Softball Drops Game One -- DERBY DAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Fall 3-1 to Boston College

The Louisville softball team headed to Chestnut Hill for a weekend series with a chance to build on their record as the postseason nears, but they got off to a disappointing start. The Cards gave the Eagles their seventh conference win and just their 12th overall while they fell to 17-24-1 themselves after the 3-1 loss. With just seven games remaining on the schedule, Louisville will need to get more wins under their belts quickly to have a chance at much of a postseason.

The Cards went to bat first and opened the game with a pair of singles. Unfortunately, those singles yielded just one baserunner after Carmyn Greenwood was called out for leaving first early. With a strikeout from Taylor Roby and a groundout from Makayla Hurst, Roby headed to the circle for BC's first inning at the plate. The Eagles managed at double, but it came with two outs, and Roby popped out the next better to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Louisville got to work early with a Cassady Greenwood single. Rebecca Chung followed her with another single, but was thrown out trying to stretch for second. Charley Butler sent a single through the middle to score Greenwood from third and Louisville had the lead. Unfortunately, the Cards could get no more from the momentum as Celene Funke grounded out on a full count and Sydney Bickel struck out. Their lead would be short lived, though, as one-out and two-out doubles from BC in the bottom half tied the game at one.

For the remainder of the game, Louisville would leave five runners on base but score no more runs. Their best opportunity came in the third inning when Hurst and Roby stood on second and third with two outs, but Cassady Greenwood couldn't bring them in. It took BC until the fourth inning to break the tie, but it was another double that gave them the lead, as a one-out hit scored a baserunner from a previous single. In the next inning, the Eagles opened with a solo homer to give them a 3-1 lead, which would turn out to be the final score. The home run ended Roby's day, and Gabby Holloway finished things out by allowing just one hit over the remaining 1.2 innings.

Louisville will try to win the next three games of the series, which starts today. They'll get a double-header underway with the first game at 12PM on the ACC Network Extra. The second game is set to go at 5PM, at which point the Cards will hope to be fighting for a series lead.

Derby Day in the Ville

It's the annual city holiday as the Derby returns to its rightful place on the first Saturday in May. As is tradition, we'll take this week off for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as Daryl mentioned yesterday. It is expected to be a beautiful day, so be sure to enjoy the fresh outside air. Check out Paulie's Handicapping Site (formerly Handicapping Heroes) to make informed bets whether at the track or via your phone. Enjoy yourselves, don't lose too much money, and revel safely and responsibly. Happy Derby!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Falls Short, Tennis Narrowly Wins, and More -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Drops Two to Open ACC Play

With the podded system created for ACC play this season, softball will see a lot of double headers. Fortunately for them, that means they'll get plenty of opportunities to show their abilities in back-to-back games in a way they didn't yesterday. Taking on NC State to open their conference season, Louisville softball fell 8-4 and 4-3 to put them at 0-4 on the season. There is plenty of time to recover, have no doubt, as the Cards are right back in action today, starting with a match against Virginia at 11AM before getting another crack at the Wolfpack at 3PM. Both games should be on the ACC Network Extra. Let's take a look at yesterday's results.

Cards Let Wolfpack Snag Big Lead; 8-4

Acting as the home team, Louisville took to the field first and promptly gave up a two runs in an inning that included an opening walk, a pair of steals, and a double. After getting out of it, Taylor Roby, who started in the circle, was able to reset the game for herself when she hit a two-run homer to score herself and Carmyn Greenwood to tie the game. Both teams saw a walk but stranded a runner in the second, and the NC State opened up the game. They scored two in the third, two in the fourth, and a single run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to build an 8-2 lead. Louisville tried to claw back in the sixth, but could just scratch across two runs, stranding runners on second and third with a strikeout. That saw the inning end at 8-4, which is how the game would end an inning later. The Cards would get Celene Funke and Roby on base in the seventh, but could do nothing to advance them around to score.

7th Inning Rally Falls Short; 4-3

The second game flipped the dugouts and got off to quite a different start. Louisville got a one-out double and a two-out walk but couldn't bring either runner home and so headed to the bottom half with no runs. It looked like they'd start NC State off the same way, retiring the first two batters on a line drive and a strikeout, but a two-out walk was followed by a wild pitch to put a runner on second. A single scored her, and a two-out homer gave NC State a 3-0 lead leaving the first. After NC State's two-out fireworks, neither team threatened much until the bottom of the fifth when NC State loaded the bases with two outs. A ground-out ended the inning. 

