports site...many women's sports fans at UofL follow the baseball and men's basketball squads. We see many of you at baseball and men's basketball. 

Drew Ellis was drafted 44th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. His pro career started off better than he imagined as he was fully expecting to be sitting around for another 19 picks, where the Boston Red Sox had promised they'd select him. Ellis has since packed his bags and headed to Hillsboro, Oregon to play with the Short A league team there. In eight games, Ellis is hitting .324 with two different 3-hit games. Last night, he hit his first career professional home run. He'll need to knock down the strikeouts (10 in 34 at bats) to be sure, but he seems to be seeing the ball decently well and getting hits when he makes contact. As long as his glove continues to be sure--he's got 0 errors in 17 chances at third base in 53.2 innings--and he continues to improve his hitting, Ellis is probably not long for such a low league.

Ellis's teammate and National Player of the Year, Brendan McKay, has yet to suit up in a professional uniform but he has reportedly seen a victory of his own already. Much ado was made about McKay, the two way star, and how a professional team would be forced to make a decision on how to best utilize his talents. We knew that McKay did not want to be boxed in, and it seems as though the Rays will give him a chance to show all of his talents. Brendan will head to Short A Hudson Valley, where there is a schedule in place for him to be a starter and play first base/designated hitter on some (not all) days that he is not the starting pitcher. There is no word on whether he'll be allowed to hit for himself when he is the pitcher, but this is a major accomplishment nonetheless. Brendan McKay was more than a generational talent at the University of Louisville, and I hope that he gets every opportunity to shine in every way he can at the professional level.

Donovan Mitchell may not have come to the University of Louisville had he pursued baseball, but he did get the chance to throw out a first pitch for the Salt Lake City Bees after being drafted by the Utah Jazz. Mitchell has played in three summer league games so far, scoring 15.3 points per game on 43.9% shooting. He's 5/13 from three, has 10 steals, 10 assists, and only 4 turnovers. He scored 23 in his first game, and he may be best known so far for a fantastic behind-the-back-out-of-bounds-saving assist and for putting Jayson Tatum on his behind with a spin move. Mitchell has clearly impressed the Jazz leadership, as he earned himself a day off last night, presumably so other young Jazz players could get a chance to step out of his shadow and show their stuff. Mitchell has looked nothing but prepared for his transition to the NBA and I'm hopeful that his success continues when the real season rolls around.

He's hardly a new pro, but honorable mention goes to a player that is getting new life in Chinese
basketball. Russ Smith recently signed with a Chinese team and immediately proved that his poor showing in Turkey had more to do with misuse by the team and not a lack of talent. The fact that Russ Smith, who holds the single game scoring record in the D-League, has not been given another opportunity to go wild for an NBA team absolutely baffles me. I seem to see another Russ get to do whatever he wants on the court and receive MVP votes for it. Am I calling Russ Smith as good as Russell Westbrook? No, but it would be hard for you to convince me that Smith could not be a significant bench scorer and defender for an NBA team. By the way, the reason I mentioned Russ is because he's averaging an insane 58.5 points per game through six games on about 50% shooting. He made major headlines when he scored 81 points in his fifth game. It's easy to argue that he's doing this against significantly inferior defensive competition, but it's very challenging to argue against 60 ppg. 

There are many other men and women, a lot that have been mentioned on this site, performing well at the professional level of sports and business and fantastically representing their alma mater. For those who have completed their days at the University of Louisville, I wish them nothing but happiness however they can find it and success in the pursuit of their goals.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Fly Free Louisville Swimmers, Hoops and Radio -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Splish Splash

Nothing seems to be holding down UofL swimmers Kelsi Worrell, and Mallory Comerford, letting them fly free at the US National Championships in Indianapolis.

The event, featuring 7 UofL current and former swimmers is being held at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI.  The event also serves as a trial event for the World Championships which will be held in Budapest, Hungary.

Comerford won the 100m Freestyle event Tuesday evening with an American Record 52.81 seconds, the first time an American has finished in under 53 seconds.  She beat out Olympian Simone Manuel by about a quarter of a second.  Worrell touched 4th at 53.99.

