Softball Falls at Clemson -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Lose Opener 8-6

Louisville jumped out to a big lead to open the first inning by scoring four runs, but Clemson returned the favor with five in the bottom half. The Cards regained the lead with a pair in the second but wouldn't score again as they lost 8-6 to open the series at Clemson. Louisville moved to 19-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The two teams will continue the series at 1PM this afternoon. 

Louisville opened with back-to-back hits from Easton Lotus and Chelsea Mack. With their two fastest players on base, the Cards looked to the heart of the lineup, but Bri Despines struck out looking and Camryn Lookadoo grounded back to the pitcher. Madison Pickens was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and a single from Jordan Williams and a throwing error scored two. Taylor Monroe got the same luck on her single, and Pickens came in to score. Riley Janda walked to reload the bases, and a passed ball scored Williams to give the Cards four. 

Anna Wise got the start in this one and she got off to a good one, earning a flyout and a groundout to open the game. It unraveled after that. Three straight singles scored a run and a walk reloaded the bases. A grand slam gave Clemson the lead back, and a single followed, meaning Wise put six straight players on base. The runner stole second and Holly Aprile decided that was enough, putting Zabala into the circle. Zabala struck out the next batter to end the inning. 

Lotus reached base again with one out in the second and advanced to second on a wild pitch. That advancement didn't matter a lot, as Chelsea Mack walked anyway. Despines grounded out, but it was productive and moved both players up. Lookadoo scored Lotus with an error by the short stop, and Pickens knocked in Mack to give Louisville the 6-5 lead. 

Zabala followed with two scoreless innings, but Louisville's offense was unable to find any insurance runs. Clemson decided to employ some small ball in the fourth, laying down four straight bunts to go single, SAC, single, SAC RBI (reached on fielder's choice). With the game tied and runners on first and second, Clemson started swinging again, which worked well for Zabala, who struck out the next two batters to end the inning. 

Clemson broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth. A fly out opened the inning, but it was followed by a triple and a single to give the Tigers the lead. Jayden Gohs entered at pitcher, and a double scored another run. Gohs was able to get out of the inning, but the Cards were down to their final three outs. They had the middle of the order up, but three straight groundouts made for a three-up, three-down inning and a disappointing end to a hot start. 

With Wise getting lit up to open yesterday's game (over the course of 42 pitches) and Zabala throwing 78 pitches over nearly five innings, it will be interesting to see who gets the start today. The Cards will need to make some more of their own magic on offense, as they aren't likely to benefit from as many unearned runs today. First pitch is at 1PM on ACC Network Extra.

Until next time, Go Cards

Case

Softball Goes 3-1 on Weekend; Faces Evansville Tonight -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Score 34 in Shortened Cardinal Classic

Louisville softball was busy over the weekend, but we had our hands full with WBB in the ACC Tournament. The Cards hosted the Cardinal Classic in their final home non-conference weekend of the season. Louisville will participate in one more non-conference weekend event in a couple of weeks when they play in The Ohio State Tournament. Holly Aprile's squad was scheduled to play five games over the weekend, but a rainout on Friday meant that the game against LIU got the axe.

The Cards still opened the event on Friday, playing the first of a pair of games against Ball State. In Cardinals vs Cardinals action, Louisville ultimately fell 5-7 in the opener, creating an inauspicious start to their home event. Ball State tagged Alyssa Zabala for four runs in the top of the first before she was pulled after just two-thirds of an inning. Louisville was unable to tie the game, so Zabala officially took the loss, marking her first of the season. The Cards made a late rally in the sixth, scoring three runs in the bottom half to make it close, but their charge stopped there. 

The two teams played a rematch to open Saturday morning's events with a 9am start. Ball State scored first again, but this time Jayden Gohs held them to just one run in the opening frame, and Louisville scored a pair in the bottom half to gain the lead. Ball State wouldn't score again and Louisville went on to score in each of the five innings played. Gohs pitched all five and Louisville won in an 8-1 run rule. 

