Field Hockey 2015 Class and Softball Academy -- Tuesday Cardinal Couple

Field Hockey Signing Class

Well, it took a while, but we finally have word of the Field Hockey freshman class for 2015.  This freshman class signed in the early signing period in November and will be on campus and hopefully contributing to more success for UofL Field Hockey this fall.

The class consists of five young women, with two hailing from eastern Pennsylvania, two from eastern Virginia, and the last...to keep with the "eastern ____" theme...from eastern Louisville.

Annie Himsworth

Annie comes to us from Trappe Pennsylvania, which just a bit outside of Philadelphia.  A midfielder, Annie has an impressive resume' playing with Perkiomen Valley High School and the X-Calibur club team.

Himsworth was named to the All-State team in Pennsylvania twice while playing for Perkiomen Valley HS,  but her most impressive list of accomplishments come from her club play with a number of appearances in various levels of the USA Field Hockey organization including the Futures Elite program, Junior Olympics, and the Junior National Camp.

Abby Julius

Abby also comes to us from the Keystone State, from Hummelstown, PA near Harrisburg, but played on the same club team with Annie Himsworth.  Abby played forward for Lower Dauphin High School, and travelled nearly an hour and a half to play club ball at X-Calibur outside of Philadelphia.

Abby and her high school team captured two state titles, in 2012 and 2013, as well and numerous local and regional honors.  Individually, she has picked up a number of local and regional first team honors, as well as NFHCA all-region and all-state honors in 2013.  In the USA National Team system, she saw success on the U17 team, as well as the U19 indoor team, as well as being involved in the Junior Olympics, and the Futures Elite program.

Madison Land

Moving south, Madison will make the roughly 10 hour drive from Virginia Beach, VA...its easy, just get on I-64 and get off when you get to Louisville...where she played forward for Cape Henry Collegiate High School.  While at Cape Henry Collegiate, Madison was on two state championship teams and was on the all-state first team in 2012, with an all-state honorable mention in 2013.

Playing for the TCOYO club team, Madison helped the club to a Top 10 national Indoor ranking and a Top 25 club team ranking overall.  Madison has also qualified for the National Indoor Tournament for the past five years and participated in the Futures Elite program.

Taylor Stone

Still in Virginia, Taylor lives in the Washington DC area, in Herndon, playing midfielder for Herndon High School and the Rampage club team.  Taylor has gathered numerous local and regional first-team and all-tournament team selections.  She has also participated in the USA National Team program as a member of the U17 National Training team.

Katie Walsh

Back here in Louisville, Katie Walsh will be joining the cards from Ballard High School here locally, and the IFHCK club.  A midfielder, Katie and Ballard made it to back to back state semifinals appearances in 2012 and 2013.  Katie was named to the all-state tournament team in 2013 and 2014, along with a number of district and regional honors.  A member of the Kentucky Select first team from 2012 to 2014, she was also nominated for Miss Kentucky Field Hockey in 2014.

Katie led her IFHCK club team to a gold medal in the U19 National Festival and also participated in the Futures Elite program in 2014 and 2015.

fiveOtwo Softball Academy

I had the pleasure, after doing the Cardinal Couple radio show Saturday, of visiting the grand opening of fiveOtwo Softball Academy in the Lyndon area.

The Big Wol was one of the most devastating hitters in
Louisville Softball history

Katelyn Mann did it
all for UofL softball

fiveOtwo Softball Academy is a new venture started up by UofL Softball alumnae (2013 graduates) Katelyn Mann, and Alicja Wolny.  The facility features two indoor, climate-controlled, and well-lit batting cages as well as available instruction on many aspects of softball play by Katelyn and Alicja.  Other instructors are able to rent the cages as well, and a number of other UofL Softball alum are already on-board to provide other instruction at the facility.  


Other instructors on board are: Chrisanna Roberts providing instruction at all fielding positions and hitting,  2nd baseman extraordinaire Katie Keller providing instruction on hitting and infield play, Chelsea Jordan specializing in outfield play and left handed hitting and slapping, and if you're looking for pitching instruction Rachel LeCoq is available to share of her expertise.

fiveOtwo Softball Academy is available on the web at http://www.502softball.com/ and on twitter as @502softball.

