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

Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Who they are

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- A look at these new (and old) ACC opponents' 




It changes up this year for the Louisville Cardinal athletic squads...new venues, old opponents from the past and some interesting mascots. Let's take a look at the mascots and traditions of five of our 14 foes...we'll get to the rest as the summer rolls along.

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

Louisville and Miami hook up for the first time in conference battles. We dig that Louisville got Howard Schnellenberger from the 'Canes almost 30 years ago and that Calder Race Track isn't too far away from campus. 

Sebastian the Ibus is the mascot on field and sidelines and probably Paulie's favorite new mascot. The Hurricanes claim to have invented the four fingers extended in the air at the start of the fourth quarter, indicating that they believe this quarter belongs to them. 

GEORGIA TECH

The Cards and Ga. Tech were together briefly in the old Metro Conference. We dig that Louisville got Sam Purcell from there to join Cards WBB coaching and that they'll actually bring their "Ramblin Wreck" to certain athletic contests. Probably not enough room for it in Ulmer Stadium or Cardinal Arena, though. 

Buzz the Yellow Jacket is the other, more arena-friendly mascot and will prowl the game sites. Be sure to listen for the pep band to break into the old classic "When You Say Bud, You've Said It All" at Yellow Jacket games. Not so much because of the students' love of the beer...but originally started as a tribute to long-time head coach Bud Carson.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE

It's the Cards first-ever conference alignment with NC

State. We dig Al Vilcheck bringing his BBQ best up from South Carolina for hungry Cardinal fans and getting even more good eats when going to the Pit for the local BBQ. 

Mr. Wuf is a mainstay when the Wolfpack are on the prowl and if NC State wins the game, the students will gather to celebrate around the belltower, which will light up red at night. Just like the Cards like to flash their "L" with handsigns...the Wolfpack have a hand signal, too. Your ring and middle finger meet at the tips with the thumb and the index finger and pinkie stick up. It does kinda look like a wolf...

NOTRE DAME

Louisville hooks up with the Irish again after previous battles in the BIG EAST. We dig Muffet McGraw and the probably-graduated softball outfielder who exploded with a quite loud "f-bomb" after a UofL batter beat her deep and drove in a few runs at Ulmer a few years back. Sometimes, you just express your feelings...in front of an outfield berm. 

The Leprechaun brings the Irish good luck and the competition is fierce to become that little guy dressed in green at Irish athletic events. Imagine having to impress the selectors with :

- Doing 50 pushups
- Dancing the official version of the Notre Dame Irish Jig
- Leading students in a five-minute mock pep rally
- Reacting to various game situations
- Passing a Q&A with a local media personality

It ought to be worth 3 credit hours at the very least. I was out of contention after step 1...

PITTSBURGH

The Cards and Panthers have BIG EAST ties and we dig Primanti Brothers and walking Penn Avenue and Smallman Street. 

The Panther is the official mascot and Heinz Field was the first place we saw the fans rise and sing "Sweet Caroline" at the end of the third quarter with the lyrics on the scoreboard. Peterson Event Center is also where I saw the...

 Worst. Refereeing. Job. Ever.

when the Panthers beat Louisville WBB on Valentines Day in the 2009-10 season. It's a wonder Walz didn't break into flames from self-combustion.

paulie