After opening the day at 9am Saturday, Louisville also closed it with a first pitch at 7pm. This time, they were taking on Illinois, and the Cards scored eight runs for the second time that day. Zabala got the start against the Illini and struggled in the first again. She gave up three runs before Louisville was able to stop the bleeding. This time, though, Zabala recovered, and twirled four scoreless before Illinois scored again. The Cards struggled to score for the first three innings, but they exploded for six in the fourth and tagged on two more in the fifth. Zabala allowed a run in the sixth to make it 8-4 in favor of Louisville, and Aprile gave her an opportunity to close the game out in the seventh. After Zabala gave up a single to open the inning, she got the hook and Anna Wise came in to clean up. A strikeout preceded a steal and a liner to third made gave Louisville two outs and a runner on second. A homer to deep left made it 8-6 and things got a bit nervier. Wise stayed cool and induced a ground ball to end the game. 

Louisville closed the weekend with another game against Illinois. This time, Madi Reeves got the start. Brooke Gray was conspicuously absent from the circle over the weekend, but she's been struggling of late. We may see her tonight against Evansville. Reeves pitched a solid first two innings but gave up three runs in the third. After a scoreless first two innings, matching Illinois, Louisville responded to their third inning outburst with one of their own. The Cards scored four in the third, marking their first of three innings with four runs. Louisville put up four more in the fourth and one in the fifth to set up a run-rule with a 9-3 lead. Illinois scored a pair in the sixth to stay alive, but the Cards added their final four runs in the bottom half to end the game. Gohs was the winner after coming on in relief in the fourth. 

Offensively, 34 runs over four games is quite good. Defensively, giving up 19 in four games is less good. At the end of the day, though, they went 3-1, so it's hard to complain too much. Taylor Monroe got off to a good start going 3-3 with three RBI in the first game against Ball State but didn't play for the rest of the weekend. Addy O'Dell replaced Monroe at short and had a strong three games. Her best came in the Sunday game against Illinois, where she went 2-3, scored three runs, and had an RBI on her first collegiate home run. In that game, she had one of Louisville's six doubles. The big bats came against Ball State Saturday morning, when Louisville hit three home runs (Camryn Lookadoo, Madison Pickens, and Katie Thatcher). Lookadoo led the team with eight RBI on the weekend and tied with Easton Lotus and Chelsea Mack for the team lead in hits (7). 

The Cards will face Evansville this evening with first pitch scheduled for 6pm. Evansville is off to a tough start this season, as they're just 7-12. The two teams don't have a common opponent, as the Purple Aces' scheduled game against Ball State on 2/15 was canceled. The Aces are coming off their conference opening weekend, where they lost an extremely close series against Illinois State at home. The series was determined by just one total run with final scores of 2-3, 5-6 (9 innings), and 8-7. Louisville's 3-1 weekend brought their season record to 18-5. If they aren't receiving votes in this week's poll, a win tonight and a series win on the road against current #25 Clemson could get them there. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cards Win Two in Ft. Myers -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Softball Beats Buffalo and FGCU

Louisville has finally broken their streak of losing games to hosting teams after beating FGCU 3-2 in the later game yesterday. The Cards had three losses entering the weekend, with all three coming against the team playing host to these early season multi-team events. Louisville now comes into the second day of the Gulf Coast Classic with a 9-3 record overall. 

The Cards got to face Buffalo in the opener yesterday, and junior transfer Madi Reeves got the start. Reeves was good early, putting the Bulls down 1-2-3 in the first inning and working out of a jam in the second. An error put a runner on second to open the inning and a single saw runners on the corners with no outs. Reeves got a three-pitch strikeout and then the Louisville defense played a sacrifice bunt attempt extremely well to get the out at home. A ground out ended the inning. After stranding a runner in the first, Louisville managed to scratch a run across in the second and led 1-0. 