Comerford also got a 4th place finish 200m Freestyle event Wednesday night.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, in addition to the 4th place finish for Worrell in the 100m Free, she absolutely blitzed the field in the 50m Butterfly, which is her signature event, beating the rest of the field by a half a second, touching in 25.69, which is only about a fifth of a second off of the American Record held by swimming great Dana Torres.

Last night, Worrell did it again, with the 100m Fly with a time of 57.38.  In this one, Comerford, not particularly known for her Butterfly stroke, finished 3rd with 57.97.

The overall event continues through tomorrow.

Same Song, 7th Verse

Brendan McKay, the phenom 2-way player, picked up the last, and arguably most prestigious, of the
seven major player of the year awards in Baseball.  Let me clarify that, he won all of the previously announced six as well.

The Golden Spikes award was announced last night on ESPN's SportsCenter.

To many, this seemed almost like a foregone conclusion, but it wraps up the major awards in a sweep for McKay.

McKay was drafted 4th in the MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Rays and signed with a record setting 7 million dollar deal.


Your Favorite UofL WBB player

We started a poll a few days ago on who your favorite UofL WBB player is/was
during the Jeff Walz era. The response has been good so far and your current leader
is Asia Durr....with 15% of the vote. Agree? Got another? We have 15 choices and even
a "other" choice in case we don't have yours mentioned.

You can vote on the poll on "The Right Hand Side Of The Site."  Let us know.

We'll discuss it and many more things on our weekly radio show tomorrow at 11 a.m.
on THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR . Very special guests Daryl Foust and Julie
"The Bird Lady" Sullivan join Paulie and me in studio...plus Paulie's chat with Sara Hammond.

Don't miss this one! 

-- JMcA

Four More Wins -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Uses Big Inning, Tops A&M 8-4

Before I get into this, I promise that after baseball season ends, in whatever fashion, I will get back to boring you with talks about women's soccer when you'd rather be reading about women's basketball. For now, though, you'll have to settle for reading about baseball when you'd rather be reading about women's basketball. We're an equal opportunity sports site here at Cardinal Couple.

Anyway, Louisville started off their College World Series in a way they haven't done in their previous three appearances. They won their first game. Louisville pitched their ace, Brendan McKay, and it was the star pitching lineup of McKay, Bordner, and Henzman that saw them through to victory. McKay looked shaky at times, and actually gave up all four earned runs, but the bats were strong and the bullpen stronger. Louisville had a 5-0 lead, chasing the Texas A&M starter in the second inning, before McKay was touched for his first run, and Bordner and Henzman combined for four perfect innings.

Big innings have been Louisville's MO this postseason (and much of the rest of the season, but I didn't do the math to back it up). In 7 victories this postseason, Louisville has scored 59 runs. Only 19 of those runs have come in innings where the Cards scored fewer than 3 runs. In fact, Game 2 against Kentucky was the only game in which the Cardinals did not have a three run inning, and they still scored six runs in the game. Louisville used another big inning yesterday when they used a couple of walks and a lot of singles to score 5 runs in the second inning. Texas A&M pulled their starter (who was actually their number 2 guy) after four runs and replaced him with a long reliever (who was actually their ace). When the Aggies cut the lead to 5-4, it looked as though using both pitchers might pay off if they could get the win. When they ultimately fell, the reality set in that Texas A&M had used their best two starters in the same game and now are down to their Sunday guy in an elimination game. I would call that, "not ideal." The bats have been important this postseason, and that won't change as the tournament goes on. As long as pitching can continue to hold serve, and the bats can stay hot, Louisville has a really good chance at this thing.

While Brendan McKay may not have been his normal "Player of the Year" self on the mound
yesterday, he labored to a decent start, and never trailed. Despite A&M's leadoff batter reaching in all but one inning of work for McKay, he limited damage to four runs spread over two innings before he was relieved by Sam Bordner. McKay worked himself out of a lot of jams with the help of his defense, but he got to a point where he wasn't missing bats and the bats weren't missing gaps. Not much the defense could do about it anymore, so Dan McDonnell made the move. Sam Bordner did as he has done all year and twirled 3 perfect innings, snuffing out hopes of an Aggie comeback.