Proposed basketball rule changes

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff Columnist Jenny O'Bryan alerts us in today's column about a possible rule change being considered for womens college basketball. It could have a pronounced effect on the game...)



-Rule change could greatly alter WBB

-Rutgers finally decides on vote for AD: Julie Hermann

-Media Tuesday for Louisville Softball

If you have listened to Paulie, Jeff and I on Crescent Hill Radio on the Cardinal Couple radio hour you have likely heard us reference NCAA and their affinity for rules.  There are so many rules and regulations that it makes my head spin just thinking about it. 

However, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee made a recommendation for a rule change at their annual meeting in Indianapolis.  This is one rule I can get behind. 

The committee is recommending that a 10-second backcourt rule be implemented in the women’s game.   In order for this to become a rule for the 2013-14 season the Playing Rules Oversight Panel must approve it.  They will convene June 18  in a conference call.

Below is an excerpt from the NCAA website regarding the recommendation:

Women’s 10-second backcourt rule

In women’s basketball, committee members added the 10-second rule in the backcourt for the first time since the NCAA began administering women’s championships in 1981-82.

Previously, teams could take as much time off the 30-second shot clock as they wanted before crossing the mid-court line.

Officials will use the shot clock to determine if a 10-second violation has occurred.

Committee members believe adding the 10-second rule will increase the tempo of the game and create more offensive scoring opportunities.

Women’s intercollegiate basketball is the only level in the sport throughout the world that does not have a backcourt rule in place.

If this rule is adopted by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, the committee is also recommending that the closely guarded rule in the backcourt be eliminated from the rules book.

The closely guarded rule in the frontcourt would read that a player holding the ball for five seconds with a defender not exceeding six feet will be a violation. Previously, the defender had to be within three feet of the offensive player with the ball to force a 5-second violation.

“Given feedback from stakeholders through the years, this is the right time to approve the rule,” said Barbara Burke, Women’s Basketball Rules Committee chair and director of athletics at Eastern Illinois. “Overall, we discussed pace of play, creating scoring opportunities and flow of the game. Adding the 10-second backcourt rule adds another element of strategy, and this rule fits into the concepts of growing the game.”

I have to say this is one NCAA rule I welcome.  Not only will it increase the pace of the game and provide more scoring opportunities, I believe it really works to the advantage of a team like Louisville that likes to play pressure defense.  The thought of some combination of Bria Smith, Tia Gibbs and Jude Schimmel wrecking havoc in the backcourt with pressure has me bemoaning the fact that basketball season is 6 months away!

While this rule is not a done deal, yet, it does sound like the support is there pretty unanimously.  We should know more in late June. 

For more about proposed rule changes check out the full article (mentioned above) at:

RULE CHANGE

-Jenny O Bryan

( One thing that we should see here at CARDINAL COUPLE if this rule goes through is our readers won't be bemoaning the fact the Louisville guards are taking 10-15 seconds to get the ball across the timeline on occasions. We'll follow this proposal with interest...the  CARDINAL WBB full court press was very productive at times last season.  -- Paulie)


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The search for an Athletic Director at Rutgers University had come down to Frazier and Hermann. The six-member committee couldn't decide, though. Until today.

Word is...that a vote last night resulted in a 3-3 tie on who will become the new AD for the Scarlet Knights. There are three men and three women on the committee.

They tried again, today, through the eleven member Board of Governors, to break the deadlock. Julie wins! Julie wins! There are only three schools in Division I athletics with a female Athletic Director...California and North Carolina State...and now Rutgers. 

Sean Frazier is the deputy athletic director at Wisconsin. It's widely known that Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez lets Sean handle most of the day-to-day operations. Julie Hermann supervises 20 of the UofL sports and also keeps tabs on marketing at UofL.  Frazier would probably mutter that getting close only matters in horseshoes and hand grenades.

WE have to ask the question...why didn't they appoint seven (or five) people to the first decision-making committee?  