The Cards extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third by taking advantage of their speed at the top of the order. Back-to-back singles by Easton Lotus and Chelsea Mack put the pressure on to open the inning and, although the Buffalo pitcher worked around the threat for the most part, Lotus was able to get home. Then the wheels fell off for Louisville. Five straight singles opened the bottom of the third for Buffalo, with the fourth scouring two runs and the fifth reloading the bases with nobody out. Anna Wise came in to replace Reeves, and Louisville's defense rewarded her with back-to-back errors scoring three more runs. Another single scored Buffalo's sixth run of the inning, but a greedy attempt to pick up another run was thrown out at home. Wise finally managed to prevent the Bulls from hitting the ball with a strikeout for the second out and a groundout ended the inning. The Cards trailed 6-2. 

Fortunately for Louisville, Buffalo isn't actually very good this season, at least according to their record. The Bulls entered the game with a 3-8 record, and Louisville's offense finally took advantage. The Cards scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to retake the lead. They took two more in the sixth to push their advantage to four runs, and the defense and pitching managed to shape up to prevent Buffalo from scoring any more runs. In fact, the Bulls only picked up two more hits on Anna Wise, and Alyssa Zabala replaced her in the sixth and allowed just two walks over two innings while striking out three. 

Offensively, Louisville was led by Taylor Monroe, who went 3-3 and had four RBI. That was good, since Monroe was the offender on both of Louisville's third-inning errors. Bri Despines added two RBI, and Chelsea Mack and Madison Pickens joined Monroe with three hits apiece. Riley Janda scored three runs despite going 1-4 at the plate, and she had one of Louisville's four steals (Mack had the other three). Easton Lotus went 2-4 at the top of the order and also drew a walk, allowing her to score two runs. 

In the second game, offense took a back seat to pitching. Already warm from two innings in the first game, Alyssa Zabala took the circle in the second and nearly pitched a complete game. She didn't have the strikeout ball working as well in the second game, picking up just two, but FGCU wasn't getting much from putting the ball in play. Zabala went 6.2 innings and gave up just three hits and one walk. Unfortunately, one of those hits was a home run, and it came after one of the others in the fifth inning. That two-run homer tied the game, but Coach Holly Aprile left Zabala in and Alyssa rewarded her with strong pitching after. 

After picking up RBI singles in the third and fourth innings, it was small ball again for Louisville in the seventh that let them regain the lead. Jordan Williams opened the inning with a single and Lotus followed with one as well. Mack laid down a bunt to move both runners into scoring position, and Camryn Lookadoo sent a fly ball into center to bring Williams home on a sacrifice. Zabala got a ground out and a line out to open the bottom half, but she walked the potential last out of the game on a full-count. That brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of a batter who had already taken Zabala yard in the game. Aprile made the move to replace Zabala with Wise and Anna induced a ground ball back to the circle to end the game. 

Louisville moved to 9-3 with their two wins yesterday, and they'll play two more today. The Cards will face Wisconsin at 12:15 and UConn at the conclusion of that game (scheduled for 2:30). We'll see if Brooke Gray takes the circle today after having yesterday off. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Softball Splits Double Header at BC -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Drop Game 1, Win Game 2 

It's not often that you get a weekend series rubber match on Saturday, but that will be the case when the Cards and Eagles get today's game underway at 1PM. After the schedule change that Daryl mentioned yesterday, the teams played a pair yesterday afternoon, with Louisville scoring more runs overall in the two games but only winning one. 

Louisville's offense wasn't able to support Alyssa Zabala in the first game, though her 100th appearance for Louisville turned into a pretty sparkling start. Zabala played a bit with the strike zone, keeping the ball out of play a total of 12 times, as her five walks weren't great but she struck out seven batters in her six innings (a complete game since Louisville was away and trailed after the top of the seventh). Zabala gave up just four hits and finished with three runs all earned. Boston College struck first, and it was the first inning where Zabala gave up most of the negatives in her stat sheet. BC had just one hit in the inning, but Zabala gave up three walks and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. She had one strikeout. That means, if you're doing the math at home, her remaining five innings had just three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Like I said, it turned into a sparkling start. 

