VOLLEYBALL ADDS MORGAN -- WNBA RECAP -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 TAYLOR MORGAN JOINS VOLLEYBALL STAFF

Taylor Morgan, who was a key player on the University of Minnesota's Final four team last season, has joined the UofL Volleyball staff as an assistant coach.

"We are thrilled to add Taylor to the staff," Dani Busboom Kelly commented. "Clearly she played at a very high level, but what stood out is her character is on par with her talent. She is a great example for our young women and will make a fantastic coach someday. there is no doubt she will make an immediate difference in our program." 

Morgan was a 6'0" middle blocker for the Gophers and was a second team Big 10 selection and All-Region Honorable Mention he senior year. She had six blocks for the Gophers last season in the match that eliminated Louisville from the NCAA Tournament 3-0 in the "great Eight" NCAA Regional finals in Austin, TX. on Dec. 14th. 2019

She had 514 kills and 283 blocks in her career at Minnesota. Morgan hails from Blaine, MN, a suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. 

Louisville Volleyball is scheduled to start the 2020 season Sept. 16th against Kentucky.

CARDS WSOC CALLIE MCKINNEY TO BELLARMINE

Callie McKinney was an excellent mid-fielder for the Louisville women's soccer squad during her four years as a Cardinal. Callie was a starter all four years at Louisville. She's taken those skills and parlayed them into a coaching career. 

The Knights announced last night that McKinney has joined the staff as a graduate assistant. 

Bellarmine will compete (sooner or later) in Division I women's soccer and is in the A Sun Conference. Glad to see that Callie will still be around "the Ville" - and hope she can do wonderful things as a part of head coach Chris Tinius' staff! 

WNBA SCORES

Three out of the four UofL WBB Cardinals in "the wubble" were in action last night.

CHICAGO SKY 84 -- LAS VEGAS 82

A heart-breaking loss for Angel and the Aces last night. With 13 seconds to go, Chicago ran a nifty out-of-bounds double screen that eventually got Azura Stevens wide open under the basket and she sank the layup to sink Las Vegas. 

Angel McCoughtry led the Aces with 17 points. She was one of five double-digit scorer for the Aces, who are now 8-3. McCoughtry added five rebounds in 21 minutes of play. 

Las Vegas led 25-15 after one quarter but Chicago (8-4) roared back in the second half and grabbed a nine-point lead. Vegas was able to tie it late, but the Sky managed to get their second win in a row.

SEATTLE 105 - NEW YORK 64

A tough night for the New York Liberty against league-leading Seattle last night. The Storm jumped out to a 10-0 lead and had things well in control by the half, leading 61-28.

For New York (1-10) Jazmine Jones had 10 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.  Kylee Shook saw 18 minutes and had four points and six rebounds. 

The struggling Liberty have lost their last five games in a row.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, mask up, keep your distance and sanitize and wash.

paulie 

Softball Drops Game One -- DERBY DAY CARDINAL COUPLE

DERBY DAY IN THE VILLE

The First Saturday in May is Kentucky Derby Day. The eyes of the world turn to Louisville, KY for the most exciting two minutes in sports. In keeping with our long standing tradition here at CARDINAL COUPLE, here is Dan Fogelberg's song about the event. Derby won't be the same without John Asher, but -- he'd tell us to enjoy the day and celebrate the Run For The Roses.

LINK: RUN FOR THE ROSES -- Dan Fogelberg

In Dan's words:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Change horses in the middle of the stream if you choose. There is a place in the world for a gambler, so  Explore, Dream, Discover." 

Softball Falls Behind Early, Can't Recover

Playing in their final regular season series, Louisville gave up a two run blast in the bottom of the first inning against NC State that would prove to be the difference. Louisville brought the deficit down to one run twice in the game, but ultimately fell 4-3.  The Cards will continue the series today at 1PM if you're looking to double screen some softball alongside your Derby Day festivities.

All was not lost in the game, though. As Paulie mentioned yesterday, Sidney Melton gets on base a lot. She also steals bases a lot. In fact, with her steal yesterday, Melton broke the UofL softball record for single season steals. Sidney Melton has meant quite a bit to this program in her time here, and now there will be a lasting mark to commemorate her tenure.