Good luck, Julie! Rutgers has a whole bunch of issues to resolve...one of them being how to break a tie...We're going to miss you!

Be sure to catch the Thursday editon of CARDINAL COUPLE...Jeff McAdams will review Hermann's appointment.


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I had a blast down at Tuesday's Media Day for the UofL Softball team. Got there a little early and learned quite a bit watching practice...the Cards do a full field  and full speed drill where they put the team in situational aspects of a game and see how they perform. Two outs, bottom of the seventh inning Alicja Wolny at bat and Rachel LeCoq on the mound....as an example. Even though the wind was blowing straight out of the ball park, I didn't see any home runs today. I'm guessing their saving those for IPFW, UAB and UCLA.

I also got some great interviews for our Saturday radio show on Crescent Hill Radio. Without giving anything away...here are 10 teasers you can listen for Saturday (or on the archived broadcasts that stay up on the site for several weeks...) You can listen to Crescent Hill Radio 24/7 if you wish on the internet. The station is applying for a low wattage FM license that will dramatically increase the "over the airwaves" broadcast area and hopes to obtain the permission to being this in November.  You can listen to Crescent Hill Radio at the link below

CRESCENT HILL RADIO

Here's your teasers:

1) What do geese and a certain UofL softball player have in common?
2) Who is the best stand-up comic on the team?
3) One of the players reveals her most embarrassing moment on the field.
4) Just how many dogs is Coach Pearsall keeping track of these days?
5) Does a certain Cardinal softball player accept my challenge to a 60 yd. race?
6) How does Coach Pearsall feel the Cards have done with "small ball"?
7) Which Cardinal softball player is a big fan of THE WALKING DEAD?
8) Which softball player defeated Shoni Schimmel in a game of "HORSE"?
9) Who picked whole wheat bread over white and rye bread?
10) Which player prefers Katy Perry over Pink, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars?

See you Saturday 11 a.m. for CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO on Crescent Hill Radio!

-Paulie

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE -- Softball splits with Notre Dame

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards split with Irish. Regular season title on the line today.

-Derby wrap up


The University of Louisville softball team fell in the first game to Notre Dame 5-4 but rallied to pound the Irish 15-1 in five innings in the nightcap. The two will meet today (weather permitting) to decide the BIG EAST regular season winner at 1 p.m. today in South Bend. 


Notre Dame 5 - Louisville 4

Louisville rallied from behind twice in the first game yesterday to get close...but it wasn't enough to defeat the Irish. Notre Dame jumped out to a first inning 3-0 lead off Caralisa Connell and the Cardinal defense. A two-out, two run homer was the Irish big hit to put them up by three after one.

Louisville rallied in the top of the second to make it 3-1 when leadoff hitter Maggie Ruckenbrod parked one in the bleachers in left field.

Alicja Wolny blasted her 10th. homer of the year in the third to cut the lead to 3-2.

After an Irish fence clearer made it 4-2, the Cards got solo, back-to-back homers from Whitney Arion and Jordan Trimble to tie it up at 4-4.

Notre Dame scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. A walk, bunt single and sacrifice bunt got a runner to third. A sacrifice fly to Hannah Kiyohara scored the winner...her throw to the plate not quite in time.
 
Rachel LeCoq took the loss, going to 19-5 on the season, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out four in six innings of relief. Louisville's four runs came on solo shot home runs.


Louisville 15 - Notre Dame 1

Le Coq started the second game in the circle for the Cards and she was involved in a pitcher's duel for the first two innings...a scoreless affair when Uofl came to bat in the top of the third. The Cards got a single from Kayla Soles, A walk from Jordan Trimble and a Katelyn Mann single to fill the bags with Cardinals. Alicja Wolny stepped up big with a deep double that cleared the based and almost made it over the fence. 3-0 Louisville

Notre Dame cut it to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run.

The Cards exploded for 12 runs in the top of the fifth. Trimble singled and scored on a Mann triple. Wolny drove home Mann with a single. Ruckenbrod then singled and Katie Keller followed with a three-run "good bye, Mr. Spalding"...to make it 8-1 Louisville.