Louisville was able to find only three hits in the game and they didn't earn any walks. However, they only struck out three times, so it was largely a matter of hitting the ball right to the defense. Char Lorenz had two of the three hits, picking up a two-out double in the first and a triple in the fourth. Madison Pickens further picked on the center fielder after Lorenz tripled to left center by going to right center for a triple of her own and scoring Lorenz from third. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't bring Pickens in after she reached with one out, and the teams headed to the bottom of the fourth tied. 

Zabala gave up a walk in the bottom half but kept the game tied to give the Cards a chance to take the lead late. Louisville responded with a three-up, three-down inning, which was just their second at the time but was the first of three straight to end the game. In the fifth, Zabala gave up a lead-off walk. As they say, walks will haunt, and this one did. A strikeout was followed by a double to put runners on second and third with one out. An infield grounder led to a play at the plate, but with a base open, it wasn't a force play and the runner beat the tag. That set up a sacrifice fly for a second run in the inning and a strike out ended it, but too late. As I mentioned, Louisville didn't get on base in the final two innings. 

The second game looked like it might be a similar story offensively, and BC again scored first. This time it was Brooke Gray with the start and she pitched a complete game of her own. Gray gave up two runs, both earned, on six hits and two walks. She struck out six. The first run of the game came on a BC homer in the bottom of the first, and Gray locked down from there with five straight scoreless innings. 

Louisville was able to find the bases much more frequently in the second game, and good things often happen when they do. The team recorded eight hits and two walks, a marked improvement from the first game. Despite the increase in baserunners, Louisville was unable to find the plate until the fifth inning. In that one, they proved that anyone on the team is a threat on the base paths. Bri Despines walked to open the inning and stole second. She then came around to score on a Jac Hasty single, and Hasty advanced to second on the throw. Hasty's advancement was moot, as Taylor Monroe sent a ball over the fence to score the pair. With nobody out, Louisville turned over the lineup but couldn't score any additional runs. They did lead 3-1, though. 

With blood in the water, Louisville looked to capitalize after a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth for BC by loading the bases in the sixth. The Hasty walk, which came on a twelve-pitch at bat, was with two outs, though, and a fly out came up short of a grand slam to instead record the third out. BC thought they might have new life after surviving the threat as they opened the bottom of the sixth with a single, but Gray responded with two strikeouts and a pop out to end the inning. 

After going down in order in the fifth, the 9-1-2 hitters got to work in the seventh. Ally Alexander opened with a double and advanced to third on a productive ground out from Lotus. Chelsea Mack laid down a bunt single which froze the defense trying to prevent the run from scoring. With all eyes on Alexander at third, Mack advanced to second on what technically counts as a stolen base. Lorenz popped up to set up two outs, but Pickens was up to the moment and hit a double to left to score both runs. 

Gray came back out for the seventh and looked well in control holding a four run lead. She got a fly out to open the inning before giving up her second home run of the day to make it 5-2. A fly out and a foul out ended the game. 

Louisville was there or thereabouts throughout the two games yesterday, and they'll look for the first series win in a hot minute by taking the finale today. The game is at 1PM and will be available on ACC Network Extra. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

It was just be Paulie and me today in a return to the old days of the show being a two-man game. We'll have basketball news and plenty of spring sports to talk about, so be sure to have a listen. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

Cardinal Couple YouTube: Link

Spotify: Link

Apple Podcasts: Link

Google Podcasts: Link

Overcast (free account required): Link

Pocket Casts (free account and app required): Link

RadioPublic: Link

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case 

Cards Drop Battle of the Bluegrass -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Can't Hold Early Lead; UK Wins 8-3

Louisville softball welcomed the University of Kentucky in a midweek matchup that was moved up in the day to try to beat the impending storms. The game was windy but dry, and it was an exciting evening of softball. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more exciting for the visiting Wildcats in the end. Louisville took the lead in the first inning and held it until the fifth before a big seventh inning blew open the tie. The Cards now move to 20-16 on the season while UK improves to 22-15. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start for the Cards, opening the game with a strikeout. She gave up a four-pitch walk to follow but the Louisville defense stepped up to erase it with an inning-ending double play. That sequence would turn out to be very telling throughout the game. The Cards' defense was up to the task, but the circle proved to be an issue. 