In the top of the sixth, Louisville's offense returned when Taylor Roby hit her second home run of the day and of the season. That made it 3-1 and a bit more in reach, but the Wolfpack returned the favor with a lead-off home run of their own in the bottom half. The next batter reached on an error, but a caught-stealing was followed by a pop-out and a strikeout to end the inning. Louisville did their best to extend the game in the seventh, albeit with some help from NC State. Payton Hudson walked to open the inning but was followed by two quick outs. NC State had a chance to end the game on a grounder by Carmyn Greenwood, but an error put runners on first and second. Roby singled them both in to make it 4-3. Cassady Greenwood also reached on an error to put runners on first and second (odd coincidence), but Charley Butler's fly to right didn't have the juice or placement to get to the ground or out of the fence. A catch ended the game.

Tennis Opens Conference Play with Victory

Louisville hosted Syracuse yesterday for their first ACC match of the year. This has been a place in the past few years where things have fallen apart for the Cards, but a strong showing early could boost their morale going forward. Fortunately for Louisville, their doubles play may be the spark they need for the remainder of the year. They opened yesterday's match by winning the doubles point, clinching that portion of the match for the sixth straight time. They've played six matches. The Cards won the doubles point pretty strongly as well, finishing 6-1 and 6-2, while leading 5-4 in the unfinished match.

On the singles side, things got a bit more interesting. The Cards jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with wins in the first two singles matches to finish. Then, Syracuse won the next three matches, all coming back from a 1-0 set deficit to win in three sets. At 3-3, it came down to Rhea Verma, who narrowly lost her first set on a tiebreaker. She went on to win 6-1, 6-2 to give Louisville the fourth point they needed and a victory in conference play. That moves the Cards to 4-2 overall, and they'll be back in action tomorrow at 11AM against Boston College.

More Roundup

The swimming team claimed eight top-8 finishes and a bronze medal in the 400 medley relay to move into third place in the team standings. At 683.5 points, they're 105 points clear of fourth-place VT but sit 196 points behind NC State in second. Virginia is in their own class with 1047 points. The Cards will have a chance to hold onto third and try to chase down the Wolfpack as the final day of competition begins with prelims today at 11AM. The finals are schedule for 7PM and the entire event will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.

Volleyball will have to wait another week to get their spring season started as their match with Lipscomb has been canceled. The ASUN, in an effort to get more conference games played, shifted their schedules around, landing a conference matchup on this weekend for the Bison. Louisville's match was seen as lower priority, so they got the boot. The Cards will now start the spring season next week against Notre Dame as they move straight into conference play.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Well we were all wrong when we spent last week lamenting what we suspected to be the end of Louisville women's basketball's regular season due to Covid-19. We'll endeavor to be more correct this week on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour as we recap the win over Pittsburgh as well as all of the other news and events in Louisville women's athletics this week. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for our live show or check out the replay or podcast following the recording. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Drops Two; Lacrosse Opens ACC Play -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Falls to UIC and OK State on Friday

Louisville softball's early season struggles continued yesterday as they dropped their third and fourth games in a row, with three being run rules. The losses to Alabama, while not great, could not be described as unexpected, but Jeff and I discussed last week that dropping them both by large margins could be bad for confidence moving forward. It seems that came to pass yesterday. The Cards were thumped by the University of Illinois-Chicago, a team that had been 4-6 entering the game. They showed a bit more life in the later game against top-fifteen Oklahoma State, avoiding a fourth straight run rule, but were unable to score and dropped the game 3-0.

Game 1: Louisville 2, UIC 10

Taylor Roby took the circle to open Louisville's weekend yesterday and she was met by a lead-off home run from UIC's Samantha Ferguson. Ferguson would go on to score on to score three runs in the game. The Cards got through the rest of the first allowing just one more hit but trailed 1-0 going into the bottom half. Louisville returned the run scoring favor when Celene Funke reached on a four pitch walk. She stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball, and scored on an error. After a ground out, Maddy Newman was picked off at first to leave the bases empty with two outs. Cassady Greenwood doubled, but Carmyn couldn't bring her home. 1-1.

The second inning was pretty uneventful, with just one walk between the two teams, but it started to get away from the Cards after that. UIC scored two unanswered runs in the third inning and added three more in the fourth. Louisville got one back in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Cassady Greenwood homer to make it 6-2, but then gave up another four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Unable to bring the score any closer in the bottom half, the game was called for a five inning run rule. Louisville fell 10-2.