 As for the rest of team, Louisville was mostly held quiet on the day offensively. The Cards finished with just four hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch, though they did strikeout just once. The Cards just weren't able to get going, either putting players on base or driving them in. Of Louisville's three runs scored, only one was credited with an RBI. It was none other than Sidney Melton. Melton knocked in Celene Funke with a fielder's choice groundout. Funke had gotten into scoring position with, you guessed it, a triple. She maintains her national lead on the stat. Joining Funke in crossing the plate were Melton and Kyra Snyder, both who scored on separate wild pitches.

Danielle Watson pitched the complete six innings in this one, scattering seven hits, one walk, and one hit-by-pitch, while striking out five. Unlike the Cards, though, the Wolfpack were able to string together a few of their hits to score four earned runs. NC State was led by Logan Morris, who went 2-3 with two RBIs and 2 runs scored.

With last week's game 3 win, Louisville locked themselves into finishing at least .500 in conference play this season, already an improvement on last season's 10-12 finish. However, the Cards will need to finish strong to hold off Georgia Tech for seeding in the conference tournament. One win would guarantee at least a tie, in which Louisville would hold the tiebreaker. That said, it would be nice to finish the season with a series victory over a team just hovering at .500 overall. Game two today. Let's see what happens.

Kentucky Oaks Doesn't Quite Go to Plan

Yesterday's main race got off to an inauspicious start when a couple of pinched horses ended with a jockey getting sent over the top. Fortunately, Manny Franco was able to roll out of the way as Positive Spirit tumbled down, and both were able to bolt away from the scene of the incident. Franco turned himself over to stewards willingly, while the filly was a bit harder to track down. Following the race, it was reported that Positive Spirit was unofficially medically cleared, but that more examination was to come. A preliminary positive report is much better than the alternative.

As the race thundered on, things continued to shock, as Bellafina was seemingly interested in doing anything but run for the lillies. The heavy favorite finished fifth, behind Champagne Anyone. Lady Apple showed, Liora placed, and Serengeti Empress (not Express, as a twinspires graphic showed in a postrace email) took home the prize. It was hardly what anyone expected (at least from what I could tell), but if today has anything planned for us like yesterday did, it will be an exciting day of racing.

Did You Know? 

Our fearless leader Paulie does a bit of horse handicapping? 

Check out his Derby Day selections at his personal website

LINK: PAULIE PICKS

Note:  The picks at this site and intended for entertainment purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of the Cardinal Couple crew. If you wager, do so responsibly and within your budget. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour -- Off the Air

As we alluded to last week, the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour has the week off due to Derby Festivities. As always, tune into WCHQ FM for all your local music and news.

We'll be back next week to discuss golf and softball postseason happenings.

Have a great Derby Day, wherever you are !!

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Softball Cards beat UNC 6-1 -- MONDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

CARDS IMPROVE TO 33-17 WITH HOME FINALE WIN

Louisville Softball jumped on UNC early in the Sunday home finale with five first inning run to give pitcher Danielle Watson a nice comfort zone in the circle, and Watson responded with a five hit, one run shutdown of the TarHeels in Ulmer Stadium.

Watson retired the TarHeels with just one hit allowed in the top of the first and the Cards came out rarin' and ready to go in the bottom of the inning. Louisville "batted around" in their part of the inning. Beginning with a one-out double from Sidney Melton, UofL sent five straight batters to the plate. Sid, plus Megan Hensley, Taylor Roby, Kyra Snyder and Rebecca Chung all made their way around the bases on the Don Dobina Field to provide the early margin...getting four hits on ace UNC pitcher Brittany Pickett. 5-0 Cards !! 


From there, the contest evolved into a pitcher's duel from the circle. Louisville would add an additional run in the fourth, when Melton singled to left, stole second and advanced to third on a Hensley single to left. She scored on a Roby infield fielder's choice. 

The TarHeels came up with their run in the top of the seventh. Megan Dray doubled to left and scored on Zoe Goodman's single...but Watson recorded her fourth strike out of the day to end any threat and the game. Watson recorded her 11th. win of the season and allowed just two walks. 

Coincidentally, villainous umpire Bonnie Daye was at first base and not behind the plate on Sunday. 

When Watson has her control and confidence working like she did Sunday, backed by a Cardinal squad that made no fielding errors and some nice plays, she is one of the best in the the ACC from the circle. She faced four or less batters in all of the first six innings and only five in the final inning. She was also aided by a spectacular running catch by Hensley in right center. 

The Cards go to Raleigh, NC to conclude the regular season on Derby weekend.  Then, it's the ACC Tournament in Tallahassee, FL.  after that. Going into the final weekend of ACC action, Louisville is in third place in the Atlantic Division and in fifth place overall in the conference standings. 