Louisville will get a taste of their third straight SEC matchup on Tuesday night in the winner's game when they take on Florida (who defeated TCU) at 7PM on ESPN. Winning the opening game of the double elimination format is very important. Winning the second game puts you squarely in the driver's seat. If Louisville can stay perfect, they're four wins away from a national title. To quote the team, "[they] didn't come for some of it, [they] came for all of it." Run to the roar, Cardinals, and bring home the hardware.

Until next time, Go Cards

-CH-

Cardinal Couple Sunday - Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Yesterday, Case admirably laid out the path forward for CardNation.  So today we're going to follow it.

All eyes front.

Follow the yellow brick road.

Keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times.

Set Destination: Omaha

College World Series Is Off

Brendan McKay, the junior phenom from Pennsylvania, is set to lead the Cardinals from the mound in their first game in the 2017 College World Series.  The two-way super-star has left no room for questions other than the one question of what position he'll play once he gets to the pros, first base, or pitcher?  The Tampa Bay Rays have said they will be giving him the chance to play in both to see where he settles in, so don't look for that question to be settled anytime soon.  Pretty much the rest of the questions about McKay have been answered, or should be a foregone conclusion.  Most of those questions take the form of, "Will McKay win the _________ award, for the best _____________ in College Baseball?"  Spoiler: The answer is, "Yes."

The Cardinal's foe will be Texas A&M, with first pitch scheduled at 2pm and will be televised on ESPN.  Stick around (if you don't have a 6pm sand volleyball match like your correspondent does) to find out who the Cards will play next.  The CWS is essentially broken into 3 distinct "tournaments", with eight teams participating in total.  It starts with two, four team, double-elimination tournaments, with the winners of those two tournaments meeting up for a best of 3 series (a double-elimination tournament of two teams, if you will) to determine the National Champion.  The other half of this first double-elimination tournament with UofL and the Aggies have Florida and TCU.  So the winners of todays games will meet Tuesday at 7pm, and the losers start their path through the elimination bracket Tuesday at 2pm.

As with the Regionals, and even Super Regionals to a degree, there is a distinct advantage in staying on the winning side of the bracket as it results in fewer games played, and longer rest between each game.  

On paper, this game should be a relatively easy win for the Cards.  The Aggies were a Regional 3 seed, beating hosting Houston, Regional 2 seed Baylor, and Iowa.  They advanced in the Super Regional over Davidson, who advanced to the Supers against all odds as a Regional 4 seed in the North Carolina hosted Regional which also had FGCU and Michigan in attendance.  Beyond this game, the matchups, regardless of which team it is, look tougher, with Florida and TCU holding overall 3 and 6 seeds, respectively.

The other double-elimination bracket in the CWS sees unseeded Florida State, and Cal State Fullerton, both teams that give Cardinal Baseball fans nervous shudders; as well as overall 4 seed LSU, and overall top seed Oregon State, who made the trip without pitcher Luke Heimlich.  Heimlich did not travel with the team to Omaha after The Oregonian reported this week that he pled guilty to felony child molestation as a teenager, stating that he didn't want to be a distraction to the team and direct too much unwanted attention to the victim of his crime.

In action yesterday, Oregon State and and LSU won their respective games, dispatching FSU and CSF to the elimination side of the bracket.  FSU and CSF will see each other tomorrow with a 2pm first pitch, with the loser going home, and the winner waiting around to see who they will play, that being the loser of the OSU and LSU game starting at 7pm.

It is Nebraska, perhaps corn on the cob should be on the menu?  Might go good with a couple of those mail order Omaha Steaks. Go Cards!



THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR

Our rebroadcast from yesterday's THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR is now up and available on the the Crescent Hill Radio website. We had a great crew on board with Worldwide, Paulie, Case and Jared Anderson. The prime topic of discussion was the sanctions on Louisville basketball, and we also looked at the College World Series and gave the boys a quiz that they aced with flying colors. 

Listen to the replay here: THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 6/17/17

-- JMcA

Who's Turning Left This Weekend?

Emmonnie Henderson Takes 2nd

Emmonnie Henderson's outdoor shot put career with the Cardinals is over, but she went out with a bang...well, maybe a thud of a heavy metal weight landing in grass, but the thud was a long way away!