Game 2: Louisville 0, OK State 3

The second game saw Louisville blanked on the scoreboard and nearly blanked at the plate. The Cards kept this one a lot closer defensively, with Chardonnay Harris keeping the Cards in the game from the circle, but a three run third inning from the hosts was the difference. Louisville's offense was held to a pair of hits from Funke and Caitlin Ferguson, a walk from Newman, and a hit by pitch from Eden Mayo. No more than two of those things happened in the same inning. To her credit, Harris held Oklahoma State to just five hits and a walk, but three of those baserunners came back-to-back-to back for that three run inning. 

Despite a better showing in the second game, the result is ultimately the same and the Cards fell to 5-11. I know that's not what we at Cardinal Couple imagined for this team, and I'm certain it's not what anyone in the softball building expected either. The softball season is long, but Louisville will have to turn it around quickly if they're going to end up winning enough games for an NCAA Tournament bid. The Cards are back in action today with a game against #10 Oregon at 1PM immediately followed by a rematch against Oklahoma State.

Women's Track on Top in ACC Championships

With eleven events remaining today, Louisville currently holds a narrow lead over the Duke Blue Devils at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Cards sit at 34.5 points with the Blue Devils just half a point behind in second. Still in striking distance are NC State, Notre Dame, and Virginia at 26, 26, and 25.5 points respectively. Louisville's day yesterday was highlighted by a Dorcas Wasike silver medal finish in the 5000m run. Still to be completed today on the women's side are the finals for the Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Put, 60m Hurdles, Mile Run, 400m, 60m, 800m, 200m, 3000m, and the 4x400m relay. Louisville has had success in some of these events throughout the year, so we'll see if they can hold on to their lead.

Lax Opens ACC Schedule against VT

Following the thrilling win against Vanderbilt earlier this week, Scott Teeter's squad will get their ACC season underway today when they host #23 Virginia Tech at 1PM. The Hokies are 5-1 so far this season, falling only to #17 JMU in overtime. VT beat Cincinnati 20-5 earlier this week, a team you'll recall Louisville opened the season against, winning 16-11. The Cards will have their work cut out for them today, as VT has scored fewer than 14 goals just once this season (the road loss against JMU). If Rachel Florek can continue her outstanding play as she did last week, Louisville may be in business. It will take a strong effort on both ends, though, as the Hokies haven't given up double digit goals since a 17-10 win over Davidson to open the season. Today's game will be available on ACC Network Extra.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

It's the Jeff and Case show again this week, and it will again come at an odd time. We'll get the show started at 1:30 today, so be sure to tune in while you watch softball and lacrosse. We'll have plenty to talk about after the busy week for Louisville athletics and have a few games to preview as well, such as the regular season finale for basketball. Check out the Cardinal Couple YouTube for the live broadcast at 1:30 or for a replay any time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Busy Friday Sees Wins, Swims, and Broken Records -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Sweeps Friday at Bama Bash

It hasn't been an easy start for Holly Aprile's squad this season. The Cards got a ranked win in their opener before losing six straight. Louisville snagged a win over Wisconsin last week to break the streak but fell again to ranked Michigan the next day. Louisville looks to turn things around this weekend, and they started that attempt with a pair of wins yesterday. Louisville shutout both Penn State and Wichita State to move to 4-7 on the season. The Cards will get another shot at Wichita State this morning before a pair of games against power house (and host) Alabama. The Crimson Tide is a perennial title contender and is currently ranked 13/10 in the polls. The Cards will have their work cut out for them. 

Harris No-Hits Penn State

In the first game of the day, the Cards got off to a promising start in the top of the first inning. Louisville got runners on first and second with two outs after a Maddy Newman walk and a Cassady Greenwood single. That would be the end of the rally, though, as the Nittany Lions got out of the jam. In the bottom half, Chardonnay Harris walked the second batter on four pitches, and Claire Swedburg stole second to give Penn State a runner in scoring position with two outs. Harris got a swinging strikeout on the cleanup hitter to keep the game level.

The next two innings saw twelve up-twelve down as both teams were held in check. Taylor Roby broke the tie with a lead-off home run in the top of the fourth. After a pair of outs, Carmyn Greenwood doubled and Charley Butler singled her home to give the Cards a 2-0 lead before a strikeout ended the inning. Harris once again sat down the side in order. 