Louisville was just getting warmed up.

Kiyohara walked and Taner Fowler reached on an error. Both scored on Soles' double. Trimble "sent one out for a fan" to push to Louisville lead to 12-1. Mann and Wolny then drew walks. Ruckenbrod drove home Mann with a single and Wolny and Ruckenbrod scored out a Keller double to provide Louisville with a 15-1 advantage.

LeCoq gets her 20th. win of the season....going five innings and allowing just two hits, one run and getting a strikeout in five innings.

They decide it today in South Bend. We hope for a "good" Carl appearance or Le Coq to rock again.

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DERBY WRAP UP

Sonja had the hot had again on Derby picks...with exacta picks in races #8, #9 and #10 and trifecta winners in #9 and #10.

I didn't do as well...but did hit the Pick Three and Pick Four that ended with the Derby race.

We both had ORB finishing second in the Derby, but bet him across the board anyway....for a nice $25.60 return on $6 invested. Congratulations to Shug McGaughey. One of the best and nicest trainers in the business.

The "tree" showed up the "apple" in the Derby, though. Sonja's mom had the $1 exacta. Her $20 wager paid $490.80.  She boxed Orb, Golden Soul, Goldencents, Giant Finish and Normandy Invasion.

Her betting strategy? She liked the name Orb, she included all the horses that started with "G" and her late husband (who's first name was Gene) was part of the actual Normandy invasion in WW II.

Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!

-Paulie

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Lacrosse clobbers Canisius 13-3, Softball outslugs Minnesota

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Early offense, dominating defense corrals Canisius 13-3 

-Softball with 21 hits in 16-8 trouncing of the Gophers

It was a "Golden" day for two Louisville women's sports teams. Lacrosse handled the Golden Griffins by ten and softball blasted the Golden Gophers by eight. Maybe they all went to Golden Corral after the wins...

Al Greener and the pep band were on hand.

A spectacular start for Louiville Lacrosse Sunday afternoon at the Lacrosse Stadium, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the first half and shutting down the Golden Griffins to just three goals in a 13-3 opening-day win in front of 300 fans who braved the 40 degree temperature.

After a nicely done rendition of the National Anthem by UofL red-shirt sophomore midfielder Amy Poteet, the teams got busy and the Cards were doing the majority of the work.

Kay Morissette with an impressive start to her career, the freshman scoring four unassisted goals. Louisville goalie Ashley Herbst collecting seven saves and the Cardinal defense limiting Canisius to just 10 shots on goal.

Freshman Erika Eipp scored first for the Cards with only two minutes gone from the clock and another freshman Cortnee Daly followed with the second UofL score with 23:48 left in the first half. Junior Nikki Boltja made it 3-0 Cards just 24 seconds later on a free position shot and the Cards leading scorer from last season took advantage of another penalty shot at 20:42 to put Kellie Young's squad ahead 4-0.

The Cards got a Morissette unassisted goal three minutes later and it wasn't until the 14:47 mark that Canisius hit the scoreboard for the first time. The UofL defense was styming the Golden Griffins attack and the offense was maintainin long stretches of possession.

Faye Brust collected another Cardinal goal near the net and Morissette tallied her second score of the first half as the clock ticked down to 13:02.

The Cards tenacious defense continued to turn the Griffins away and Katie Oliverio registered her first goal of the season with 7:29. When Boltja got her second net-finder of the game...Louisville led 9-1 with 5:33 remaining in the half. Morissette completed the first half hat trick with her third score 15 seconds before half and Louisville took a 10-1 lead into the YUM! Center locker room.

Six Cardinals had scored for Coach Young and Louisville had forced Canisuis into 12 turnovers, while just committing seven themselves. Louisville held a 17-10 shot advantage and Herbst and the defense allowed only five shots on goal.

Canisius switched goalies to start the second half but it didn't appear to be a wise move at first...because
Louisville got off to a speedy start when Oliverio scored on a fast break just 23 seconds into action. Two Canisius goals followed over the next seven minutes, but the Cards defense tightened up and did not allow another Golden Griffith score over the final 22:28.