With her best ever throw, at 17.92 meters (59 feet 9 1/2 inches), she took second place at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Eugene Oregon.  That finish also earns her a first team All American honors, and a spot in the UofL history books with the best ever women's finish at the NCAA Championships.

Many of the Cardinal faithful, of course, remember Henderson's contributions on the hardwood as part of Coach Walz's basketball squad.  She does still have a year of overall NCAA athletics, should she wish to return to Walz's squad and patrol the paint some more, but I suspect that is not in the plans.

We here at Cardinal Couple, will certainly continue to watch E's career, and hope for a continued arc of success and perhaps an appearance in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo?

Congratulations and good luck, E!

Baseball

It's time for some more left turns around the basepaths for the UofL Baseball squad.

Kade McClure will take the mound just hours from the time of this writing, with the Cardinals Ace, Brendan McKay being held for his normal rest, likely for tomorrow's game.  There's been a lot of tongue wagging in the sports media about Dan McDonnell's decision to go with McClure for the first game, rather than the staff ace, although UK has made basically the same decision, to give the extra day of rest to their ace and high altitude weatherman, Sean Hjelle.  At 6'11", I'm sure he never hears the end of the "How's the weather up there?" comments.

Perhaps the biggest matchup in the NCAA Super Regionals, the Cards and Cats were inexplicably given a noon start time by the worldwide leader in sports layoffs.  Tickets have been sold out for this one, both chairbacks and berm space.  If you want to see this one in person, perhaps you can join the Louisville Firefighters out on the overpass beyond left field.  Give them a hat-tip for their selfless work and efforts, they certainly deserve it.  This one is televised on ESPN2, or you can enjoy the aural delight of Sean Moth on 93.9FM.

Belmont

We do have some more horses turning left this weekend in a major event.  With the possibility of a triple crown already off the table for the year, the Belmont does lose a little bit of it's luster, but the Belmont is always a well-done event.

Anyone that has followed Cardinal Couple over the years, and particularly listened to the radio shows, knows of my epic lack of horse handicapping skills.  Head over to Paulie's site for his Belmont picks.

Hippy Hippy Shake

Finally, best wishes to Paulie as he undergoes a hip replacement and will be spending a little bit of time on the IR list.  I know we were all looking forward to an anesthesia powered Paulie article, but it's not to be.  Let's hope Sonja at least gets some audio recordings for posterity.

Good luck to Paulie, and let's hope he's not stuck with a hip that makes him always turn left.  Rest up, recover, and come out and show us that Hippy Hippy Shake.

-- JMcA

Cards Take Game 1, Awards Abound -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

McClure Stumbles, Louisville Prevails

NCAA baseball regional play opened yesterday. Teams all across the country began their bid for Omaha. Kentucky survived a scare from Ohio in the first game of the Lexington Regional. Florida State and North Carolina both saw their paths to Nebraska get a lot tougher as they dropped their opening games. Louisville was looking to game the system against the fourth seeded Radford, getting a win out of the number two starter on Friday so that their ace, Brendan McKay, would be available to start Saturday's winners' bracket game. Kade McClure looked hot to start the game, but he ran into quite a bit of trouble (at the hands of a single player) before exiting the game in the sixth with the go ahead runner on third and a no decision in his pocket. 

Both pitchers made it through the opposing team's lineup the first time with little issue. Louisville put together a couple of hits, but ultimately had nothing really going when the designated hitter in the 9 hole, Jake Snider, grounded out to end the second inning. Kade McClure was carving up the Radford batters, allowing only a walk in the second, which was erased by a double play. He had four strikeouts through three after striking out the side in the third inning. Entering the bottom of the third, every batter on both teams had now seen the opposing starting pitcher. That is important for what was about to happen. 

Louisville opened the inning with a four pitch walk to leadoff hitter Logan Taylor. He scooted to second on passed ball, and to third when a smoked ground ball by Colby Fitch was just gloved by the first baseman. Runner on third, 1 out. The following sequence came next. Single, single, steal (two advance on error), lineout sac fly, walk, single, steal, double, pitching change, single, lineout. Logan Taylor batted twice in the inning and the Cards put up 6 runs, leaving only one runner on base and chasing the Radford starter. It looked like the Cards were set to cruise through the rest of the game and go into today sitting pretty.