Louisville was playing without Char Lorenz, who was listed as injured following last weekend's series against Duke. The Cards shifted the order around, moving Ally Alexander, who is quietly having the best offensive season of her career, up to third. After an Easton Lotus ground out, Chelsea Mack singled and did what she does best: turned a single into a double via steal. Alexander followed with a double to give Louisville the lead, and Bri Despines very nearly made it a 3-0 game with a ball that the wind carried all the way to the fence. Despines' fly ball was caught, bringing Camryn Lookadoo to the plate with two outs. She grounded into what should have been a routine ground out, but UK's defense let their adventurous side show and airmailed the throw to first, allowing Alexander to score. The play was reviewed for Alexander leaving second early, but replay evidence was inconclusive and the run stood. A strikeout ended the inning, but Louisville led 2-0. 

Zabala returned to the circle in the second and gave up a single to the dangerous Peyton Plotts. A sharp sacrifice bunt attempt could have gotten the lead runner, but Zabala panicked a bit and rushed the throw to first, putting it in the dirt where a covering Lotus couldn't reach it. Both runners advanced, and Zabala found herself in a pickle with runners on second and third and nobody out. A ground out to Lotus held the runner at second (I'm not sure why), but Plotts scored from third. The runner staying at second proved very costly for UK, as the next batter blooped a soft liner straight toward the bag. Taylor Monroe caught it on the run and her momentum carried her onto the base for the double play. Another defensive save, but UK cut the deficit to 2-1. 

UK changed pitchers after just one inning, bringing in their "ace" in Sarah Haendiges. In a mid-game interview, Coach Rachel Lawson (a former UMass teammate of Holly Aprile's) indicated that it was due to Carson Fall's propensity to be a fly ball pitcher. With Despines having already proved that the ball would carry, UK didn't want to risk Louisville's limited but very real capability to get the ball over the fence. That pitching change would prove devastating for the Cards. Haendiges went on to pitch the remaining six innings and gave up just three hits with one earned run, two walks, a wild pitch, and an HBP. She struck out six. 

Louisville had their chances to extend their lead, but they weren't able to capitalize in the second or third, stranding three in that time. Zabala, meanwhile, appeared to have settled in with a 1-2-3 third inning, but the Cardinal defense had to step up again in the fourth to help her navigate a lead-off walk and a sacrifice to move the tying run into scoring position. Aprile chose to (un)intentionally walk Plotts to fill the open spot at first and a fielder's choice was followed by a pop out to end the inning. It looked like it would be a quick bottom half for Louisville after a fly out and a foul out, but Monroe sent a no-doubter to left field to extend the lead to 3-1. 

The pitching woes came home to roost in the fifth, with Zabala giving up back-to-back singles before being replaced by Sam Booe. Booe picked up a strikeout to open her slate and it appeared that she'd be able to skate out of the jam as she has so many times before. Louisville's defense was primed behind her, having turned multiple double plays, but Booe took the ball out of their hands. Literally. A full-count walk loaded the bases before Booe issued a four-pitch walk to a freshman to score a run. Sam settled down and picked up a strikeout, but her two walks set up a situation nobody wants: Peyton Plotts to the plate with the bases loaded. Booe pitched well to the corners, but the eighth pitch of the at-bat was ruled just wide, and Plotts walked in the tying run. Lindsey Mullen came on to relieve Booe and got a fly out to center to end the inning. 