Morissette notched her fourth score on an unassisted drive at the 15:59 mark to make it 12-3 and Colleen O'Malley closed out the game's scoring on a free position shot three minutes later for the final 13-3 score.

Louisville attempted 32 shots in scoring their 13 goals and held Canisius to 3 for 18 shooting. Morissette led Louisville with four goals on seven attempts, Boltja was three for nine and Oliverio two for three. Eipp, O'Malley, Brust and Daly all had one score each for the Cards.

Six of the 13 Cardinal goals came from the freshman class.

CARDINAL COUPLE (Paulie and Jeff McAdams) caught up with Coach Young after the contest and got these exclusive observations:

On the play of the freshmen:

"They really are a big impact and change for our program, coming in with their talent and what we call LAX IQ. They're fast, they've got great sticks and they're elevating the players around them.

On the defensive effort:

"It was multi-faceted. We stopped them 7-on-7, we stopped them when we were a player down (from penalties). We stopped them in three different sets that we run. They were very consistent in what they did. From top to bottom, I was very happy with our defensive play."

On Nikki Boltja:

"As I just said to her team-mates, we don't want to call out any one player but we go to Nikki a lot because she is literally out here every day. The reason she takes over a game is because she has done the work. She gets her bag of balls, she takes her shots and with as many saves that the Canisius goalies had today (14) you can bet Nikki will be back out here tomorrow taking twice as many shots. She's a fighter. She just wants to put the ball in the back of the net for her team-mates and they follow her lead."

And a battle well-fought today by Boltja and her teammates. Louisville Lacrosse returns to action Saturday with Ohio State visiting the stadium.

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Louisville softball finished their Vegas stay in booming fashion Sunday afternoon, out-slugging Minnesota 16-8.
The Cards had 21 hits and four home runs. Katie Keller went 3-4 with seven RBI's and two round-trippers and Taner Fowler 3-5 with four RBI's and a fence-clearer.

The Cards scored once in the top of the first when Whitney Arion singled home Alicja Wolny. The Cards narrowly missed a second run when Fowler was thrown out at the plate attempting to score.

Minnesota touched Cardinal starting pitcher Rachel LeCoq for four first-inning runs, the big blow a 2 run homer with two outs.

Louisville came back with the bats in the top of the second. A Katelyn Mann single, Maggie Ruckenbrod double and Jasmine Smisthson-Willett walk loaded the bases with no outs. A walk and fly out scored two runs and the Cards were within one. Taner Fowler followed with her first home run of the season... a three run blast to make it 6-4 Cards 

A Minnesota two-run homer with one out sent LeCoq to the dugout and Caralisa Connell took the circle. Carl got the Cards out of the jam and it was 6-6 after three innings.

Louisville took a 7-6 lead on a solo blast by Keller in the fourth and Connell held the Golden Gophers at bay in the bottom half of the inning.

UofL added four more runs in the top of the fifth on six hits...Keller highlighting the inning with a 2 RBI double. Louisville now led 11-6. Carl got the job done again on the mound, holding UM scoreless.

The Cards exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth...Katelyn Mann with a two-run shot and Katie Keller's three run "touch 'em all" had the Cards ahead 16-6. Carl gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning but held on to retire the side and get the win.

Le Coq pitched 1.2 innings and allowed four runs on four hits. Connell's relief effort was 4.1 innings of four run, five hit pitching.

So, the Cards leave Vegas with a 4-1 record. Pitching not quite where it needs to be yet, but the UofL bats have covered it in four out of the five games. Much as Pearsall intimated it might be. Once thing for certain, Louisville appears to be never out of any contest so far, if the hitters are "on". 21 hits is a new Cardinal game record.

Softball returns to action Friday with another three day, five game marathon in the Jacksonville (FL) Tournament. They'll face Stony Brook and Bethune-Cookman on the 15th., Ohio State and Jacksonville on Saturday and Stony Brook again on Sunday.
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Softball takes two against Georgetown

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SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Softball takes two from Georgetown 4-0, 11-0


-Kelly Meyers Rothberg not retained as women's golf coach.