(photos by Jared Anderson) 


                                                             *****************


THEY SAID IT 

I caught up with Head Louisville softball coach Holly Aprile, plus players Megan Hensley and Danielle Watson for post-game comments. You can see/hear those at the links below:

LINK:  MEGAN HENSLEY AND DANIELLE WATSON POST GAME UNC 4/28/19

LINK: HOLLY APRILE POST GAME UNC 4/28/19


                                                                 


                                                                         *************




TOOTING HIS OWN HORN

(photo by P.A. announcer Jason Puckett) 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour regular and writer here on the site Jared Anderson is a man of many talents.

You see his photos here consistently on our website. He got the chance to demonstrate another one of his skills yesterday when he played the National Anthem before the game. He is classically trained on the euphonium and did a great job with it Sunday! 

Jared's no stranger to performing the National Anthem at UofL athletic events and performed admirably for the Cards' final home game this year at Ulmer. Playing the heck out of that "baby tuba", he was, he was...

We've got it for you below. Well done, sir!

LINK: JARED ANDERSON PERFORMS NATIONAL ANTHEM 4/28/19 AT ULMER STADIUM


Have a marvelous Monday! 

paulie
xxxxx

Softball Struggles; Track and Field Does Not -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Walks Haunt in Softball's 6-0 Loss

Coming off of yet another final inning victory over Marshall during the midweek, softball welcomed UNC to town while looking for a third straight series victory. Unfortunately, Louisville pitching was unable to find the strike zone for the entirety of the game, and the batters couldn't bring runners across the plate. Yesterday's game was one of those losses that feels like it could get much worse at the beginning, yet also seems to be one that slipped away by the end. 

The Cards started the game pretty well, with Danielle Watson picking up a groundout and a strikeout to open the series. Those were the only two outs Watson would record from the circle, exiting 6 batters later having given up a hit, four walks, and four unearned runs after what should have been the final out of the inning was instead a fielding error. After the error derailed the first inning, Louisville was completely lost for the second inning as well, as Taylor Roby walked five batters in the inning, including walking a run in with the bases loaded. Roby was lifted after the second inning for Megan Hensley, who was able to scatter 5 hits and 4 walks across 5 total innings, allowing no more runs.  

The offensive issues came almost immediately. The first inning saw UNC's starter on track to strike out the side after getting Celene Funke and Sidney Melton to go down swinging, but then Hensley belted a triple to right field. No matter, as she would become the first victim left on base when Roby also went down swinging. Louisville's offensive production never got much more exciting than that, as the team finished with just three hits compared to eight strikeouts. They added in six walks and a hit by pitch, but they ultimately left all ten runners on base in this one. Hensley and Kyra Snyder tied for the team lead by each getting on base twice. 

This was ultimately a game to forget for Holly Aprile's side. What more do you say about a game where you throw a program record 14 walks? Louisville has to put yesterday's issues behind them and move on to a fresh slate today. There are two games remaining in the series, and a pair of wins would put them right back on track.

The Cards are just 1.5 games back of Notre Dame for second in the Atlantic Division and they're tied on overall record with UNC. Louisville is very much in a position for a favorable seed in the ACC tournament, but they'll need to look more like the team that took down Florida State and Kentucky and less like the team that labored through wins over Georgia Tech and Marshall to do it. First pitch for the second game in the series is set for 1PM and is available on ACC Network Extra. Today's game is Senior Day for five Cardinals. If you intend to head to campus for any UofL events today, please note that the KDF Marathon and Mini-Marathon will be affecting traffic patterns and road closures throughout the day.

POST GAME COMMENTS FROM COACH APRILE: 

HOLLY APRILE 4/26/19 POST UNC GAME

(Thanks to Daryl Foust -- The Crunch Zone -- for video of post game
and to Jared Anderson for the photos) 

Cards Pick Up Three Wins on Day One

Louisville Track and Field is hosting the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational this weekend at Cardinal Park and they opened yesterday's events with a bang. Three Cardinals picked up victories, and after the prelims, Louisville will have seven more winning chances in today's finals. Yesterday saw Anthony McRoberts grab a win in the Men's Long Jump and Carsen Cassell won the Unseeded Women's Hammer Throw. Dorcas Wasike continued to do what she has done for her entire career at UofL and dominated the 5000m by nearly half a minute, setting a meet record of 16:13.59. Louisville swept the podium in the event, with Ivine Chemutai and Bailey Beery taking second and third. Today's events are already underway at the time of posting, and results can be seen on the Louisville Track and Field Twitter feed.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

