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

Cards face EKU in softball on Wednesday -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 COLONELS COME TO TOWN ON A NINE GAME WIN STREAK

Normally, one would look at the midweek match up between Louisville and EKU in softball as a probable romp for the ACC school against the mid-major in Richmond. Not so this season, EKU comes to Ulmer stadium on a none game win streak and with a sparkling 17-5 record...with wins over Georgia Tech, WKU and Dayton.

As a matter of fact, these two schools are 2-2 the last foir time they have met..so much for padding your schedule, eh? 

Whitney was an excellent Cards infielder. 

EKU plays in the ASUN conference and has former Cardinal softball great Whitney Arion on their staff as a Director of Player Development. Arion played for the Cards from 2012-2015. She was a sure-gloved shortstop for the Cards, and was an All-ACC selection her final year, a two time All-Big East selection and an AAC second team pick. 

EKU has won their last two games this season by run-rules...over Purdue Fort Wayne. They have one former Louisville high school player on the roster in junior catcher Lilly Davis, who attended Butler High School. Davis has been the starting catcher the last two season for the Colonels 

Louisville is 8-5 against EKU since 2001, but fell to the Colonels 6-2 last year in Richmond. The Cards did defeat them 10-1 in 2023. .Davis had a double and home run against the Cards last year and Cardinals pitcher Brooke Gray was touched for four first inning runs. 

The game will be shown on ACCNX at 5:00 p.m

FAREWELL JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN

Louisville MBB great Junior Bridgeman passed away of a heart attack while speaking in Louisville Tuesday at the Galt House. 

My own personal memories of Bridgeman come from when I was a sophomore at UofL. Bridgeman was a senior and I had an encounter with him one day. That fall, i was on crutches, due to an ankle surgery and was going to class, trying to juggle a couple of books and crutches. The elevator that I planned on taking to the second floor of the building was out of order, and i pondered the dilemma of going up a flight of stairs...with crutches and books...when he came over to me, and kindly offered to carry my books for me as i went up the steps. He also followed me to make sure i didn't fall backwards. 

I remember I thanked him and he just smiled and went back down the steps...this was when our city and county was going through the busing upheaval in the high school system and tensions between whites and blacks were probably as high as they have ever been. 

I saw him years later, at a UofL women's basketball game and reminded him of his kindness and thanked him again for that kindness many years ago. He just smiled and thanked me for my coverage of women's basketball at UofL. 

He will be missed by all Cardinal fans...and Louisville has lost a true legend.  

paulie

Softball's Step Up From Last Season -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2025 Softball Shows Improvement from 2024 Season

The 2024 Louisville softball season ended with a bit of disappointment as the Cards finished 27-25 with no ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cards finished 11th in the ACC with only the top 10 teams making the conference tournament. They lost seven of eight ACC series but were only swept once.

One of the biggest downfalls to last season was a total of 14 losses coming by two runs or less or in extra innings. While it is uncommon to be on the wrong end of most of your close games played in a season, every once in a while you come across an extra unlucky year. 

Last year's team started 8-0 and found themselves 12-2 before stepping foot inside Ulmer Stadium. They went 5-4 in the first couple weekends at home.

This season, Louisville is off to a 16-7 start and already matched the number of ACC series wins from last year with one. They have also looked better early on at home, going 6-2 in the first two weekends with the only losses coming to Northwestern and Notre Dame, the former having made the NCAA Tournament last season.

The high-powered offense has scored eight or more runs nine times this season and has even posted double-digit runs five times. Defensively, UofL has allowed three runs or less 16 times this season. They have not surrendered double-digit runs but Liberty and Purdue both dropped nine runs against the Cards.

As we have mentioned on the weekly podcast and in past articles, a key factor to the early success of this team is speed and aggressiveness. From top to bottom, Louisville has a lineup full of players who can kick it into second gear at a moments notice. On the basepath, Louisville set the program record for number of successful steals in a game with eight against Bellarmine. They also have a game with seven successful stolen bases. Advancing runners into scoring position has created more R.B.I.'s and scoring opportunities that may have been absent last year.

In terms of power hitting, five Cardinals have hit a home run so far this season: Char Lorenz (4), Bri Despines (2), Ava Venturelli (1), Katie Thatcher (1), Madison Pickens (1). While this number is low, the Cards have made the most of their home runs, registering wins in all of them.

The Cards are back in action and remain at home when Eastern Kentucky makes a visit to Ulmer Stadium on Wednesday at 5:00pm. After that, the Cards will host Virginia Tech over the weekend.

(Softball photos by Jared)

Happy Tuesday and Go Cards!

Jared

Cards SB wins marathon contest vs. Irish 4-3 -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 LOOKADOO SINGLES HOME GAME WINNER

Louisville Softball went 14 innings with Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium before they broke a 3-3 tie when pinch hitter Camryn Lookadoo brought home shortstop Taylor Monroe to win it for the Cards in the bottom of the 14th inning. 