In the top of the fifth, Louisville's offense continued the rally. The Cards used seven singles, a walk, and an error to bat around the order and score seven runs. After blowing open a 9-0 lead, Harris picked up two groundouts and a pop-out to finish the game due to five-inning run rule. As the walk in the first inning was the only baserunner allowed, Chardonnay Harris picked up the no-hitter. The no-hitter was Louisville's first since Maryssa Becker in 2014.

Offense Picks up Where it Left Off Against Wichita State

Following the seven run fifth inning that ended the game against Penn State, Louisville's offense was more than ready to keep playing. After Taylor Roby worked out of a runner in scoring position in the top half, Louisville's hot offense once again stepped to the plate. Celene Funke walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Maddy Newman then walked and stole second, giving Louisville two in scoring position with no outs. Roby promptly brought them both home with a single. After a Cassady Greenwood bunt single, Charley Butler came on to run for Roby. A double steal put runners on second and third and a Carmyn Greenwood bunt single scored one. Louisville then executed another double steal to score another run and a Rebecca Chung groundout scored the final runner. Louisville put two more on base after a single and a hit by pitch to bat around the order, but Funke flied out to end then inning.

Louisville would go on to score a run in the second and two runs in the fourth to carry an 8-0 lead into the fifth, where Roby would sit down the Shockers' batters and win in the second straight run rule game. Roby gave up just two hits and a walk, while giving up no runs. Meanwhile, every Louisville batter to step to the plate reached base one way or the other. 

The Cards will see if they can keep their hot offense rolling today as they open the day with another game against Wichita State at noon. Their first game with Alabama is scheduled for 2:30PM and will be available via WatchESPN (SECN+).

Swimming in Third at ACC Championships

Heading into the final day of competition at the ACC Women's Swimming Championships, Louisville sits in a comfortable third place. The Cards (747.5) are nearly two hundred points ahead of fourth place UNC (567) but almost 150 behind second place NC State (888). Virginia leads by a mile at 1001.5 points. In addition to their solid team standing, Louisville has currently had multiple swimmers set pool times that qualified for invites to the NCAA Championships last season. We'll take a look at the potential NCAA qualifiers once conference championships have wrapped up and invites have gone out.

Lacrosse Falls in Tough Match at #14 Michigan

Louisville Lacrosse hit the road to take on a ranked Michigan team yesterday and put up a fight for much of the game. The Cards had to weather a storm as the Wolverines opened with a five goal run over the game's first ten minutes. Louisville bounced back and Shayla Scanlan's hat trick goal with six seconds left in the half made it 7-6 Michigan. The Cards would fight again in the second half, opening the half with a game tying goal from Paige Richbourg. Scanlan would go on to tie the game at 11 with 11:30 to go but that would be Louisville's final goal of the game. As they opened, Michigan closed, scoring four goals over the final seven minutes and shutting out the Cards to claim a 15-11 victory.

Despite the loss, Louisville showed great will and toughness in their second ranked game of the season. The Cards saw a lot of lopsided losses last year and appear to be holding their own much better this season. In addition to the spread out scoring, 11 goals from six players (Scanlan, Richbourg, both Blalocks, Hannah Morris and Brenna Shanahan), Rachel Florek set a program record for saves to keep the Cards in the game. Florek finished with 17 stops, preventing what could have been a very ugly outcome for the Cards. Louisville moves to 2-2 on the year and will head down I-65 on Tuesday for a matchup against Vanderbilt at 4PM.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

After taking last week off, we're back with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today at 11AM. Jared and Paulie are both traveling this week, so Jeff and I will be holding down the fort, but we'll have plenty to discuss. With basketball getting into the big time part of the season and softball and lacrosse both being underway in earnest, we'll have no lack of topics to discuss. Join us as we go live on YouTube or catch the replay of the show any time.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Rallies Late Twice for Two Wins -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Wins Twice in Cardinal Classic Double Header

Louisville fell behind in the first inning of action at Ulmer Stadium this season before ultimately scoring 7 unanswered runs to take care of Indiana State 7-1. Sounds pretty simple, right? Not quite. The Cardinals and Sycamores were locked at 1 from the second inning on, and Indiana State threatened to regain the lead multiple times throughout the game. It wasn't until the 6th inning that Louisville scored its next 6 runs and then finished ISU 1-2-3 in the 7th to win the game.