We're sans Daryl in the studio today, but the original four knuckleheads are all back for the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today prior to next week's Derby break. Just as quickly as they began, spring sports are already wrapping up, but we'll talk softball and lacrosse, plus other news that has come across the wire this week. Tune into WCHQ FM at 11AM for fun and games on Mellwood Avenue. The channel is available at 100.9FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and is carried with live video on Facebook Live.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Jaz Jones roots on the Cards and supports former Cardinal Donovan "Spida" Mitchell

Softball Wins; Track and Field and Golf Busy -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Come Back in Chestnut Hill

After handing Florida State their first conference series loss since 2012, Louisville softball was rewarded with a mid-week break before heading northeast for a three-game set with Boston College. In the first game of that series yesterday, Louisville saw the struggling hosts (13-24, 3-10) jump out to a 2-0 lead through four innings.

After holding everyone at 0 runs in the fifth, Louisville decided that they didn't want to lose to the Eagles. The Cards put up 5 runs in the top of the sixth inning and added another 4 in the top of the seventh for good measure. Boston College was unable to score anymore runs and a 2-0 lead turned into a 9-2 loss for the home team.

Megan Hensley got the start and was okay through her three innings. She allowed just one hit, but walked three and allowed a run. She was lifted at the beginning of the fourth for Taylor Roby. Roby allowed a run as soon as she entered, but also allowed just that one run and one hit. After Roby bookended a strikeout in the sixth inning with a pair of four pitch walks, Danielle Watson came in to get the last out of the sixth with runners on first and second. Presumably to save her arm for the rest of the series, Watson was pulled after her one out performance with the Cards holding a 9 run lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Roby finished the game out with a 1-2-3 inning and that was all she wrote.

Though the Cardinals' offense didn't cross the plate until the sixth inning, a Louisville batter reached base in every inning prior except for the fourth. All told, the Cards would finish with nine hits and draw four walks. However, they did strike out six times collectively and left eight runners on base.

Louisville was not led by the usual suspects, as Maddy Newman and Charley Butler picked up 6 of the 9 RBIs. Newman finished 2-3 at the plate and drew a walk, while all of Butler's RBIs came off of a bases loaded double. Kyra Snyder also had a big day at the plate, going 3-4 and knocking in a run. Sidney Melton had an unusual day to forget, going just 1-4 at the plate and drawing a walk, but leaving 4 on base. 

The Cards will look to take the series and set up a potential sweep in game two of the series today at 1PM. Louisville will hope to have a bit more consistent bats in today's game. The game is listed on ACC Network Extra, so if you aren't down at the Waterfront for Thunder Over Louisville, tune in at home. If you are down at the Waterfront and have unlimited data, feel free to tune in on your phone, or keep up on Twitter.

Golf Holds Strong but Falls Short

The Cards are down in Georgia for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Invitational and are taking on tough squads from mostly the SEC. Louisville dropped a pair of team matches yesterday in an individual match play format to a pair of ranked SEC teams.

The first came against #6 Arkansas, with Louisville earning a pair of wins from Mairead Martin and Lauren Hartlage, but ultimately falling 3-2 overall. The second loss came after Louisville battled to an all-square finish with wins from Margot Bechadergue and Olivia Cason and a draw from Delaney Shah. Ultimately, Florida was granted the win on overall margin of victory after an unfortunate 6 and 5 finish from Lauren Hartlage. Louisville got back on the course this morning just after 8AM.

Strong Opening for T&F in Louisville Invitational

Louisville swept the hammer throw in both competitions yesterday and had three finishers in the top six on the women's side. Makenli Forrest took home first place and was followed by Carsen Cassell and Halee Hudson in fifth and sixth. Forrest's first place throw was nearly 10 meters further than Cassell's fifth. No other results from the women's side were listed for yesterday, but the competition continues today.

Ionescu Takes Wooden Award

The Cards WBB star Asia Durr was one of the finalist for the Wooden Award, which is player of the
year, but the honor went to Oregon's Sabina Ionescu. The junior decided early in the month to return to school instead of trying her luck in the WNBA Draft.

Ionescu winning was a surprise to many, including Ionescu -- who sat there open-mouthed in amazement when her name was called. Many thought Durr or possibly nominee Megan Gustafson from Iowa would get the nod.