Softball is a game of momentum, and despite Louisville's home run, UK had just done a good job of seizing ol' Uncle Mo. If the two walked-in runs to tie the game didn't do it, the 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, which consisted of the 2-3-4 batters in the Cardinal order, did. Mullen returned in the sixth and pitched a strong inning to keep Louisville in the driver's seat as the home team, she gave up a walk with one out, but UK didn't really threaten and it was still tied going into the bottom of the sixth. Remember that momentum? Well there isn't much more to build it than a three-strikeout inning. Louisville split the strikeouts with a walk, and the game was stilted a bit by a long interference discussion, but the result was the same. Louisville sent four batters to the plate and three of them went down without putting the bat on the ball. 

That set up the ultimate showdown: final inning, tie game, rivalry, trying to beat a storm. Kentucky stepped up to the moment. A bunt single that just happened to die in the dirt going up the first base line caught Louisville off guard and put the go ahead run on base. Louisville was right when they anticipated a sacrifice, but too many players got excited to make a play. Four Cardinals converged on the bunted ball, and Despines had no throw to first as the other three fielders crowded around her. Two on, nobody out. Uh-oh. Another sacrifice attempt nearly resulted in the exact same thing, but Despines made the throw this time to get an out, but both runners moved into scoring position. Aprile made the wise call to, again, put Plotts on first base, but UK scored the go-ahead run on the next pitch. It got away from Mullen and went straight into the batter's box for an easily taken HBP off the elbow guard. A pinch hitter knocked a bloop single into centerfield, scoring another run and keeping the bases loaded with just one out. 

Zabala returned to the circle and got a ground out that Monroe smartly fired home to get the force and keep the UK lead at 5-3. The next pitch sealed the game, though, as it was lifted high to left, and Zabala clearly thought it was headed out of the park right off the bat. It didn't quite have the juice, but the wind made it just strong enough to fall beyond the outstretched glove of a diving Lookadoo in left center. With two outs, everyone was running, and the triple cleared the bases. A walk ended Zabala's day and Brooke Gray entered to pitch. Gray got a free out when the runner from first left early, and the Cards headed to their final chance down 8-3. 

It was a great spot in the Louisville order, with 9-1-2 due up, but a Monroe ground out was followed by a strikeout from Lotus that capped her unfortunately timed 0-4 day. Chelsea Mack singled up the middle with two strikes, but the rally wasn't on. Alexander lifted a soft fly ball to left and that was that. 

Louisville pitching issued ten free bases. Nine walks and a hit-by-pitch. UK could have won the game without picking up a single hit with runners in scoring position, as their first four runs came on a ground out RBI and three bases-loaded free passes. That's not good. I don't have much else to say on that. 

The Cards are on a conference bye week this week, so instead of a three-game series, they'll play a double header against Oakland on Saturday (weather permitting). Louisville will then head to Bloomington for another regional rivalry in next week's midweek outing. The Cards will hope to get the aftertaste of this ugly game out of their mouths and get some more wins under their belts in both non-conference and conference play.

PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Gets Late Winner in Bowling Green -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Happy Wednesday, folks. Let's start with a brief note on recent transfer portal news. While some of yesterday's revelations look to have immediately called Jared's Tuesday column about WBB returners to question, we don't typically trade in incomplete information here at Cardinal Couple. We'll address any major WBB news when its official, but for now, portal announcements don't serve to promote the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. 

Softball Takes 3-2 Victory Over WKU

In a bit of an oddity yesterday evening, WKU hosted a "Red Out" for the visiting team. WKU softball promoted the event, encouraging fans to wear red, only for WKU to take the field in traditional home whites while Louisville softball wore their red tops with red pants. Go Big Red, indeed. The Cards struck first and last in this one, breaking a tie in the sixth inning for a 3-2 win. 