Radford, however, having seen everything from Kade McClure, wasn't quite ready to go along with
the script. McClure had been effective early, but he wasn't pitching at his best. That showed when Radford got ahold of him in the fourth inning. McClure opened the inning with a leadoff double followed by a walk. He got a pop out to make it look more manageable, but promptly plunked the cleanup man to load the bases for the heart of the order with 1 out. A flyout to left field should have scored a run, but Josh Stowers came up firing to the plate. Unfortunately for the Cards, Radford hadn't sent the runner. No play at the plate, and the bases were still jacked for the number six hitter, Adam Whitacre. Whitacre quickly unjacked the bases with a fly ball to right field that just got over the fence. It was his third home run of the season, and it was a grand slam. Kade struck out the next batter to end the inning.

With their lead cut to two, the Cards fell a bit flat. They went six up, six down over the next two innings. In the sixth, Kade McClure seemed to have rebounded, putting Radford down in order in the fifth. Radford opened the sixth with a single, but McClure got two outs quickly and seemed like he'd strand the runner. An infield single kept the inning alive for none other than Adam Whitacre to step back up to the plate. Whitacre dumped a triple down the right field line to tie the game and knock McClure off the mound. Sam Bordner came in with the go ahead runner on third and got a strikeout to end the inning.

Louisville apparently needed only a reminder that Radford hadn't gone away to get back into gear. They put three runs up in the bottom half of the sixth and two more in the seventh. Bordner went on to pitch 3.1 innings of no hit baseball with six Ks and 2 HBPs. He was backed up by a marvelous Louisville defense and the Cards got out of their Friday game with an 11-6 win. McKay will (presumably) be on the hill tonight at seven when the Cards take on the Sooners from Oklahoma in the winners' bracket game. Tickets are available for a modest price if you feel like heading out. The loser of tonight's game would need three more wins to advance to the Super Regional, while the winner would need only one. 

Cards being Honored

During his freshman season, a writer once said that Brendan McKay could go down as the most decorated player in the history of college baseball. McKay was a freshman All-American that year as well as the John Olerud two-way player of the year. He compiled more accolades during his sophomore season, and he is wrapping up his junior year (and career at UofL) with even more hardware. McKay was recently announced as the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Player of the Year. They probably won't be the only publication to give him that honor, and he's already won the ACC Player of the Year. McKay is a first team All-American, he's nearly a lock for the Olerud award for the third straight year (he'd be the first ever to do that), and he's a semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award (college baseball's Heisman Trophy). Did I mention he's the consensus first or second pick in the draft and no one can decide whether he'd be a better pro as a pitcher or hitter? He's good, but he's not the only Cardinal being honored. 

Baseball teammate Devin Hairston is also shortlisted for the Golden Spikes award. Closer Lincoln Henzman and corner infield Drew Ellis are also first team All-Americans. All of these guys want to finish their seasons with the biggest trophy of them all, a dogpile in Omaha.

Also being honored are Cardinals in different sports. Nicole Woods, of the field hockey team, was recently selected to the USA roster for the FIH World League Semifinals. This is a qualifying event for the Field Hockey World Cup. Woods joins a long list of Cardinals who have been called up to their national team in a variety of sports.

A future Cardinal is the last player I'll mention on this list. You've likely heard of the Wendy's High School Heisman, given to one male and one female high school athlete nationally. The Tewaaraton Native American Scholarship is very similar, for students of Haudenosaunee/Iroquois heritage. Future Louisville lacrosse player, Shayla Scanlon, was selected as this year's female recipient on Thursday. It's a great honor recognizing character, leadership, academics, and play. Coach Kellie Young says she's excited for the Louisville community to be introduced to Scanlon.

Congratulations to all of these Cardinals for their hard work.

Guess who's back...