Just goes to show that we don't always get what we want, but Durr had a huge season and it is an honor just to be named in the final five.  The other finalists were Tearia McCowan and Napheesa Collier. Jeff Walz was in L.A. with Durr for the awards ceremony.

Durr, who was selected #2 in the recent WNBA Draft, is headed to New York to play for the Liberty and many experts think it'll be a great fit for her.

Someone make sure and notify Matt Bevin.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

As Jared mentioned yesterday, he's out of the studio today, but we still have plenty of show to bring you today leading up to the Thunder Over Louisville Air Show this afternoon. Paulie, Jeff, Daryl, and I will talk plenty of softball, lacrosse, WNBA draft, and more on this week's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. As always, the show begins at 11AM on WCHQ FM and will be available on 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, the WCHQ App, and on Facebook Live. Tune in and join us, won't you?

LINK: www.wchqfm.com

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Softball Season is a Wrap

Softball Regular Season is a Wrap

Wait, I hear you say...they have a 3rd game in the series against Pitt today at noon!  Nope, weather intervened, and the game today has been cancelled.  So the Softball regular season comes to a close on a pair of losses.

The Cards will play in post-season.  The ACC tournament brings 10 of the 12 Softball playing teams in the ACC to the tournament now.  The Cards will be the 8 seed of the tournament, which means they'll play 9 seed Syracuse in one of the "play-in" games, on Wed.  The first pitch for the UofL game will be at 1pm, with Duke and Virginia Tech to follow at 3:30.  These games will be carried on RSN (Raycom Sports Network), so look for them on Fox Sports South as a likely channel.  There is a Fox Sports Go app for devices and a companion website where you will likely find a stream of the games as well.

The Softball squad was in action yesterday against Pitt, taking the loss 10-2.  Runs came on mostly small-ball style of play.  The first run was scored in the 2nd inning on the efforts of relative youngsters.  Sophomore Celene "Play that funky music" Funke reached on an infield single, advanced on a groundout by Sophomore Caitlin "Fergy" Ferguson, and reached home on a single by Freshman pitcher/1B Kyra Snyder.  Pitt had scored a pair in the first, and would never relenquish the lead in the game.

Pitt put up another 7 runs in the 3rd inning, putting the Cards on their back feet.  The Pearsall squad didn't give up, though.  They battled for a run in the 5th inning, avoiding the run rule for the moment.  Kyra Snyder against coming through with a solid hit, whereupon Freshman Catie Barber was substituted in to pinch run.  The Junior couldn't let the youngsters have all the fun, though, Madison Cousineau walked, and Megan Hensley hit to bring Barber home.

The game would end up in a run-rule win, however, when Pitt tacked on another run in the bottom of the 5th with no outs to (unknowingly, at the time) end the regular season.

With an RPI hovering around 40, and maybe slightly lower than that after taking a pair of losses this weekend, the Cards are quite bubbly, and I'm not talking about their effervescent personalities, here (though many of the players fit that description as well).  A good showing in the conference tournament will help matters, though that will be a fairly tall task.  Looking at past play, the Cards split a weather altered, and shortened, series against Syracuse with scores of 3-2, and 3-4.  If UofL can advance, they have mighty Florida State waiting with a bye and a #1 seed.

Other Cards in Action

The only other Cards in action this weekend is Baseball who will be finishing up their series at Boston College.  The Cards lead in that series 2-0, with both wins being by fairly substantial margins (6-1, 11-3).

Let's also show some love to the UofL Marching Cards, who performed, as tradition, in the infield of the Kentucky Derby festivities playing "My Old Kentucky Home".  We want to show them some love, because NBC surely didn't, giving the Marching Cards exactly zero seconds of screen time during the performance, and by my aural experience, exactly zero mics to pick up their playing as well.  The Cardinal Singers did get good screen and audio coverage during the performance, and they did a fine job representing the University and the City.

Derby, Non-Radio and Other Odds and Ends

The Kentucky Derby was yesterday, of course.  Rain-drenched though it was, a good time seemed to be had by all.  The knuckleheads took the day off from radio due to heading various places to celebrate the municipal show-off event of the year, so there's no Facebook stream to point you to for a replay as their was no play to be replayed.  We'll be back in the studio next week with all the latest news and updates on UofL women's athletics.