Coming off of a discouraging Saturday and Sunday in Chapel Hill, Louisville headed down I-65 for their fourth in-state matchup of the season. WKU entered the game at just 15-13 overall, but they've played some tough competition already. Their losses include a pair to UK, a pair to Georgia Tech, and a pair to ranked Liberty. The Hilltoppers were coming off of a road trip to El Paso, where they went 1-2 against UTEP, so they may have been a bit more travel weary than the Cards. In the end, Louisville prevailed to improve to 4-0 against in-state competition this year. The Cards will really put that record to the test next Wednesday when they bring the Wildcats into Ulmer. 

Louisville took the plate first yesterday and got to work. After Easton Lotus had an unfortunate foul out on a 2-0 pitch, Chelsea Mack laid down her 2-0 attempt for a bunt to third. At this point, that's an automatic single. She likely would have stolen second, but she was helped out by a wild pitch to advance. In stepped Char Lorenz batting third. A note on Lorenz: other people have noticed her. This is good because she's pretty hard to ignore. Softball America issued their midseason lists and Lorenz was ranked as the top freshman in the ACC. Pretty good. It was a timely announcement, as Lorenz singled up the middle to score Mack and give Louisville the lead. She advanced to second on the throw to the plate, and she came around to score when Bri Despines doubled in the next at bat. Despines advanced to third on a throwing error, but Louisville couldn't continue the scoring rally. The Cards grabbed their gloves with a 2-0 lead. 

Alyssa Zabala got the start and took one batter too long to settle in. The WKU leadoff hitter smoked a double to open the bottom half of the first and advanced on back-to-back sacrifice flies to score. A walk and a ground out ended the inning, and Louisville maintained the lead. It looked as though they would immediately extend it, as Taylor Monroe tripled to lead off the second inning. After a line out, though, Ally Alexander hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that Monroe misread, taking off for home. The WKU shortstop threw to the plate instead of first and Monroe was tagged out. That was made doubly unfortunate when Lotus singled with two outs. The Cards couldn't bring a runner around, but they still led 2-1 heading into the home half. 

Zabala got a bit more comfortable in the second, working around a leadoff HBP to avoid any runs in the inning. Louisville went down in order in the third, and Zabala continued to show resilience. She was having a bit of trouble finding the zone, but her pitches were working to fool the WKU batters. Alyssa gave up two walks and a wild pitch in the third, but she also picked up a pair of swinging strikeouts, adding to the one she had in the second inning. 

Louisville tried to play small ball in the fourth after Jac Hasty singled to open the inning, but she was stranded at second after a sacrifice bunt was followed by two quick outs. Zabala had a fairly quick inning in the bottom half, giving up a full-count single after two fly outs and ending the threat with a pop out. Louisville went down 1-2-3 for the second time in the fifth inning, and Zabala returned to the circle for her fifth inning of work. In hindsight, Coach Holly Aprile might have considered pulling the trigger on relieving her a touch sooner. WKU opened with a double, and the Cards responded with an intentional walk to create a force out at any base. When a single loaded the bases, Aprile made the call to the bullpen and Brooke Gray entered a tough situation. 

Unfortunately for Zabala, Gray surrendered Zabala's win chance in the first at bat, giving up a four-pitch walk to score a run, tying the game and leaving the bases loaded. Fortunately for Louisville (and Zabala's ERA), Gray locked in after that. She struck out the next two batters to flip the situation from very bad (bases loaded, nobody out) to a fair bit less bad (two outs, force out at any base). A fly out ended the inning with the score tied 2-2. 

With the middle of the order due up, Louisville responded immediately. Despines laid down a first-pitch bunt up the first base line and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hasty singled for the second time in the game, and Aprile chose to hold Despines at third. Riley Janda came in to pinch run for Hasty and immediately stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Monroe worked a strong at bat, fouling off strike three twice for an eight-pitch walk. Ava Venturelli pinch hit with the bases loaded and one out but fouled out. With the potential rally in danger, Louisville was bailed out by a wild pitch, with all three runners advancing 60 feet and Despines scoring the go-ahead run. Alexander ended up walking to reload the bases, but Lotus grounded out to end the threat. 