"Look at you, Lookadoo !!"

Lookadoo, a sophomore that played at UK last season, hit a drive to left center that Monroe was easily able to score on and capture the victory thriller for Holly Aprile's Cards. A lot of credit for this win also goes to the Cards fourth pitcher of the contest, sophomore Lindsey Mullen, who pitched 6.1 innings of no runs allowed and only two hits  given up.. 

The Cards drew first blood in this one in the second inning when catcher Bri Despines scored on a Monroe sacrifice fly. 

Louisville allowed a ND run in the top of the fourth inning on a Rachel Allen four bagger but UofL countered in the bottom of the fourth with a run when Monroe drove home Despines. 

Notre Dame tied it up in the top of the fifth with a home run from Kaia Cortez

The Irish grabbed a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning, when Caroline O'Brien singled and scored Jane Kronenberger . Louisville kept the contest going... though, when they drove home Chelsea Mack on a Char Lorenz double. 

The Cards go to 16-7 with the win and 2-1 in the ACC while Notre Dame drops to 10-11 and 1-2.

POST GAME LINDSEY MULLEN

POST GAME CARMYN LOOKADOO

(Photos of the game and celebration by Jared Anderson) 

CURTIS FRANKLIN WINS CARDINAL COUPLE ACC TOURNAMENT PICK 'EM

Curtis Franklin

It was a three-way tie for first place in the annual Pick 'Em contest, with Franklin,  Case Hoskins and Kenny S. all going 10-4 ...so we went to a tiebreaker -- total number of points scored in the final game.  Curtis had 127...so he was the closest to the final total of 138. Case had 162 to get second closest to the 76-62 Duke win over NC State, 

Only one contestant had Duke winning it all...your fearless leader Paulie. Eight contestants were a game back at 9-5..so, it was a real race to the wire. 

I contacted Curtis to notify him on the win....his words: 

" I am really happy I won this thing, after entering it for so many years. I felt good about my picks and despite having a NCST vs. Notre Dame final in my bracket, I built up enough early wins to hold off the challengers. Thanks to Paulie and Case for running this tournament!!" 

Curtis recently moved back from Iowa to take a job in New Albany, but  "I never stopped reading you guys and remained a Cards fan".

paulie

A Tough Day on Floyd Street - Sunday Cardinal Couple

(photos from Jared Anderson)

Softball Drops a Game to Notre Dame

At a season record of 10-11 going into yesterday's game, including Friday's loss to the Cards, Notre Dame's record, compared to Louisville's 15-6, would make you think that the Cards should be able to be the Irish without a huge degree of difficulty. Honestly, you're probably right, Louisville should be able to beat Notre Dame fairly reliably, but in softball, it's not uncommon for what is clearly an inferior team to step up and win a game as ND did yesterday, 3-2.  This is one of the reasons that series against tea

Easton Lotus rounds second base

ms are popular in the diamond sports, winning one game can be a fluke occurrence, winning a three game series is a bit more difficult.

Now, please don't take this as disrespect to the Notre Dame team, they're good...not great, but good.  And they played well yesterday, keeping the Cards offense at bay, and they deserved the win they got and have every right to celebrate it.  The Cards, however, will be looking to get back on the win side today, and win the series with the game at noon.

Much like Friday, the Cards started with Alyssa Zabala in the circle, and brought Sam Booe in for relief, though Zabala did go for four and two thirds innings, compared to Friday's shorter appearance. Will today see a change up in the circle?  Perhaps, as it can be useful to throw a different pitcher at a team after they've seen one (or two) for a while, like two games.  However, Zabala and Booe do make a pretty darn good one-two punch, so I also wouldn't be shocked to see round three of the pair.

Louisville got all of their scoring done before Notre Dame got any of their offense unlimbered.  The Cards started out in the first inning with the lead-off batter, Easton Lotus getting a single.  A Chelsea Mack bunt on the second pitch of the at-bat moved her forward before she got a chance to steal. A big Char Lorenz double out to right field scored Lotus.

Char Lorenz makes another out in
left field

Fast forward to the fourth inning and the score is still 1-0. Two big contacts got the second, and final, score for the Cards. Bri Despines smacked a double out to left field, and scored on a Maddi Grant single to right.

Unfortunately, that would be it for Louisville, Notre Dame would score a run in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to get the 3-2 win.

The eye test, in addition to the season records, would suggest that Louisville should've won this game.  They play cleaner and with fewer mistakes on defense.  They have incredible base running, and do tend to get runners on base, but yesterday, Notre Dame just did the specific right things to get the win.  Maybe they got used to Zabala and Booe's pitching just enough to get just enough offense going (including a home run) to get across the line.  Louisville offense definitely wasn't able to get in gear, maybe Notre Dame's pitcher yesterday (Kami Kamzik) just had Louisville's number from in the circle?  Certainly the offensive effort by the Cards was significantly blunted, which can frequently result from good pitching.