Finally, I'd just like to take a moment to share my hearty congratulations to Case.  He, as he shared yesterday, passed his Fundamentals of Engineering exam as a first step on him way to be a licensed professional engineer.  I run in circles with some honest-to-goodness engineers, so I have had the opportunity to see, several times, just how much time and effort goes into preparing for this task in order to be successful.  And while my job title is "Senior Network Engineer", I tend to be careful to disclaim being a "real" engineer in the PE sense, because I know the level of rigor and standards are on a whole other level.

Congratulations, and maybe after the show next week, you can take us up to Frankfort Avenue and tell us all about the trains.

--
JMcA

Double-Header Weekend - Sunday Cardinal Couple

So it's been a weekend of double-headers for UofL Athletics...when you consider across sports and across days.

vs UAB 

The Softball team got the doubles started Thursday with a bout against UAB which they won 15-0.  Then completed that double-header with UAB Friday evening with the 6-2 win.  Friday was also a double-header for Softball as they also won 4-1 over Maryland earlier in the afternoon.



The Softball squad continued their winning ways yesterday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Miami of Ohio.  The pitching squad won this one by committee with freshman Kyra Snyder handling the first 2 innings and didn't give up any hits.  She was replaced by fellow freshman Danielle Watson who is credited with the win with 3 innings pitched.  Watson allowed one hit, but put 3 Ks up on the board before being replaced by the Junior Megan Hensley, who gets the save with 2 innings pitched.  She allowed the other hit of the game for Miami, but set 2 down on strikes.

The scoring for the Cards was accounted for by Sidney Melton and Caitlin Ferguson.  Melton reached on a fielder's choice, showed off some of her speed by stealing second, and scored on an error in the first frame.  The other score of the game came in the fourth with Ferguson singling, advancing on a Nicole Pufahl sacrifice, and being batted home by Hensley.

The Softball squad will wrap up the weekend today at 5:30 vs Eastern Illinois.

vs NC State

Yesterday was also Basketball vs NC State.

The women were up first in the semi-final of the ACC tournament in Greensboro.  You can check out the tournament update from Paulie that was added on to yesterday's article.

There, you can also find evidence of one of the best decisions the ACC has ever made...inviting the UofL stats crew to be the stats crew for the tournament.  We have talked about the UofL stats crew in the past, but they are one of the unsung champion teams of UofL.  They, quite literally, wrote the book on keeping basketball stats.    Here's an interesting and well-researched history on the NCAA statistician's manual, including Louisville' place in it.

Back to the topic at hand, the double-header with NC State was completed last night with the Men going down to defeat 76-69 in Raleigh to wrap up their regular season.

vs Notre Dame

Today sees the last double-header of the weekend, against Notre Dame.  Given Louisville's history of overtime games against Notre Dame in various sports, today could be a real doozy of a day.

This double-header gets started at 1pm with Lacrosse in the Louisville Lacrosse Stadium.  Louisville has had a couple of overtime games against Notre Dame in past years, with at least one of them going into two overtimes.

Louisville comes into the game with only a single loss for a 5-1 record.  The lone loss coming against a quite good Denver team, currently ranked 20th.  Notre Dame sports a 4-2 record, with an 18th ranking (these are from the Inside Lacrosse poll), the two losses come to Boston College and Southern California, current sitting in 2nd and 13th in the IL rankings, respectively.

You can come out to enjoy the game with a food truck on site for concessions.  Disappointingly, they don't (yet) have any poutine in honor of our increasingly Canadian-leaning Lacrosse coaching staff and roster. Paulie would settle for a canadian bacon BLT.

This double-header will wrap up with the ACC Championship game in Greensboro with Muffet McGraw and the Irish as the opponents for the UofL Women.  Again, look for an update later today from Paulie with recap and analysis...we're still waiting on the restraining order Ms. Wuf took out on him to be served.

vs FCC

We were thinking about doing a second hour of The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour yesterday in honor of double-header weekend, but the FCC thankfully intervened.  You can hear the one hour of radio that we got in before the Federales crashed through the door of the studio to shut us down.

Check out the Soundcloud for 3 knuckleheads in the studio and one on the phone from Greensboro.

Paulie is hoping Sam Purcell breaks out the pink shoes today...but it might be hard to top his James Bond outfit with black tie he displayed for the Virginia Tech game.