Louisville took advantage of three Indiana State errors, all in the sixth inning, to win the game. Five of Louisville's six runs in the sixth were unearned, the go ahead run being the only earned run of the inning. Despite the significant number of unearned runs, the Cards were still credited with 5 RBIs, with Celene Funke, Megan Hensley, and Cassady Greenwood earning one apiece and Kara Snyder picking up two. Celene Funke led the Cards on offense with 3 hits on 4 at bats. She scored a run, had the aforementioned RBI, left no runners on base and struck out 0 times. 

Because I apparently do not know how softball pitching scoring works, Megan Hensley was credited with the win, despite exiting a tie game in the top of the fifth inning. Louisville would not take the lead with Hensley in the circle, but she moves to 2-1 and Taylor Roby, who pitched the final three innings (including getting the Cards out of an early jam in the fifth) earned the win. Hensley finished with six hits vs six strikeouts. She walked one batter, hit one batter, and allowed one run. Roby had three strikeouts, only one hit, and one wild pitch. Louisville's pitching in this game was a lot better than it has been in terms of control, and that is important as giving opponents free baserunners can lead to losing games. 

There was no rest for the weary after a late win, as the Cards prepared to take on the Missouri Tigers (26th in the latest RPI) just a half hour after their previous game ended. Louisville is currently ranked 45th in the RPI so a win here would show that the Cards have the ability to finish games against stronger competition, something they kind of need to prove after a less than stellar start against quality teams so far this season.

It was a come from behind game again for Louisville as they allowed Mizzou to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning following two hits, two walks, and an error. Fortunately, the Cards were able to clean up the defense and pitching after the second inning, scattering just three more hits, two more walks, and one more error throughout the game. The Cards' bats were quiet for the first half of the game, as their only baserunner came on an error in the first. Louisville's first hit came on a single by Hensley in the fourth inning. She was replaced by Jordyn Wolfe on the basepaths, who scored on a Caitlin Ferguson triple in the next at-bat. After a Rebecca Chung walk, Ferguson was replaced at third by Maddy Newman (who was pinch running for Chung) after a baserunning breakdown. Ferguson out, Newman at third. Taylor Roby singled up the middle and the Cards trailed only 3-2.

Again, in the sixth inning, the Cards made their move. Ferguson and Chung were determined to score on their own, and after Ferguson doubled, Chung sent a home run over the right center wall to give the Cards a 4-3 lead. Louisville dinked and dunked a couple of more hits to bring Kara Snyder in on a Riley Schindler single and the Cardinal lead moved to 5-3, the final score.

The Cards were led on offense by Ferguson and Roby, both going 2-3 with an RBI, and Chung, who was 1-2 with a walk and the go ahead two-run homer. Danielle Watson went the distance in the circle in this one, moving her record to 4-4. She allowed 5 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), and 4 walks. However, she did strikeout five, and as I mentioned before, most of the damage to her line was done in the second inning. She allowed more than one baserunner in only one other inning, and that was an error and a walk. Watson and Hensley are both fighting to be called the "ace" of this team, and the competition is a good thing to have. The two make each other better and it is exciting to see improvement from them. 

Also important for the Cards is that the pitchers and offense are supporting each other. Last season, we saw games where the pitchers would be great, only for the offense to be inept and the Cards lose a low scoring game. In other games, the offense would score ample runs, only for the pitchers to give up even more and the Cards lose a high scoring game. Louisville has been very balanced so far this season and that is the path to success. Hopefully Holly Aprile can keep finding improvement in her team this season and beyond. The Cards are back in action this morning at 10:30 in a rematch game against ISU before a 4:30 (scheduled) game against IUPUI. Both games are available on ACC Network Extra if you cannot make it out to Ulmer.

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POSTGAME WITH HOLLY APRILE

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

I'm out of the studio this week as deadlines call me into the office once more, but fear not; the four seats shall be filled. Paulie, Jeff, and Jared are joined this week by Daryl Foust, who is more than thrilled that softball has returned to the Ville. The four will discuss yesterday's softball games, likely while keeping up with the action in the game ongoing during the show, while also giving Louisville women's basketball the attention it deserves. It should be a fantastic hour of sports talk radio, the only one bringing you all of the news and analysis regarding Louisville women's sports. Tune in to WCHQ at 100.9 FM, the WCHQ App, the WCHQ website, or fanfare back on Facebook Live at 11AM.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Photos for this article provided by Jared Anderson.