In any case, Louisville will get the chance to win the rubber match today, starting at noon, and as always, you can catch the stream on the ACC Network Extra.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse, now getting into the meat of the ACC season, also went down to defeat yesterday at the hands of Virginia Tech, 16-7.  The Hokies find themselves in the upper part of the ACC standings at 2-1 in conference, certainly nothing to sneeze at in this tough conference.

J Pleck was in goal for the Cards for the duration of this one, collecting nine saves, which is even with the VT goalie, but with a 37-25 shot advantage, 25-16 for shots on goal, you either need a superhuman goalkeeper, more defense, which is a hard ask for an already pretty good defending Louisville team, or just generate more offense to counteract.

Negai Nakazawa on the give and go

Louisville did replace the first zero on the scoreboard about five minutes into the first quarter thanks to Lauren Figas, assisted by Negai Nakazawa. VT would put three in the Cards' net before the quarter was out, however.

VT would continue that run with a pair of goals in the opening five minutes of the second quarter, stretching the lead to 5-1.  Reese Whiteman stopped the slide about halfway through the quarter, VT would answer, and then Negai Nakazawa found the goal with about two minutes in the half left. Figas would narrow the gap even further with 35 seconds showing on the scoreboard, making the halftime score 6-4.

Lauren Figas curls looking for a score

Nakazawa got the lead down to just one goal in the opening minute of the third quarter, but ultimately the quarter would be a draw. VT answer Negai, and Rian Adkins got it back to just a one goal lead, again as 6:30 showed on the clock.  40 seconds later, Figas tied the game at 7-7.  VT would score the final two scores of the third quarter to bring the lead back to two at 9-7.

Alas, VT would close out the game extending that run out to 9-0. Yes, that's correct, the Cards did not score at all in the fourth quarter, as VT found the goal seven times. That's not a pleasant ending to a game...well, I guess it is if you're a VT fan.

The Cards get a full week to lick their wounds, and hopefully let them heal, because I fear some more are on the way as the Cards travel to New England to play undefeated Boston College on their home turf.

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

All five of the CC crew made the CCRHP recording call yesterday, although Jared did need to make an early exit in order to make it downtown (at least there was some Cardinal joy and excitement down there, even if it wasn't for women's sports) for the men's basketball game and senior day festivities.

As you would expect, basketball, softball, and lacrosse were on the agenda with no inkling of the somber day that was ahead of us with on Floyd Street.

Check it out:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cardinal-couple/episodes/Softball-Wins-WBB-Ends-ACC-Tourney-Run-e2vsr08

Cards Fall Flat in ACC Quarters -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Offense Struggles in 61-48 Loss to Duke

Louisville women's basketball played its second consecutive game without Jayda Curry and Merissah Russell last night and let's hope it's the last time they have to do that this season. After surviving in overtime against Clemson on Thursday, Louisville's offense looked lost against a suffocating defense, leading to the worst scoring half of the season when they headed to the locker room with just 18 points. Louisville tried to make a game of it late, but their momentum was halted and they'll now await their fate on Selection Sunday. 

The Cards' shooting woes started early, as they managed just 5-16 from the floor in the first quarter, a mark of 31.3%. Duke shot 50% from the floor in the first, but they turned the ball over a handful of times and Louisville was able to stay close. The Cards trailed just 15-11 at the end of one, and it looked like they might be able to keep the game in hand. Unfortunately, Louisville couldn't make it out of the quarter without Nyla Harris, Ja'Leah Williams, and Olivia Cochran all picking up their first fouls. Even more concerningly, Taj Roberts started the game just 1-6 from the floor. With Curry out, Roberts is Louisville's leading scorer, so the team will go as she does without Curry.

Louisville's hopes of keeping the game close fell apart in the second quarter, as their shooting woes continued. The Cards were 3-10 from the floor in the second, and while Taj Roberts hit her second three of the game, Duke stretched their lead from 4 to 13 at the break. Duke opened the second with a three, and Louisville made their first basket of the quarter with a Mackenly Randolph jumper but failed to score for the next six and a half minutes. Fortunately for the Cards, Duke went on a long scoring drought as well. Unfortunately for the Cards, Duke's ended with a scoring run, rather than a single basket. The Blue Devils finished the quarter on an 11-5 run. Louisville had six turnovers in the quarter. They trailed 31-18 at halftime. 

If you're doing the math on the final score, you know how the second half went, but it started with a third quarter that looked as though Louisville might lose the game by 30. Louisville remained largely unable to score, mustering their first basket over two minutes into the half and sitting on 20 points for four minutes after that. Isla Juffermans made 1-2 free throws to go to the under 5 timeout, pushing Louisville to 21 points with just 14 minutes left in the game. Duke went to the line with 3:31 remaining to extend their lead to its peak at 22 points. At that point, Louisville's offense finally found a bit of rhythm. Louisville closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run to move into the final stanza down by 15 with some momentum. While it isn't great to be optimistic about a 15-point deficit, it was, as I mentioned, threatening to be much worse.