Cardinal Women's BB. Shaken, not stirred.

https://soundcloud.com/chradio/cardinal-couple-20180303  (Our audio only)

Our Facebook LIVE version: https://www.facebook.com/WCHQfm/videos/1953351104688163/

--
JMcA

Spring Sports off to Strong Start -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Bags Two Wins

Game 1: UofL 5 - Butler 2

As Jared mentioned in his write up yesterday, two more spring sports followed in the shoes of tennis and got their schedules started during the winter. While the UofL baseball team will wrap up a final weekend of scrimmages this week and get underway next week, the softball team got their season started with a bang yesterday, defeating both Butler and UCF in Orlando.

While the team came out with two wins, it didn't always look to be so. The first game started about as terribly as it could. Butler had runners reach second and third base with no outs in the top of the first. Both of those runners would eventually come around to score before a couple of infield popups ended the top half. Louisville followed with a 4-up-3-down bottom half in which they struck out twice and walked once. The Cards trailed 2-0 at then end of the first.

Despite an unfortunate start, Louisville quickly turned the game around. From the 2nd through the 5th inning, Butler had one runner reach base, and that was on a hit by pitch. Megan Hensley struck out five over that stretch. In the bottom of the second, Jamie Soles started the Cards off with a walk and they were in business. Soles and Alison Szydlowski (Mike) both came around to score unearned runs, tying the game. By the time Butler got their next runner on base in the sixth inning (a walk), Louisville led 4-2. The Butler runner posed no real threat, as she was out at second on a fielder's choice, and the player who replaced her at first was left there by the end of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Nicole Pufahl took matters into her own hands against the new Butler pitcher. Poof led off the inning with a walk, then used three (straight?) wild pitches to waltz around the bases for the fifth Louisville run. Blaire Bass reached on a hit in the same inning, and Catie Barber advanced on two more wild pitches as the pinch runner, but the Cards were unable to score another run.

In the seventh, Butler threatened with a walk, single, and error, but ultimately were unable to score again before the game ended on a line-out to center field. Megan Hensley finished the game with only two runs allowed (both unearned), five hits, two walks, two HBP, and seven strikeouts. She went the distance. Averaging 9 K/9 (do they call it a K/7 in softball?) is nothing to scoff at, and Hensley showed that she may just be rebounded from those injury issues that kept her down last season.

Louisville's scorers were Sidney Melton, Caitlin Ferguson, Soles, Poof, and Mike. While three of those runs were unearned, the Cards put together a team on-base percentage of 0.375 in the game which is always going to be beneficial for the offense. 

Game 2: UofL 5 - UCF 3

Only 27 minutes after finishing the game against Butler, Louisville's next game of the day started against the Knights of UCF. As the away team this game, it was the Cards' turn to bat first, and they used that opportunity effectively. Caitlin Ferguson opened the game with a single, advanced on an error on a Sidney Melton bunt, and later came around to score on a Mike single. A Blaire Bass single through the right side allowed Melton to score and Mike followed her in as the ball flew around the infield. Bass was out caught between second and first in the confusion. Danielle Watson worked a quick bottom half with a strikeout and a single and the Cards led 3-0 after one. 

The next nine combined batters to the plate saw themselves head back to the dugout before UCF saw some life in the bottom of the third. An HBP and a single had the Knights in business with one out, before Watson promptly shut down the rally with a pair of strikeouts. Louisville went down in order for the third inning in a row, and UCF saw another opportunity in the fourth. Watson went BB, BB, K, BB to load the bases before a pair of ground balls and a play at the plate kept the Knights off the board once more. 

In the fifth, Louisville finally saw a batter reach base again as Kyra Snyder got a single down. Jordyn Wolfe came in to pinch run after Snyder was bunted to second. Wolfe reached third on a passed ball, but after a ground out, she committed a major error by making the last out at third base. Stretching her lead too much on a pitch, the UCF catcher caught Wolfe off guard and she was picked off at third with a throw behind. The bottom half saw Louisville's defensive luck falter a bit as a double, sac fly, and single brought in UCF's first run. The Cards were able to limit the damage, though, and led 3-1 after five.