I'll finally make my triumphant return to the studio today after nearly a month off. JC Sullivan will join Paulie and me in the studio in Worldwide Jeff McAdams' absence. We'll chat about the offseason, baseball, and the cancellation of the women's clinic. Tune into 10.0.9FM or the WCHQ app at 11AM. You can also listen live on the crazy internet. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Hittin' and Pitchin'...Baseball Takes Over Louisville again this weekend -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

NCAA REGIONAL AT PATTERSON THIS WEEKEND

The ping of the bat, the pop of the mitt. The chants of the crowd and the conferences at the mound. It's the big show in town this weekend and Cardinal fans of all ages, interest levels and occupations will flock to Jim Patterson Stadium this weekend to watch UofL try to best their three guests and advance to the Super Regionals. Hats on backwards and inside out. Al Greener playing the organ. Beautiful weather...something the ACC Tournament would have loved to had on opening day. Keep your eyes open if you go...you'll see plenty of UofL women's student-athletes out there cheering on their classmates. 

NCAA Baseball Tournament time is big time on the corner of 2nd. and Central for the next couple of days. It's pretty much the only Cardinal Athletic event going on this weekend...so let's take a look at it. We know, and I know I'll hear about it. We're a women's sports site. Why are we covering this? We know that plenty of women's sports fans will be there. We're not so narrow-minded and "blinkers-on" that we can't appreciate and laud Dan McDonnell's guys for a few days. 

1) McKay can play. The junior left-handed pitcher and first baseman has been named National Player of the Year for NCAA College Baseball. It's the first time the honor has been bestowed on a Cardinal baseball player. 

He's pretty good. He batted .363 for the season, had 17 home runs and 52 RBI's. On the mound, he went 9-3 with a 2.37 ERA and 124 strikeouts. He was also ACC Player of the Year. He'll be appearing soon in a minor league city for a brief while before donning a major league uniform. Is it too much to hope he ends up in Wrigley Field? Hope springs eternal for us Cubbie fans, you know...

Lincoln logs....saves. 

2) He's got company.  Also named to the First Team All-American squad with Brendon McKay are Drew Ellis and Lincoln Henzman. They're both juniors as well and are probably donning their Cardinal uniforms for their last times.  

Ellis, a hard-hitting infielder who leads the Cards with a .376 batting average. He's got 17 fence-clearers and 18 doubles...so outfields are best served by not playing shallow on him. He's a local kid...from Jeffersonville, IN. You can put him at first or third base when the Cards take the field...usually first when McKay's on the mound...he was first-team All-ACC as well. 

Henzman hails from Lexington, KY and is the door closer. The stopper. The relief specialist that led the nation with 16 saves. Only 32 innings on the season for the righty...who sports a 1.41 ERA. Opposing batters offered a weak .157 batting average against him. his brothers play the game as well....Dalton at MTSU and Cameron at Centre. 

Hiya, Highlander !!

3) First up? Louisville (47-10) will face Radford (27-30) at 6 p.m. tonight. An earlier contest (Oklahoma vs. Xavier) will take place at 2 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN3. Limited single game tickets ate still available. Free parking at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium with shuttle services available to the ball pack for the fans. If they win against Radford, the Cards would advance to the winner's bracket to face the winner of the Sooners and Muskies. That game would go at 7 p.m. Saturday...the loser's bracket to play at noon.

Cade McClure will get the start against Highlanders. An unlikely participant for baseball's big dance...Radford had to win four games in the Big South Tournament to get the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. They're one of only three teams with a losing record in the field. 

Certainly, there will be a lot of activity around the south end of the Louisville campus both today and tomorrow. One scheduled event, however, will not be held. It leads to the question...

4) Why Did They Cancel the Women's Football Clinic? 

The annual women's football clinic...scheduled for Saturday, June 3rd. from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Thornton's Center For Academic Excellence....on the south side of Papa John's Stadium has been cancelled. 

We'll bring in #1 Cardinal fan and the revered "Bird Lady" Julie "J.C." Sullivan for our Saturday radio show to take a further look at this announcement. Parking issues? One would think not. They got a lot of asphalt for parking out there at the corner of Floyd and Central.