The Cards continued their comeback bid to open the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points of the fourth to cut the lead to eight at 45-37 and force a Kara Lawson timeout with 8:18 remaining. Briefly, it looked like game on... and then it didn't. Louisville had a chance to cut the lead to six, but a missed jumper in the paint and a missed put-back (both of which had decent shouts for fouls, in my opinion), gave the ball back to Duke, who got a layup and drew the foul to complete the three-point play. A five-point swing meant that instead of 39-47 it was 37-48. After that point, Louisville struggled avoid turnovers, and Duke started to make threes, quelling any further comeback efforts. The Cards didn't see a single-digit deficit for the remainder of the game. A desperate attempt to play the foul game late pushed the lead back to it's final mark at 13 and the Cards' run in the ACC Tournament ended with a 61-48 loss. 

For the second game in a row, Ja'Leah Williams struggled to stay out of foul trouble when she was depended on to be the floor general. After fouling out of the Clemson game, Williams picked up only two fouls in the first half against Duke but got a quick one in the third and was called for her fourth foul just four minutes into the third quarter. Williams was able to avoid fouling out, but she was off the floor for key minutes, and Louisville's offensive fate was in the hands of true freshmen in a hostile environment and a tournament setting. It didn't go great. Roberts, Izela Arenas, and Imari Berry combined for nine of Louisville's 21 turnovers. While a couple of Williams' fouls were suspect (one was whistled while she had both hands on the ball for a jump ball attempt), she will need to find a way to avoid ticky-tack situations if she is going to be depended on to run the floor. 

Despite Louisville's struggles, Mackenly Randolph somewhat quietly had her best game of the season. Randolph played 34 minutes and scored a personal-best (and tied for game-high) 13 points. She was 5-7 from the floor, including 1-1 from three, and made both her free throw attempts (each of which were and-ones). She did commit two fouls and two turnovers, but she had a pair of rebounds and another pair of assists (a lot of twos in the box score). Randolph has shown flashes so far this season, and last night's game (Robert's woeful shooting aside) was another indicator that this could be a very strong core group of players moving forward. 

We have given Olivia Cochran some flak this season, but she played hard in last night's loss. She was only 4-10 from the floor, but she made all three of her free throw attempts and finished with a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds). She only had two fouls and her three turnovers were unfortunate, but not game-breaking. As Louisville's spiritual leader, her efforts in helping prevent the blowout were considerable, and I hope for a celebratory end to her illustrious UofL career in the NCAA tournament. 

The FRED Report

F-Free Throws: Louisville didn't take their first free throw until well into the third quarter, but they managed to do well at the line, despite the season averages of those that took the shots. The Cards finished 9-11 from the line, just under 82%. I can never quite remember the difference between a capital f and a lowercase f, but I'm crediting Cochran, Randolph, and Juffermans for their 7-8 performance. Capital 'F'.

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) models my facial 
expression for much of last night's game.

R-Rebounds: Louisville didn't get run off the boards, despite how it felt at times last night. Each team had 34 total rebounds, and Louisville had 17 each of offensive/defensive rebounds compared to Duke's 16-18. Louisville lost the second-chance points battle, but not by much (12-8). Duke outrebounds opponents by 6.7 per game on average, compared to just 3.3 for the Cards, so I'm going to award a capital 'R'. Again, I'm rewarding an individual effort here, as Cochran was the only player with double-digit rebounds. 

E-Effort/Execution: Ok, here is where my generosity runs a bit thin. Louisville shot just 32% from the floor, which isn't solely down to Duke's defense. They also had 21 turnovers, 11 of which were Duke steals. The Cards had only 9 assists on their 18 made baskets, and had multiple scoring droughts over five minutes. I'd like to reward the fact that they never gave up, but it's hard to ignore their worst offensive output in a single half (18) and their second worst scoring performance of the season. In retrospect, it's kind of crazy that they scored more than 18 in both halves when they managed just 42 points against NC State. No letter. 

D-Defense: Hmm. This one is a bit of a stumper. The Cards forced 18 turnovers, but just three of those were steals. A couple were turnovers in which they gave the ball right back. They were a bit slow on closeouts, and while Duke was just 41.5% from the floor overall, they were 6-18 from three. Louisville gave up 24 points in the paint, 13 fast break points, and it could have been worse if Duke hadn't shot 58% from the free throw line. I don't think Louisville's defense kept them in the game in the second half so much as Duke couldn't quite run away with it. No letter. 

In a weird game like last night's, it's hard to expect much more than the weird final score of F-R-_-_.