-Joe Tartamella named St John's WBB head coach


-Oh, hail yes...opening night at Churchill interrupted by the elements


Cardinal pitching recorded two shutouts Saturday and allowed just five Georgetown hits in 12 innings. The Cardinal bats exploded for 19 hits and 15 runs against the Hoyas. Louisville goes to 46-2 with the wins, and still holds a one game lead in the BIG EAST. 


GAME ONE

Louisville got a big performance from Katelyn Mann, who had two hits and a home run in three at-bats. The Cards tacked their first run on the Ulmer Stadium scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when Jennifer Esteban led off with a triple and scored on a Katie Keller sacrifice fly .


The Cards put three more runs up to complete the scoring in the fourth inning. Jordan Trimble homered  to left to make it 2-0 Louisville and after a Maggie Ruckenbrod single, Mann blasted the first pitch from Georgetown's Lauren O'Leary over the center-field fence to give UofL a four run lead. 

Tori Collins gave the Cards five strong innings of pitching...the senior allowed just one hit and struck out three. Chelsea Leonard got the save with two innings of two hit pitching.


GAME TWO


Caralisa Connell got the start in game two and Louisville gave her the only actual run she needed in the bottom of the second when Trimble doubled and scored on a Whitney Arion single. 


The Cards were nowhere near done touching home plate, though. 

Katie Keller started the third inning with a double. She scored when Alicja Wolny's fly ball was dropped. Taner Fowler smashed a line drive down the left field line next to score pinch-runner Chrisanna Roberts. Ruckenbrod made it 5-0 with a single. After Mann drew a walk, Arion got her second and third RBI's of the game with her second hit of the contest, a deep double to center. It was 7-0 Louisville and looking good.

The Cards added four more runs in the third. Keller led off with a walk, Wolny singled and Fowler reached on a error to load the bags with Cardinals. A walk to Trimble sent home Keller, Mann grounded out to score Wolny and Arion's double plated Fowler and Trimble to make it 11-0


Connell gave Louisville five strong innings to go to 16-1....allowing just two hits and striking out three. 


The teams will play the final game of the series Sunday. 


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After 12 years as the University of Louisville women's golf coach, Kelly Meyers Rothberg's contract will not be renewed for next season. The Cards recently finished play with a third place finish in the BIG EAST Tournament and are "on the bubble" for the NCAA Tournament. 


Not many details are available at the time of this printing about the move. Charlie Springer, of UofL Card Game, delivers the story at the link below:


Rothberg won't return as Cardinals' Women's Golf coach

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St John's has named Joe Tartamella as the new head coach of women's basketball. He has been an associate coach for the Red Storm for the past nine years. Tartamella takes over for former head coach Kim Barnes Arico, who recently accepted the head coaching spot at Michigan. 


Tartamella's scouting and game planning tactics have been a prime reason for the success the Red Storm has experienced over the past several years. He began as a Red Storm graduate assistant in 2002 and was promoted to associate coach in 2008. 

The Red Storm has been to four NCAA Tournaments and gotten two NIT bids since Tartamella has been at St. John's and he has helped develop 19 All-BIG EAST and All-Rookie players. 


Nice to see the Red Storm stay within the ranks with this hire. Joe is widely been seen a rising star in the associate coaching ranks and he has a talented and experienced squad returning for the 2012-13 season. 


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Hierro a hero for Julian Leparoux 

Opening night at Churchill Downs was interrupted between the fourth and fifth races last night when a strong thunderstorm with inch sized hail swept through the Louisville area. Racing resumed at 8:45 p.m. after a lengthy delay of almost an hour because of the elements. 

Hail in grassy area of CD paddock

Members of the jockey's guild and head of track maintenance Butch Lehr inspected the conditions after the track had been "floated" by tractors and deemed it OK to run on. Conditions were changed from "fast" to "sloppy" and the 10th race was removed from the turf and run on the dirt. 


Crowded and cozy conditions under the Clubhouse cover developed while mother nature unleashed her fury. A large crowd attended the start of the Spring Meet at Churchill. Almost 27,000. 