After a Melton walk to begin the sixth, Louisville saw their first home run of the season as Jenna Jordan swatted one over the fence in left center. Louisville led 5-1 and would score no more runs in the final two innings. Despite a leadoff single, a double, and a passed ball in the seventh, Louisville would score no runs due to a caught stealing between the single and double, and a pair of outs surrounding the passed ball. The bottom half saw a UCF team that refused to go down without a fight. Despite starting the inning with a groundout, UCF loaded the bases with two outs following a pair of walks and an error. Another error brought two runners in to score before a batter brought in to pinch hit struck out to end the game (ouch). Louisville won 5-3

Danielle Watson got the win for the Cards in this one, despite not going the distance. She allowed four hits, one earned run, three walks, and an HBP to go along with five strikeouts in five innings pitched. Kyra Snyder came in to finish the game out and allowed two runs (one earned) on no hits and four walks. She had three strikeouts in her two innings pitched. So far, every Louisville pitcher is averaging at least 7K/7, but have had some trouble with control. The Card have put 12 runners on base between 9 walks and 3 hit batters. Strikeouts are great, but free baserunners are not. Finding the strike zone will be a point of emphasis in bull pen sessions going forward, I would imagine.

There was only one new scorer for the Cards in the second game, as Jenna Jordan touched home for the first time (as a runner) following the home run. Ferguson and Mike both scored their second runs of the season, and Melton scored her second and third. These first two games have been good for the Louisville offense, something which struggled at times last season. Games against tougher opponents may see them struggle if they go down in order in three straight innings, but the diamond sports are finicky, and sometimes a couple of big innings are enough.

For both sides of the ball going forward, I would say consistency is key. Softball will have two more games today with a game against North Florida at 11AM and one against North Carolina scheduled at 4PM. 

Teeter Debuts at Louisville with Win

In his first game as head coach of the University of Louisville lacrosse team, Scott Teeter was able to coach the Cards to victory against long-time regional rival, Cincinnati. On the road against the Bearcats, Louisville scored early and often in the first half. Tessa Chad opened the scoring in just over a minute to put the Cards up, but Cincy's Kate Carney scored a mere 24 seconds later to tie the game again. Louisville was not dismayed, though, scoring three straight goals in the next five minutes, and ultimately leading 11-4 at the end of the first half.

In the second, goals were harder to come by for the Cards, as they ended up losing the second thirty minutes 4-5. However, despite scoring in the first minute of the second half, Cincinnati could not keep up consistent pressure, and they did not have enough offensive firepower to overcome the first half deficit. Louisville won the game 15-9. 

Lacrosse has always been an interestingly high scoring game to me, just as ice or field hockey can be. I've spent the majority of my life playing and enjoying outdoor soccer, which, despite the large goal, does not see scoring very often, as you all likely know. Indoor soccer, due to the smaller field, does see quite a bit more scoring. Lacrosse has a tiny goal, like ice hockey, so defending it seems as though it should be simpler. However, the tiny scoring object seems nearly impossible to stop, as saves always seem to be a stat thrown to the wayside. I only say this because Louisville lacrosse has always been a volume scoring team, at least as long as I've paid attention, and they will need to continue to do so to be successful. Their opening game with a new head coach seems to imply this will stay the norm.

Louisville turned 27 shots into 23 on goal and 15 goals. That's pretty good. They only converted on 3 of 9 free position shots, a number that doesn't look great, but remember that I come from a sport where nearly every penalty is expected to be converted. In fairness, Cincinnati only converted 1-7, so we can at least say that the Cards won that battle. Lexie Ball was the keeper for the Cards and she played all 60 minutes, picking up 7 saves with 9 goals allowed. Louisville had a wealth of scorers, as you might expect with 15 goals, and Tessa Chad led the way with 4 goals and 2 assists. Madison Hoover, Jillian Balog (2), Caroline Blalock, Brenna Shanahan, Julia Wood, Sarah Blalock (2), Emily Howell, Lexi Arens, and Ally Hall all also scored.

Louisville has a quick turnaround with another lacrosse rival in Marquette tomorrow at 1PM. This one is at home, but is also available on the ACC Network Extra if you can't make it out. Louisville has been strong against Marquette in the past, and will look to continue their winning ways and open the season with two straight wins. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

All of this, and much more, will be available for your listening pleasure on the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour today at 11AM. The show airs on WCHQ FM, and is available at 100.9 FM, wchqfm.com, or the WCHQ app. I was a very late scratch for today's show due to personal reasons, and the late decision will likely leave a microphone open. Nevertheless, the remainder of the team is more than capable of bringing you the very best in the joy and excitement of UofL women's sports, as they do every week. I look to be back in studio next week, where I'm sure to be chastised for my absence.

LISTEN TO THE 2/10/18 SHOW: THE CARDINALCOUPLE RADIO HOUR 2/10/18



Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-