Louisville's fate is now in the hands of the committee. With conference tournaments going largely as expected, the Cards' resume won't be dramatically improved or harmed by outcomes across the country, so we just wait and see. After last night, Louisville's NET ranking remains in the mid-30s (35) and Charlie Creme still has them as a 7-seed in the Spokane region. NET rankings and bracketology will go out the window in eight days, but they're all we have for now. 

2025 Cardinal Couple ACC Pick'Em Update

Despite a couple of potential upsets, the day was largely chalky yesterday. After dropping his perfect bracket in the first quarterfinal matchup, Nick O saw his lead slip away in the last QF of the night. Five entries now sit on 9 points (Nick O, Curtis, Karen J, Kenny S, and Case) with three (Thomas, Jeff, and Daryl) close behind at 8. 

Nick O and Karen J will each drop another game having both picked FSU over NC State today, but they join the other six entries with Notre Dame as their champion. Paulie and Blue Lou (both with 7) will be rooting for Duke upset, which would upend the standings. Paulie needs Duke to win the championship for it to come down to tiebreakers, while Blue Lou could win outright with NC State over Duke in the final. 

Softball Soars in ACC Opening 9-2 Win

Louisville very nearly walked off Notre Dame in the sixth inning, but the Irish got one more attempt in the seventh. Sam Booe, who took the win from Alyssa Zabala, closed it out, though, and Louisville opened their ACC season with a big win over a middling Notre Dame squad. The Cards will get the Irish twice more this weekend, including a 1:00 PM matchup today. 

Louisville and Notre Dame each had ten hits in this one, but the Cards were able to do more damage with runners in scoring position, as Louisville pitching and defense stranded 11 on base for the Irish. The Cards left just five on base. Coach Holly Aprile manipulated the lineup slightly again, with Bri Despines batting fifth in this one and Madison Pickens taking the cleanup spot. Pickens made good use of it, sending her first career home-run to right field in the first inning to score Chelsea Mack and give the Cards a 2-0 lead. Pickens had a two-run single in the sixth inning to set up the potential walk-off, giving her four RBI in the game. 

Joining Pickens with two hits in the game were Easton Lotus, Chelsea Mack, and Taylor Monroe, with Lotus and Mack also each scoring two runs. Lotus had a timely RBI triple in the fifth, kicking off a four-run inning after Notre Dame trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Louisville's offense, unsurprisingly, wreaked havoc on the base paths, as they had infield singles, a forced error (for runs), and finished with seven steals (two for Mack). A small-ball delight on a team that also has some pop. Can't be mad about it. 

Alyssa Zabala had a bit of trouble in the cool evening weather, but she was serviceable and in line for the victory. Zabala pitched 3.2 innings and gave up seven hits, three walks, and two runs (both earned) while striking out a pair. Sam Booe came on to relieve her in the fourth with the tying run on base. Since Zabala was on the hook for the potential game-tying run upon her departure, the win ultimately went to Booe, who is now 4-1. Booe had another great outing in the circle, as she gave up just three hits and one walk in 3.1 innings and struck out five. She also did well to keep the ball out of danger as just two of her batted balls in play were in the air. All three hits were short outfield singles and she gave up just two fly ball outs. 

Louisville's win moves them to 15-6 and pushes Notre Dame below .500 at 10-11. I would expect Brooke Gray to get the start this afternoon, but Booe and Zabala are both capable on short rest if Gray struggles. The Cards took down the Notre Dame ace yesterday, giving Micaela Kastor just her second loss of the young season. If Louisville's offense can continue to build confidence, especially among the freshmen, this could be a fun year. 

Postgame with Madison Pickens

Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast

We'll have four (with a potential showing from the fifth) in the booth today to recap the past week. There has been some bad, but a lot of good, so we'll do our best not to dwell on the negatives as we advance the mission of bringing you the joy and excitement of UofL women's athletics. 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!

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

WBB survives vs Clemson 70-68 -- Softball opens ACC schedule -- FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FRIDAYS WITH DARYL 

Good Friday morning readers,


Welcome back for another weekend and officially basketball post season!  Which means, I get to watch basketball at work  YAY! 


Photos: Jared Anderson


WBB


The Cardinals survived and advance in the ACC tournament after defeating the Clemson Tigers 70-68.   

Taj Roberts and Ja'Leah Williams both scored 16 points with 10 and 12 rebounds respectively to lead Louisville to the quarterfinals.  It was announced just before tipoff that Jayda Curry and Merissah Russell would not play in the game.  Curry suffering a shoulder injury and Russell having back pains. 

End of 1Q 13-11 Clemson


FG %
5-13 38.5% Cards
5-12 41.7% Clemson
Reb. 9-7 Clemson
3-pt %
0-1 0% Cards
2-5 40% Clemson


Without the 2 seniors, the starters featured Imari Berry, Nyla Harris, Ja'Leah Williams, Tajianna Foberts and Olivia Cochran.  Olivia committed her first foul 14 seconds after putting up a missed layup too strongly. Williams put up a nice bank jumper to put the Cards on the board first.  