WKU tried to match Louisville's efforts in the bottom half, with the leadoff batter attempting a bunt up the first base line. She was thrown out, which was good because the next batter singled. Gray responded by forcing a fly ball, walked a pinch hitter in the DH spot, and forced another fly out to end the inning. Louisville's 2-4 hitters went down on just six pitches in the seventh, but Gray was up to the task. She answered the quick top half with an efficient bottom half, using just 12 pitches herself to force two ground outs and a pop out to end the game and earn herself the win. 

Louisville's offense wasn't lighting the world on fire, but that was largely due to a good outing from WKU's Rylan Smith. She threw 120 pitches in the complete game, giving up three earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and a pair of wild pitches. She struck out four. Zabala and Gray combined for 145 pitches, six hits, six walks, one WP, one HBP, and five strikeouts. The Cards left seven runners on base, including an uncharacteristic three from Lotus. Granted, those all came in one at bat. 

Louisville (20-12) returns home this weekend for a series with Duke. The Blue Devils are 21-12 so far this season with a 4-5 conference record. They went 2-1 against Clemson and Syracuse before being swept at home this past weekend by 9th-ranked Florida State. Duke was outscored 33-17 in the series, but they took the Seminoles to the wire on Saturday, losing 12-11. The Blue Devils will face East Carolina today before catching a flight to Louisville to start the series Friday. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Softball Defeats Eastern Kentucky in Five -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Cruise Past Colonels

Louisville softball cruised to a Wednesday 10-2, five-inning victory in a midweek match-up against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky. The Cards walked it off in the bottom of the fifth inning, earning the run-rule win.

With the win, Louisville improves to 17-7 on the year. They are 7-2 at Ulmer Stadium.

After shutting down the Colonels in order to start the game, the Cards managed to get runners on first and second with two outs. A walk helped load the bases with Taylor Monroe stepping up to the plate. The freshman shortstop sent one over the left field wall into the tree for a grand slam. The home run is the first of her career.

The Cards threatened to score in the second but could not get a runner over the plate. They went down in order in the third inning, too

In the fourth, Maddi Grant beat out a wide throw to first base before being replaced by freshman Riley Janda on the base paths. Aggressive baserunning put Janda on third, and she scored on a bunt by Camryn Lookadoo. Ally Alexander followed by getting on base and a hit to the outfield by Easton Lotus plated both runners, giving the Cards a 7-0 advantage. 

Eastern Kentucky would not go down without a fight and pieced together a trio of hits to score both of their runs.

Monroe kicked off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double. Lookadoo pushed a hard grounder to the outfield and Monroe scored. Alexander followed with a hit, putting Lookadoo in scoring position. Easton Lotus sent Lookadoo home with a hit. She and Alexander found themselves in scoring position following a defensive error by the Colonels. Freshman Jordan Williams came in to pinch hit and capitalized on the opportunity. She sent the ball rolling to the wall in left center. While the game immediately ended when the Cards went up 10-2, Williams was in prime position to pull out a triple off the hit and would have had multiple RBIs.

Alyssa Zabala (7-2) got the start in the circle and would go the full game to earn the win. She struck out five while allowing six hits and one walk. It is her fourth five-strikeout performance this season.

The Cards continued their aggressive base running with four stolen bases and even managed to turn a walk into an immediate runner on second opportunity. Louisville earned six walks while striking out twice. Lotus, Monroe, and Alexander each recorded two hits.

There was a scary situation in the first inning when Chelsea Mack was hit by a pitch. The ball hit Mack in the area of the lower neck or upper chest area. She was down in the batters box for several minutes before getting up and walking to first. She remained in for the remainder of the game.

Jeff and Jared caught up with Zabala and Monroe following the game. You can check out the interview here.

Louisville stays at home and welcomes #16 Virginia Tech for a three-game series. The Hokies defeated Kentucky 2-0 last night in Lexington. Emma Lemley was one batter off from a perfect game, walking one batter. Due to weather in the forecast, the three-game series times may be shifted around.

(All photos today by Jared)

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared