Minor Departure from UofL Sports -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Texas Thumps TTU in Championship Rubber Match

Louisville softball missed out on the postseason this year, but we're in the midst of the summer doldrums here at Cardinal Couple and the Women's College World Series was quite the event this year. Plus, with Louisville baseball's upset in Nashville the super regional coming back to Jim Patterson Stadium, diamond sports are on the mind. Last night, in a winner-take-all game three of the WCWS Championship Series, Texas proved why having a single arm that you depend on solely to get you through the postseason may not be the answer. They jumped on NiJaree Canady for five runs in the first inning (with some help from the defense) before ultimately putting Texas Tech on run-rule watch at 10-0 and going on to win 10-4. 

The championship is Texas softball's first, but not for lack of trying. Since their first season in 1997, the Longhorns have made it to Oklahoma City eight times, and they were tied for the most visits without a championship before they won this season. They also had to watch their rivals in Oklahoma win it all four times in a row. To make matters worse, the team the Sooners beat for two of those four straight championships were the Texas Longhorns. That's just an almighty sting. The Longhorns got some payback as they beat OU in OKC for the first time last Saturday to help knock the Sooners out of contention. 

This season's WCWS brought all kinds of eyes to the sport, as OU went for history, Texas made a strong push, and TTU brought the first million-dollar softball player to Omaha. Tennessee and UCLA had their own fun as rules and reviews came into play across the event (including last night), and the NBA Finals coming to OKC during the championship series brought even more stars out to the games. 

Now is a great time to be a softball fan, and it would be an even greater time for Louisville to get over the hump and make some noise in the postseason. Louisville doesn't need to bring a million-dollar pitcher into the program to help them do that, but they can still put together an exciting roster and find a way to make it farther than anyone expects. Ole Miss was the only unseeded team to make it to OKC this season, but TTU was the 12-seed and Oregon was the 16. You just have to get into the postseason to give yourself a chance. Hopefully 2026 sees more for the Cards. 

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're finally back this week, but it'll be a two-man show. Paulie and I will bring you the latest in Louisville women's athletics, although that isn't much. We may not go the full hour, but we'll still do our best to find as much joy and excitement as we can in the summer slump. Check out the show after it posts around 1PM, and be sure to subscribe so that it comes to your feed automatically. 

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Hartlage Moves Up -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lauren Hartlage Moves Up to 17th

After her even-par performance on Thursday, Lauren Hartlage shot two-under on Friday to move up from T28th to T17th in the United States Women's Open. Her round included a 50-foot putt for birdie to help her towards that two-under. She remains seven shots off the lead after the Friday leader, Mina Harigae, also fired a two-under second round. With the cut line at +3, Hartlage was safe by quite a bit, and players have shown big movement in the two days so far. We'll keep an eye on her as she finishes out the weekend. Hartlage will tee off at 12:05 today.

WCWS Update

The Cards aren't in it, but that doesn't mean the Women's College World Series isn't a fun event to keep up with. Last night's action saw the first elimination games, as UCLA and Arizona ended the dreams of Northwestern and Oregon State. Both Arizona and Oregon State were unseeded, so the unseeded ranks were bound to lose one member yesterday, but the other unseeded team in Oklahoma City, Texas, won their first game. The Longhorns' 0 loss stat will be put to the test this afternoon when they take on their rival, the Sooners of Oklahoma, who just happens to be the #1 seed. The Sooners let Northwestern score first in their game Thursday before going on to win 13-2. Texas scored first against UCLA on a controversial error before going on to win 7-2. That game will get underway at 3PM on ABC. On the other side of the bracket, 7-seed Oklahoma State will take on 14-seed Florida at 7PM on ESPN.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We're back this week! I suppose I should say I'm back since the show has gone on in my absence, but after taking last week off, we'll have four in the booth for today's show. Though the end of the UofL seasons is on the horizon, we'll still have plenty to talk about. As always, you can check out the live stream of the show by going to the Cardinal Couple YouTube page and clicking on the live video. Jeff usually creates that about an hour before the show, which officially starts at 11 AM Eastern. If the live time doesn't work for you, there are plenty of playback options, so be sure to check out whichever is best for you!

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Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

Cardinals Outside of UofL Athletics; WCWS Storylines -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Swimmers Among Olympic Hopefuls

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being postponed to later this year (and still hanging on by a thread), US Olympic qualifying trials are getting underway for various sports to nail down the teams. Among the summer games are those that take place in a pool. Games in a pool during the summer? Professional athletes: they're just like the rest of us. Anyway, the University of Louisville has a pretty good history when it comes to swimming. They're still working toward that first team championship, but individual Cardinals have seen a lot of success at the collegiate level and beyond.

This year, more Cards will hope to add their names to the list of athletes that will get to wear the year's hottest Polo Ralph Lauren outfit (the US Olympic uniform). On the women's side, three Cards are at the event: Christiana Regenaur, Diana Dunn, and Paige McCormick. Regenaur made the finals for the 100M Freestyle yesterday and touched 6th in her race, 9th overall out of the 16 swimmers. Her placement is not terribly relevant based on how they are doing the advancement to Wave II (only the top two advance), but you can advance on time as well. The cut for Wave II is a 55.56. Regenaur's swim yesterday was only a 56.29, so unless she had a better time somewhere during the past year's qualification period, she'll be hoping for another race to attempt to improve or she'll look to go forward in another event.

The only woman racing today for Louisville is freshman Paige McCormick. McCormick is swimming in the 400M IM today. She'll also participate in the 200M Backstroke tomorrow. Regenaur and Diana Dunn will be back in action on Monday for the 50M Free and the 200M IM, respectively.

Cards in WNBA Action

Paulie gave you a look at the result from Thursday night, but the WNBA season is jam packed with games. There are three on the slate today and former Cards will be involved in all three. The day tips off with a Mystics vs Aces matchup at 1PM. If not for injury, this would be an opportunity to MHA vs Angel, but McCoughtery is back on the road to recovery. The game will be broadcast on ABC. Game two is also on ABC, and will tip off at 3PM. In that game, we'll see if Dana Evans can break into some more playing time for her new team. The final game of the evening sees the Connecticut Sun hosting the NY Liberty. That one is at 7PM and is not listed for a national channel. Availability is NESN, YES, and SN1. 

WCWS Providing Tons of Excitement

James Madison has come to win the whole dang softball tournament. After knocking off Oklahoma on opening day of the tournament, the Dukes were at it again last night when they took on the second home team at the tournament. Odicci Alexander was in the circle again and she flashed her glove in addition to her pitching skills. Late in the game, the Cowgirls put down a suicide squeeze and Alexander showed her athleticism as she raced the runner to the plate, diving for the tag herself rather than wasting time trying to get it to the catcher. She made the out and ultimately held on for a 2-1 win. 

The Dukes are now in the driver's seat for bracket one, waiting until tomorrow to face their next opponent. Oklahoma can still make their way to the championship series, but they'll need to win two games today and then beat JMU twice tomorrow to do it. Advantage JMU. The team on the other side in the same position is Alabama. The Tide made headlines last night as well when Montana Fouts took the circle on her birthday. It was a 21st birthday to remember as Fouts threw just the fifth perfect game in WCWS history while Alabama thumped UCLA 6-0. 

All four games today will be broadcast on ESPN, as will tomorrow's Game Ones. If a Game Two is required tomorrow, it will be on ESPN2. The championship series, starting on Monday, will all be on ESPN.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour

Paulie alluded to my return yesterday but it's not quite here, yet. Today should be the last week of my hiatus, and I'm excited to return to the booth. It's been a hectic last couple of months, and I'm sure we'll talk next week about where all I've been. The rest of the crew will still bring you a great show this week, as Paulie prepares his next nefarious quiz. Tune in to the Cardinal Couple YouTube Channel at 11AM for the live show and be sure to subscribe to the channel to see the rebroadcasts as well as any other video interviews we post to the page.

Until next time, Go Cards!

-CH-