Nyla Harris takes the charge to go the other way with a 4-0 lead. she went 1-2 at the line on the next offensive possession. Louisville would lead 7-0.  At the first media timeout the Cards had the 7-4 lead while shooting 38% from the field (3-8) while not attempting a 3 pointer in that timeframe.

2:37 --  Clemson's Mia Moore hits a 3 pointer to tie it all at 11 before taking the 13-11 lead after starting the game down 0-7.  The Cards went on a more than 3 minute scoring drought to close out the quarter. 



End of 2Q 19-16 Cards


FG %
7-15 46.7% Cards
7-14 50% Clemson
Reb. 10-4 Cards
3-pt %
0-2 0% Cards
1-6 16.7% Clemson



Mackenly Randolph ends the scoring drought for the Cards about 30 seconds into the second quarter.  Williams secures the ball off the Clemson miss and takes it herself to find her sweet spot to put the Cards ahead again 19-18 just a couple minutes in.

Izela Arenas went 3-3 to start her night to make it 25-20 Cardinals and the Tigers call a timeout.

HALF 30-29 Cards


Photos: Jared Anderson 

End of 3Q

FG %
4-13 30.8% Cards
6-12 50%  Clemson
Reb.  10-5 Cards
3-pt %
0-3 0% Cards
2-4 50% Clemson


After hitting the 3 to open the quarter for Clemson, JaLeah Williams draws a foul on Evans to go to the line and retake the lead for the Cards 34-32.  Both squads were trading baskets back and forth.

Cochran picks up her 3rd foul with about 7 min left in the 3rd quarter so Mac Randolph comes back in.  Roberts was hitting some clutch baskets to match Clemson's.  A foul on Williams took us to the media timeout with the Tigers up 41-38. 

Clemson increases their lead to 47-40.  Elif went 1-2 at the free throw line and the Cards offense went stale for over 2 minutes but the defense was working overtime to force the same from the Tigers.  Williams secures a loose ball when Walz calls the timeout to regroup for the final minute of the third quarter

With 1 second left on the shot clock and under a minute to play left in the quarter Williams picks up her 4th foul on a reach in.  The Cards get the last shot and go to Elif for the 3 point attempt which doesn't go and the Cards close the quarter going scoreless for almost 2:30 minutes. 



End of 4Q   17-13 Cards 

FG %
7-14 50% Cards
 4-11 36.4% Clemson
Reb. 10-5  Cards
3-pt %
1-2 50% Cards
2-4 50%  Clemson

Olivia Cochran comes back in gets a quick bucket.  Arenas hits Louisville's first 3 pointers to make it 49-48 Clemson.  Randolph gives Cards 50-49 lead on the strong layup but Clemson quickly retakes the leads back when Loyal McQueen goes from coast to coast. 

Williams(6-7 on the night)hits for her 14th points to tie it 52 all with just under 5 min left in the game. she also had 10 rebounds, her 2nd double double of the season.  Roberts drives to the bucket to regain the lead for Louisville with 4:16 left.  Clemson with just 1 FG in previous 6 min span but only down by 2 points.  Ja'leah Williams goes 1-2 at the line and Cochran gets the rebound but Clemson ties it up yet again.  

The Cardinals execute excellent passing as they feed it inside to Cochran for the up and in finish to put cards up 57-54.   But yet again, Clemson ties it, this time with a 3 pointer.

   

Randolph with the beautiful reverse to put Cards up 59- 57 with under a min left.

After playing the fouling game, Randolph ends up at the line where she goes 1-2 and the cards have a 60-57 lead with 11.3 seconds left and the Tigers call a timeout... but i just had a feeling they would force an oveertime and they did it , Clemson hits the 3 to tie it 60 all with 4.3 left.  Clemson's Kohn, with her 4th 3 of the night. 

Photos: Jared Anderson 

Overtime 


FG %
1-2 46.7% Cards
3-8 37.5% Clemson
Reb. 4-3 Cards
3-pt %
0-0 0% Cards
1-2 50% Clemson

OVERTIME

Roberts scored first 5 points for the Cardinals to put them up 65-62.  With about a minute left Williams fouls out on the charge called.

  

Clemson's Thompson hits 3 pointer 67-66 Clemson leads with 38 seconds left. Randolph goes to line and gives Cards the 68-67 lead.  A clock issue gives both squads an extended timeout.

They decided on 35 seconds left in the ballgame with Clemson pushing it up the floor.... Thompson went for another 3 but air-balled it, Louisville playing intense defense on McQueen and the Cards corralled the ball and Taj Roberts was fouled with 5.4 seconds left  where she went 2-2 and put the cards up 70-67.

UofL went 8-12 at the FT line in the overtime period.  