The start of the 8th race -- the Derby Trial --  was delayed about 30 minutes while a farrier tried to change shoes on the #4 horse...Nonious...in the paddock. area. The attempt failed, and the horse was finally scratched from the race. Post time favorite at 3-2 was Paynter, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Martin Garcia. Track conditions were still "sloppy" as the horses finally hit the race track and loaded into the starting gate. 

Hierro leaves Paynter behind near the wire

Hierro, ridden by Julian Leparoux and trained by Steve Asmussen, proved to be the best of the eight runners. A strong stretch drive pushed him past Paynter for the win. Finishing third was Stealcase and Bourbon Courage completed the superfecta. Hierro went off at 5 to 1 odds and paid $12.00 to win. 


Fun times at the Twin Spires Saturday night. A crowd of over 26,000 outlasted the elements and enjoyed acts from Circus de Soilel out the the paddock area...as well as a DJ pumping the grooves out. 

Party in the Paddock!

Night racing at Churchill is nothing like the regular days of racing at the Central Ave. oval. The crowd is younger, larger and more lively. It's a fun and welcome diversion from the normal events and activities at Churchill. It gets people through the gates and although some racing purists stay away because of the party-style antics and Mardi Gras feel to the track on those evenings...it is a energy-drink boost to an industry that will accept and certainly needs all the new fans it can handle. 


WE talked to John F.. (last name withheld by request) about the difference the Downs takes on at night...

John also likes Keeneland

"It's fun...almost electric out here at night. The girls are everywhere and looking fine. Me and a few buds...we don't ever miss a night racing event out here. I went online and got tickets for $5 each.  And, the racing is fun too. I mean, I caught the best jockey out there, in Julian Leparoux, tonight on a 5-1, man! If you're a good handicapper, you can cash out sweet here on racing nights, because the odds are there if you know what to look for. And, there are babes everywhere..." 


Derby one week away...racing resumes at CD on Tuesday.


If you like reading about horse racing, here's one of many sites that cover the sport. 


The Rail


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SOFTBALL GOES TO 21-0 with 6-0 ROAD WIN OVER WKU

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4 run 1st inning key for Louisville


Ticker...NCAA Men: 


 Murray St. 58 - Colo. St 41 FINAL...
 Kansas St. 70 - Southern Miss 64 FINAL
 Louisville 69 - Davidson 62 FINAL
 Syracuse 72 - UNC-Asheville 65 FINAL
 Marquette 88 - BYU 68 FINAL                       
 Wisconsin 73 - Montana 49 FINAL
 Vanderbilt 79  - Harvard 70 FINAL
 New Mexico 75  - Long Beach St. 68 FINAL

 Kentucky 81 - Western Kentucky 66 FINAL
 VCU 62 - Wichita St. 59 FINAL                           
 Gonzaga 77 - West Virginia 54 FINAL
 Baylor 68 - South Dakota St. 60  FINAL


 Iowa St. 77 - Connecticut 64 FINAL 
 Colorado 68 - UNLV 64 FINAL
 Ohio St. 78 - Loyola 59 FINAL
 Indiana 78 - New Mexico St. 66 FINAL


      


THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


-Collins, Leonard hold WKU to 3 hits in 6-0 win.



-Tournament thoughts...


-(Here it comes again...) Play the WBB Bracket Challenge with CARDINAL COUPLE !!


The 14/15 University of Louisville softball team defeated host Western Kentucky 6-0 to improve to 21-0 on the season Wednesday evening. 

Senior Tori Collins and sophomore Chelsea Leonard combined to notch the Cards' 11th shutout of the season while juniors Alicja Wolny and Katelyn Mann and sophomore Hannah Kiyohara drove in two runs each.


"I was pleased with how we came out and scored four runs early and set a great tone for the game." said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "We knew they would be a tough opponent and would constantly put pressure on us and we knew we would have to be aggressive."


The Cards put up four runs in the first. After Esteban and Kristin Austin singled, Taner Fowler drew a walk to fill the bases with Cards. Wolny followed with a single that scored two and Kiyohara singled to make it 4-0.

