Thursday Cardinal Couple - Is It Sunday Yet? Edition

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jeff McAdams dashes from Ulmer to the lacrosse fields and from New Orleans to the presentation of the naming of the conference UofL will spend a year in for Thursday's edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. He even made stops to help little old ladies dodge traffic on Cardinal Blvd. and help Mo off the bus at the SAC...that's our guy!)



I hope its not Sunday yet, because that would mean we missed some more good Cardinal Athletics in the meantime.

Softball Swings for State Swagger

While the Louisville Baseball team forced an inning of bonus baseball before falling to our neighbors to the east, Sandy Pearsall's Softball squad had better luck, and continues the great week in Louisville Athletics.

The scoring started in the second, and yes it involved a ball landing on the very crowded outfield berm. Taner Fowler got on base by being hit by a pitch, with Hannah Kiyohara following with a walk.  The setup in place, Kayla "De La" Soles put one over the left field fence to put three on the board.

The Cards put up another couple of runs in the 5th when Jordan Trimble singled to start the inning.  Alicja Wolny followed with a deep shot to right that didn't quite clear the fence, but did drop in and was more the sufficient to get Trimble home.  Wolny made it to 3rd.  Unfortunately, she got caught at home in a fielder's choice by Maggie Ruckenbrod.  The Ruck advanced to second, where she's usually throwing people out from her catcher's position, on a Taner Fowler sacrifice.  Hannah Kiyohara's single got her to 2nd on an overthrow at first and gave Maggie the chance to make it home for the final Card point of the game.

The Kentucky Wildcats picked up their only score in the 6th inning, but otherwise "Good Carl" Caralisa Connell was in control in the circle.

The Softball squad next take a trip to New England for a three game series with St. Johns with a noon and 2pm double-header on Saturday the 6th and a noon followup game on the 7th.  They'll then scoot over to play a noon and 2:30 double-header on Tuesday the 9th with Providence in Rhode Island.  Game times won't conflict with any Final Four basketball games in either bracket, and ESPN3 is apparently streaming the St. Johns games, so this would be a good time to check out the Softball Cards without suffering from a wind chill factor.

All's Quiet on the Western...er...the Lacrosse Front

Kellie Young's Lacrosse squad managed to draw a large media response to the Yum! Center on campus for their practice Wednesday afternoon, though rumor is that there were other goings on in the building...something about a broken leg?

Lacrosse has had a good break between games, giving them a good chance to practice for Notre

Dame's arrival at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium, adjacent to the Yum! Center on campus tomorrow (Friday) at 5pm.  6/7 ranked Notre Dame continues the steady stream of quality opponents that the Louisville Laxers are coming up against.

Marquette comes to join the fun on Sunday for a noon first draw, which leaves plenty of time to check out the Lacrosse game and still get home or wherever you're going, to be glued to a TV at 6:30.

Cardinal Couple Crashes the Crescent City

While much of CardNation is heading to Atlanta, at least a trio of Cardinal Couple writers are travelling to Lou Orleans for the Women's Final Four.  Jenny, Sandy and myself have travel plans in place to be in NOLA Sunday through Tuesday to cover Jeff Walz and the Louisville GiantSlayers as they hope to continue to shock the basketball world. Paulie will man the fort back here in Louisville...feeding the staff chimps and hopefully getting reports from us as time allows.

The fun continues Sunday evening at 6:30pm for the Cardinal Women's Basketball team.  Opinions have certainly turned as I note that all five of the ESPNw analysts have now picked our 5 seed Cardinals to beat the 2 seed Cal Bears.

If you're not making it to Nawlin's, all of the games will be on ESPN.  We're in the first game at 6:30 Eastern Time on Sunday, as mentioned.  The second game, the ever-expected UConn vs Notre Dame matchup should tip around 8:30.  The finals, hopefully an all-Big-East affair, will be Tuesday with an 8:30 Eastern Time tip.

New Conference Name

We've known for a while now that the seven Catholic schools are buying out the Big East name from the current conference.  What wasn't known is what the new name for what remains of the Big East was going to be.  The announcement has occurred, and the result is, "The American Athletic Conference".

