Softball Super Regionals Set -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SOFTBALL GOES ON...WITHOUT LOUSVILLE

Louisville softball may not be in the 'Big Dance', but that won't stop the NCAA Tournament from continuing on as normal. After a wild round of Regionals, including some upsets, the Super Regionals are now set.

#1 Texas vs #16 Texas A&M

The top seeded Longhorns had no trouble in the opening rounds of play, going 3-0 and outscoring opponents 26-2. They have the comfort of remaining home for a little while longer.

The Aggies didn't cruise along quite as easily as their in-state rival, but Texas A&M did finish 3-0 and outscored opponents 15-2. Their only scare was a 1-0 victory over Texas State.

#8 Stanford vs #9 LSU

The Cardinal had quite a scare and needed the if-necessary game to move on. After surviving Saint Mary's 8-6 and Mississippi State 2-1, Cal State Fullerton cruised past Stanford 8-1. In the winner-takes-all game, the future ACC school scored all four of their runs in the third inning to win 4-2.

The Tigers had little trouble in the Regionals, outscoring opponents 18-1 to go 3-0.

#5 Oklahoma State vs Arizona

After cruising to a 6-0 win in their first game, the Cowgirls then defeated Kentucky 6-2 and Michigan 4-1 to advance.

The first unseeded team on this list, Arizona, had an eventful 3-0 Regional. They run-ruled Villanova to start the weekend and then defeated host #12 Arkansas 2-1 to advance to the final. The Razorbacks never made it back to the winner's side and Arizona won the Battle of the Wildcats against Villanova.

Note: Louisville defeated Arizona at Ulmer Stadium this season.

#4 Florida vs Baylor

Florida coasted along to wins of 6-0, 9-1, and 9-1 to take the Regional title. Former Louisville Cardinal Korbe Otis tallied three hits on the weekend.

Another unseeded team, Baylor, came away with some upsets to move on. The Bears defeated Ole Miss 3-1 to start the weekend before enjoying plenty of excitement against #13 Louisiana for three straight games. Baylor won the winner's bracket game 8-0 before the Ragin Cajuns came out of the loser's bracket to win the second match-up 13-0. In the winner-takes-all game, the Bears held on for a 4-3 victory.

#3 Tennessee vs #14 Alabama

The only excitement for the Volunteers came on a three-run home run that became a two-run home run after the batter passed one of the base runners while rounding first. Other than that, Tennessee went 3-0 while outscoring opponents 21-0.

The Crimson Tide went 3-0 on the weekend but had a couple close games in the mix. The began their weekend sneaking past USC Upstate 1-0. They followed that up with a 6-3 nine-inning game against Southeastern Louisiana. Alabama had a rematch with the Lions in the final game, but didn't need extra innings in a 12-2 win.

#6 UCLA vs #11 Georgia

The Bruins outscored the opponents in their three games 25-7. The only close game came during a 7-6 walk-off win against Virginia Tech.

The Bulldogs spent much of the weekend backed into a corner. They opened the tournament with an 8-0 win over UNC Wilmington before being stunned by Liberty 7-3. Georgia won back-to-back games against the Flames 14-5 and 3-2, including a walk-off in the final game to survive and advance. Former Louisville Cardinal Sarah Gordon went 0-6 in a reserve role.

#7 Missouri vs #10 Duke

The Tigers are the only team on this list who lost their opening game and had to play five games in three days to move on. After falling to Omaha 3-1 in the first game of the Regional, Missouri got back in the winner's bracket with a 5-1 win over Indiana and a 4-1 win over Washington. They then relied on late game heroics to defeat Omaha 5-1 (all five Missouri runs scored in the seventh inning) and then a 1-0 walk-off in the ninth inning to advance.

The Blue Devils got better as the weekend continued. After opening play with a 6-1 win over Morgan State, Duke then defeated South Carolina 8-0 and 10-1 to move onto the Super Regional.

Note: Louisville went 1-2 against Duke this year.

#2 Oklahoma vs #15 Florida State

The winner of the last three national championships, the Sooners continue their search for a fourth straight title. They cruised past Cleveland State 9-0 before being challenged by Oregon. Oklahoma won 6-3 and then later held on to beat the Ducks 3-2.

The Seminoles needed late game heroics to defeat Chattanooga 3-2 in their first game and then settled down. They defeated UCF 5-1 and Auburn 10-4 to move onto a rematch of last year's national championship.

Note: Louisville went 1-2 against Florida State this year.

Hopefully we will be reporting on Louisville playing in a Super Regional next year.

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Keller, LeCoq rock UCF to win AAC Softball Crown

MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE


- Softball wins AAC Championship Tournament

- Lacrosse falls to Northwestern in NCAA Second Round

- Sara Hammond's squad wins USA 3x3 Championship


Behind Katie Keller's home run and triple and Rachel LeCoq shutting out UCF for six innings...the Louisville Cardinals softball team won the AAC Conference Tournament yesterday against UCF 3-2 and gets a NCAA Tournament automatic bid.

The Cards will be heading to Tucson, AZ to face LSU in first round action May 16th. ESPN3 will show the game on-line Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Maryssa Becker drew the start for the Cards, who jumped out early with a Keller home run in the first to grab a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights battled back for two runs in the second and had runners on second and third with no outs when Becker gave way to Le Coq. The senior kept UCF from pushing any other runs across, though...and Louisville tied the contest in the fourth inning on a Keller triple.

UofL took the lead for good in the top of the fifth when Jordan McNary doubled down the first base line and then scored on a wild pitch.

Meanwhile, in the circle LeCoq had Central Florida under control and allowed just two hits.

Five Cards were named to the All-Tournament team (Kayla Soles, Brittany Duncan, Rachel LeCoq, Katie Keller and Taner Fowler) and Keller received the Most Outstanding Player award.

The Cards will open NCAA play against a formidable foe in LSU, an at-large selection from the powerful SEC. If they get past the Bayou Bengals...the winner of #11 seed Arizona and Boston University awaits. The Regionals are a double elimination format, so a loss would have them pitted against B.U.


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Louisville Lacrosse's season draws to a close with a 11-8 loss to fifth seeded Northwestern yesterday on the Wildcats' home field. Sophomore Cortnee Daley led the way for Louisville with four goals as the Cards finish with a program best 16-4 record.

The Wildcats struck early...just 78 seconds into the contest...but Louisville countered with Daley's first goal at the 27:25 mark.

Jon Stewart would have been proud...because it became the Daley show after that in the first half. Two more scores from Cortnee gave Louisville a 3-1 lead that held until Northwestern ran off three in a row to lead by one at the half.

The Cards countered with scores from Kaylin Morissette and Daley to lead 5-4 before the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run over a five minute span to build a 8-5 advantage.

Louisville cut the lead to two a couple of times the rest of the way when Faye Brust scored on free position goals but Northwestern had a insurmountable 11-7 advantage until the Cards Carissa Corbett scored with a minute and a half left in the contest.

It was the first time Nikki Botja had been held without a goal this season and for just the fourth time in the last three years.

Noticably missing from the contest was senior midfielder Monica Negron. No word on why she didn't play as we went to print this morning.

A great run by Lacrosse this year and Kellie Young returns four of her top five scorers next season. She'll need them...the ACC put seven teams in this year's 26 team field and only Duke lost in the second round...to another ACC opponent..Notre Dame.

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Sara Hammond's team Takeover won the 2014 FIBA 3X3 USA Women's Basketball Tournament and will represent the USS on the world stage in Moscow, Russia on June 5-8.

Hammond, Cierra Burdick (Tennessee), Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame) and Tiffany Mitchell (South Carloina) went undefeated in the seven game tournament and defeated the 2013 USA representatives FST-LongIsland to win the title.

Hammond and Burdick also won the Hot Shot challenge... a partner shooting competition, three-point shootout and a skills challenge.

Takeover will be one of 24 teams competing for the FIBA World Championship.  

paulie