 

Louisville increased the lead to 6-0 in the third. Jordan Trimble was safe on a fielder's choice and went to third on a Kiyohara double. Mann drove them both home with a double to end the game's scoring. 


Collins went four innings, giving up three hits and fanning three. Leonard tossed the final three and allowed no hits while getting four KO's. 


Louisville travels to Sacramento, CA. next for the Sacramento State Capital Classic. The two-day event starts Friday. 


21-0. An incredible start to what just might be the most memorable season in Sandy Pearsall's coaching career at Louisville. The BIG EAST and Kentucky await down the road...but for now, these Cards are raking every pot. How this team isn't ranked in the top ten of NCAA Women's college softball is a mystery to us...


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"I am 99% certain that man was not Benjamin Franklin.."

- We're not sure...but while watching the First Four last night in the men's tournament, it looked like Dwight Schrute of THE OFFICE television show fame was sitting on the South Florida bench, wearing a suit and tie in the game against California. Or maybe it was the corned beef sandwich I was having...performing mind altering and sight hallucination symptoms. Whoa...

"No, I am NOT Mel Brooks and I'm getting tired of the references!"

- We like the NCAA's sly dealings at times when it comes to the Tournaments. On the men's side...Harvard vs. Vanderbilt. As Milt Wagner would say...two of those academic schools. Maybe they should skip the hoops and settle this one with GPA's and ACT scores...also how about, on the women's side...putting Louisville in the same region as Arkansas? Ex UofL coach Tom Collen could meet current Louisville coach Jeff Walz if both teams make it to third round. 


-Which letter of the alphabet is most represented in the women's tournament teams' names? It's "S" (Santa Barbara, Sacred Heart, Stanford, South Carolina, South Dakota State, St. John's, Samford, St. Bonnie and San Diego). Nine teams. Which popular letter is not represented? "J". No "J"'s in the women's bracket. "M" finished a close second with seven. If that's not a bracket choosing ploy, we've never seen one. 

Charlie's last name starts with an "S" also. 

"S rules!" says Sonja Sykes. A final four with Stanford, St. Bonnie, St. John's and Sacred Heart? Not bloody likely...


-Another NCAA WBB sly plot. Tennessee playing Tennessee-Martin? And guess who coaches one of the programs and played at the other? Not Geno...


Also, matching ex-BIG 12 Nebraska against current BIG 12 Kansas. Putting soon-to-be BIG 12 member West Virginia up against current BIG 12 member Texas? Well played, ye NCAA WBB bracket deciders!


-Biggest first round NCAA WBB blowout? Here's six candidates...


-UConn vs. Prairie View
-Notre Dame vs. Liberty
-Maryland vs. Navy
-Baylor vs Santa Barbara
-Stanford vs. Hampton
-Duke vs. Samford. 


We're going with Notre Dame. (Watch it go to overtime...)


Finally, here's a Shoni article that Jody Demling (or J-Dem, if you go the street vernacular route of names) did with her. Click the linkie and thanks to Commish Mark for sending it!






Shoni ready

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Guess what? We're having a bracket challenge for the Women's NCAA Tournament. Yes, that's right! You can enter the CARDINAL COUPLE contest on YAHOO and win a $25 Panera Gift Card if you do the best. (Tell me more, Monty!) 


"Just follow the link below and fill out your entries. You can join Yahoo, or enter using your Facebook or Google information. It's just that easy!" (Crowd gasps)


(But Monty...isn't that a difficult and time-consuming process?) 


"Hey, pal....life is a difficult and time-consuming process. We get one chance, one opportunity to make our mark on this spinning orb and we need to make the most of it. Bungee jumping, dining at Panera, filling out brackets, buying Easter baskets...it's all the same. DON'T MISS OUT ON THE CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL "ONE SHINING MOMENT" (cue soundtrack) IF YOU WIN THIS CHALLENGE. AND, IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE WINNING. IT'S ABOUT PARTICIPATION, ABOUT..." (...reaches for remote..changes channel.) 


Our ID is 814 and the password is ladycards.


LINKIE:


Cardinal Couple women's NCAA Bracket Challenge
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