UP NEXT

Louisville vs Duke 

Friday 7:30 PM 

FRED REPORT



Fred Astaire

FREE THROWS --  Louisville spent a lot more time at the free throw line than Clemson, where they went 21-32 at the line. Which is 65.6%.  They had a lot of attempts in the overtime period and Taj Roberts led for the Cards with 8-10.   This could;ve been very dangerous and did not meet the mark of 70%... no letter  

REBOUNDING --  The Cardinals grossly out rebounded the Tigers 41-26.  Williams and Roberts stepped up huge in this regard.  CAPITAL R

EFFORT/EXECUTION --   Considering they were missing their leading scorer and their 'quarterback' in Curry,  and then losing Williams to foul trouble i am super impressed UofL was able to survive and advance in this round.  The game plan worked.  Capital E

DEFENSE --  Clemson shot 44% on the evening and came up huge when they needed big shots.   Given the circumstances of Louisville being short handed, i give them a pass on a few opening round jitters.   lower case d


FINAL FRED TALLY:    _R_E_d

POST GAME LOUISVILLE:  HERE

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB PICK 'EM CONTEST

Nick O remains on top with a perfect 7-0 mark after two days. There are "hounds" at his heels, though. checking in at 6-1 are Karen J, Kenny S. and Thomas I. Should the leaders falter, there is a traffic jam at 5-2, with Curtis Franklin, Clemson Cuz, The Real Joe Hill, and four Cardinal Couple writers...Paulie, Jared, Jeff and Case. The rest of you all have some work to do...and we'll launch an investigation to make sure the guys on the CC writing staff weren't peeking at Paulie's picks before submitting theirs. 



Softball

Photos: Jared Anderson

The 14-6 University of Louisville softball team is set to open ACC play, hosting Notre Dame for a weekend series at Ulmer Stadium on March 7-9. Friday, March 7th at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday at 12:00 p.m. All games will be played at Ulmer Stadium and broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.

Louisville enters the game with an 14-6 record after a going 3-1 in the Cardinal Classic. Louisville logs a .337 batting average, with a total of 176 hits from 522 at-bats. Sophomore Ava Venturelli is leading the Cards with a .476 batting average.   Redshirts Easton Lotus and Char Lorenz lead Louisville in stolen bases with nine and 11 apiece respectively, while Easton Lotus is a perfect 9-9 on attempts.

The Irish sport a 10-10 record, including ranked wins over #15 Missouri and #23 San Diego State.  

Notre Dame is 28-18 all-time against Louisville historically, dating back to both program’s days in the Big East. The Irish have won five of the last six matchups and eight of the past 10. The last time the two teams played was in 2023.

Notre Dame pitching has been racking up strikeouts in the circle. The 120 strikeouts by the Irish pitching staff this year is tied for the third-most in the ACC. Micaela Kastor’s 49 punch outs this season are tied for sixth most in the conference while Kami Kamzik is in the top-15 with 34 strikeouts.

At the plate for the irish, Olivia Levitt is hitting a .375 batting average. Paige Cowley is second on the team with two home runs and is slugging .625 and Sydney Poeck hit her first career home run against Cal State Fullerton and has seen time in the outfield and at first base.

As always
Go Cards!

~Daryl

Lax Wins at Vandy -- ACC WBB Tournament -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Lacrosse Takes Down Vanderbilt

Louisville lacrosse was able to bounce back from a loss against North Carolina by going on the road to beat Vanderbilt, 13-9. The Cards move back above .500 with a 4-3 record.

The Cards jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter but allowed the Commodores to use a 4-0 run to close out the first quarter and start off the second quarter. A Louisville goal in the final seconds of the second quarter allowed the Cards to go into the break with a 5-4 lead.

The third quarter went heavily in Louisville's favor with five goals and a lone Vandy goal sandwiched in the middle. Headed into the fourth quarter, the Cards held a 10-5 advantage, their largest lead of the match. 

Vandy threatened in the fourth quarter, cutting Louisville's lead to 11-9, but the Cards needed 82 seconds to put up a pair of goals to extend the lead.

Rian Adkins led the charge offensively with four goals. Izzy Seikel posted her first career hat trick. Four other Cards scored in the match. J Pleck played the full match in goal, registering 16 saves to go along with nine goals allowed.

The Cards are back in action on Saturday, when they take on Virginia Tech at noon.

ACC Women's Basketball Tournament

The first day of the ACC Tournament has concluded and we move along to day two. Louisville women's basketball is in action with an anticipated tip-off time of 7:30pm.

Louisville went 20-9 in the regular season but most recently are coming off a loss at Notre Dame. Prior to that, the Cards had won five of six games. They went 13-5 in the conference to finish tied for fourth in the ACC, but earned the 6-seed because of tiebreaker rules.

Now that we are finally in March, we get to see the magic of Jeff Walz come into play as he will have his team playing up a couple notches.

On the first day of the ACC Tournament, we saw three games.

12-seed Boston College relied on a major second half rally to defeat 13-seed Syracuse. The Eagles outscored the Orange by 20 in the second half. Dontavia Waggoner dropped 32 points to help get the win.