Join us at www.crescenthillradio.com WCHQ 100.9 FM tomorrow at 11 a.m. for the story and speculation...plus much more on The CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR. 


paulie
xxxxx

McKay leads the way in Baseball 10-4 win...Henderson throws today in NCAA Regionals -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

GRAND SLAM PUTS THE WHAM ON IRISH

The topic of conversation...when it comes to Louisville junior pitcher Brendan McKay...inevitably turns to whether he'll be both a pitcher and hitter when he goes to the major leagues. Or will he perform both duties? Yesterday, at Louisville Slugger Field, he showed once again that he's perfectly capable of performing both duties with aplomb...delivering a grand slam home run and pitching six innings of three run, eight strikeout ball from the hill in #4 Louisville's 10-3 pool play win over Notre Dame.  

McKay's blast to right field in the third inning plated a bag full of Cards. With two outs, Logan Taylor walked, Josh Stowers beat out an infield single and Devin Hairston took a pitch off the wrist to set the stage for McKay's fence clearer on the first pitch from Irish hurler Michael Hearne. It was McKay's second career grand slam and second home run of the game for UofL...Drew Ellis bagging a solo shot to left-center in the second inning. 

The Irish nibbled away at the 5-0 Cardinal lead with two runs in the third and a run in the fifth to get within two. McKay, scheduled to pitch six innings, gave way to freshman Adam Elliott in the sixth...who put the Irish away scoreless in the seventh and eighth. Another freshman, Shay Smiddy, completed the contest by keeping Notre Dame at bay in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Cards increased the lead to 7-3 in the seventh when Hairston provided a two out, two RBI single that scored Logan and Stowers. Three additional runs crossed the plate in the top of the ninth...keyed by a Stowers double and two sacrifice flies. 

The Cards, 1-0 in pool play, face nemesis Florida State today at 3 p.m. to try and clinch the semifinal berth for Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m. I watched part of it yesterday on Fox Sports South...and the announcers weren't too bad. You can hear Cardinal renaissance man Sean Moth provide the radio call on 93.9 FM...I tuned in for a couple of innings and never cease to be amazed on how smoothly and how easily he relays of all kinds of information during a broadcast.

The pool play concept is an interesting twist to a conference championship. One would also like to see ACC softball adhere to this type of format. Right now, with 11 schools participating in the sports, it would need a bit of tweaking...but Clemson is picking up the sport by 2020 and that's the number of squads that play in the ACC baseball championships. 


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NCAA EAST REGION TRACK CONTINUES TODAY

Six UofL women's track athletes participated in the NCAA East Regional preliminaries Thursday...but none qualified for the NCAA Championships. 

Morgan Zacharias finished the best of the six...getting 14th. in the pole vault. In the women's hammer, Cyerra Cassell finished 36th and Dolly Nyemah was 39th. Gwen Shaw recorded a 33rd place finish in the 400 meter hurdles. Bre'Yana Wash (26th) and Alexis Gibbons (28th) competed in the long jump.

Emmonnie Henderson will compete in the discus around 2 p.m. today. She has qualified for the NCAA Championships the last two years in the shot put and discus. THe women's shot put events will be held Saturday around 6 p.m. 

Still trying to find a broadcast possibility on these. I'll come back in and update the article if I do. 


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LOSING THEIR GRIP A BIT? 

We've talked here quite a bit about the ACC's dominance in several women's sports...primarily lacrosse, field hockey and soccer. So it does comes as a bit of a surprise the only one ACC school (Boston College) has advanced to the Final Four of the ACC women's lacrosse championships. 

The Eagles will face Navy in the second semifinal game today. Starting it off will be Penn State vs. Maryland. 

So...how did the six ACC schools that made the NCAA WLAX Championships do? 

Louisville and Notre Dame were eliminated in the first round. UNC and Virginia made it to the second round...where UNC defeated Virginia...but the Tar Heels lost to Navy in the quarterfinals.   

Syracuse advanced to the second round and lost to Boston College..who bested USC in the quarterfinals to get to the semis. 

A changing of the guard with two B1G schools in the final four? Maryland, of course, was ACC for years before jumping to the B1G. 

There is still the East Coast dominance present...to be sure...with two schools from Maryland in the final four and Boston College on the right coast. Penn State a bit further away from the Atlantic...but Pennsylvania a hotbed of talent for lacrosse...along with Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. 


Best of luck to the Eagles, soar high and take the title! 







paulie
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