10-seed Virginia defeated 15-seed Pittsburgh 64-50. While the Cavaliers held a small led at the half, they utilized a strong third quarter to pull away. Four Virginia players scored in double figures with Kymora Johnson leading the way with 17 points and seven assists.

In the nightcap, underdog Clemson came out firing on all cyl9nders and downed Stanford 63-46. Uo 11-10 after one, the Tigers put together a 16-6 second ten minutes and then a 21-14 third quarter to take a 48-30 lead going into the fourth...Loyal McQueen led the way with 17 for the Tiger.s

CARDINAL COUPLE ACC WBB PICK 'EM TOURNAMENT 

Day one is in the books...we have 16 participants this time around and only Nick O went 3-0 on the day There's a logjam at 2-1, with eight participants and five contestants went 1-2. Poor Sonya and Daryl are 0-3. 

3-0 Nick O

2-1 Curtis , Paulie , Clemson Cuz, Karen J , Case, Kenny S, Jared and Thomas

1-2 Chimps, Joe Hill, Blue Lou, Katy , Jeff

0-3 Sonya ,Daryl

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared

ACC Awards Curry, Roberts, LAX at Vandy, ACC WBB Tournament and Cardinal Couple Pick Em -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 CURRY, ROBERTS ALL-ACC

The ACC announced yesterday that Jayda Curry was named to the first team All-ACC, Taj Roberts to the second team and Roberts was also named to the All-Freshman squad. 

Curry joins three FSU Seminoles on the squad -- Ta'Niya Latson, Makayla Timpson and O'Mariah Gordon, plus Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, Sonja Citron and Olivia Miles, NC State had three also in Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers and Zoe Brooks . Virginia's Kymora Johnson, North Carolina's Alyssa Ustby, Pittsburgh's Khadija Faye, Georgia Tech's Kara Dunn, and Duke's Toby Fouriner also made the first team squad. 

Roberts and five others made up the All-Freshman team. She joins Fouriner, Georgia Tech's Dani Carnegie, Tilda Trygger from NC State,Lanie Grant from North Carolina, and Notre Dame's Kate Koval  

 

On the second team -- along with Roberts  -- are Haley Cavinder (Miami), .Joanna Krimili (Cal), AshlonJackson (Duke), Liaua King (Notre Dame), Maria Gakdeng (UNC), Tonie Morgan (Ga Tech), Reniya Kelly (UNC), Nunu Agara (Stanford), and Nya Robertson (SMU) 

Congratulations to the Cards players named and to all the players making the lists. We wonder why Olivia Cochran and Nyla Harris weren't selected to either the first or second team All ACC...but, with 18 teams voting, it looks like the anti-Louisville prejudice has gotten stronger in the league. 

Wes Moore won ACC Coach of the Year honors in a landslide over Niele Ivey of Notre Dame. 

LAX TRAVELS TO VANDY

Louisville Lacrosse steps out of conference play to travel to Vandy today to face the Commodores. Louisville goes into the contest 3-3, coming off a home loss to #2 North Carolina. 

The Cards have won the last three meetings between them and the 'dores...Vandy last played and lost to visiting Ohio State. The Cards have also beaten by the Buckeyes this year.  

Sophomore Reese Whitman leads Louisville in scoring with 10 goals, 

It's a 1:00 p.m. game (ET) and will be available on ESPN+

ACC WBB TOURNEY BEGINS TODAY

Three games kick off the ACC WBB Tournament today in Greensboro. 

Wednesday action: 

#13 seed Syracuse starts the action when they face #12 seed Boston College at 1 p.m. today. The two schools met just three days ago to end their regular seasons -- Syracuse getting a 25 point win over the Eagles in the Dome. A different venue probably won't help BC that much -- look for the 'Cuse to move on to Thursday

#15 Pitt faces #10 Virginia in the 3:30 game. Pitt barely got in the tournament, edging out Miami by one game. The Panthers fell two weeks ago to the Cavs by 13. A neutral court probably won't make it any better for the Pitt squad, we see Virginia moving on to Thursday. 

#14 Clemson vs #11 Stanford. Stanford isn't nearly as good as the power house squads they had a few years ago...and Clemson is just flat pitiful under first year coach Shawn Poppie...but the Tigers did beat Stanford this year, in Clemson...by five.. On a neutral site? Your guess is as good as any in the 6:30 p.m. closer for Day One. I went with Stanford. 

For the Cardinal Couple ACC Pick 'Em, you have until noon today to get your picks in.  enter them in the comments section. Also pick a final total score and don't forget to put your name. 

The Real Joe Hill sent these to us yesterday:

Syracuse, Virginia, Stanford UNC, GT, Cal. Louisville ,FSU, NCST, Cal, Louisville, FSU, Louisville, Louisville. Points 139.

Good luck and have a fun tournament !!

paulie