The conference administration has already stated that they don't intend to use an acronym, instead referring to it in common usage as "The American".  I'm skeptical that the general public will follow
along and will instead use the acronym AAC, as is common practice with many conferences.

In any case, its only of minimal concern for us in Louisville given our imminent switch to the ACC.  The announcement on the Big East's website makes no mention and doesn't use any of the logos of the departing schools such as Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville...no surprise, really, and I can't say that I blame them.

( An excellent report...by Jeff today. After an extensive review of the CARDINAL COUPLE Pick 'Em Challenge for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, it seems our intrepid writer is in second place...as well..with a record of 50-10 as the team roll into New Orleans. Keith B. hangs on to a 52-8 mark to lead the way and Steve O. is in line for the show money at 49-11.

Also a great time for Paulie earlier Wednesday at the SAC Building for the greeting of the victorious WBB team. Lots of good interviews for our Saturday Radio Show and I also made it on a video! Several times. See if you can pick me out...link below)

Paulie

LINK:
CARDS RETURN TO LOUISVILLE


FINALLY.....WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THIS? CARDINAL COUPLE CO-OWNER SONJA ISN'T IN THE RUNNING TO WIN THE PICK 'EM...HER 43-17 RECORD IS A BIT BEHIND THE LEADERS...BUT HER FINAL FOUR?

UOFL, CAL, NOTRE DAME, UCONN.

SHE LIKES THE CARDS TO WIN IT ALL...

(SHE ALSO HATES THE SINGLE POINT PER WIN SYSTEM WE USE.)

ARE YOU LISTENING, SHONI? SONJA SAYS TITLE 'EM UP!

(PIC OF HER BRACKET)

--

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Cards split double header with Syracuse in softball

-CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO Today!

I guess it's only fitting that we'd see a "good Carl" on Good Friday at Ulmer Stadium...Connell dominated the Syracuse softball team in the first game 8-1 The junior had 11 strikeouts in the win and allowed just two hits. Louisville lambasted the Orange with two homers and eight hits.

The second game didn't turn out so well for the Cards...losing 4-2 to the 'Cuse.

LOUISVILLE 8 - SYRACUSE 1

Katie Keller went 3 for 4 in the UofL win and homer as the Cards struggled early against Syracuse hurler Lindsay Taylor. It was 1-0 Syracuse going into the bottom of the fifth before the Cards bats finally started popping.

Kayla Soles reached on a two-base error and scored on Taner Fowler's two-run blast to put the Cards ahead. They weren't finished with the inning...Jasmine Smithson-Willett and Katie Keller singled, advanced on a Jordan Trimble bunt and scored on a singles from Alicja Wolny and Hannah Kiyohara. A double from Whitney Arion plated Wolny and Louisville led 5-1 after five. 

Three more Cardinals got greeted at home plate in the sixth. Fowler singled, Smithson-Willett drew a walk and Keller blasted her team-leading eighth homer of the year.

Louisville wins 8-1. Connell goes to 17-2 on the season.

SYRACUSE 4 - LOUISVILLE 2

The Orange drew first blood in the second game. Four first inning hits had the visitors up 2-0 early. Syracuse added two more in the fourth, which sent Rachel LeCoq to the bench, when Danielle Chitkowski reached and Mary Dombrowski sent a blast over the right-center fence to make it 4-0.

The Cards tried to rally in the sixth. Katelyn Mann bunt singled and Maggie Ruckenbrod received a base on balls. Alicja Wolny followed with a double that scored both but the Cards could offer no further offense after that.

LeCoq takes the loss with 4.1 innings pitched, allowing all four runs and seven hits to go to 10-4. Connell pitched well in relief...striking out seven of the eight batters she reached in 2.2 innings.

The teams play again today with a noon start.

<><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>><>><><><>><>

CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO is back on the air this morning at 11 a.m. with our weekly show. We'll look at UofL womens' hoops, softball and we invite you to stay tuned immediately after the show for two hours of live coverage of the Crescent Hill Easter Parade on Frankfort Avenue.

www.crescenthillradio.com

Jeff will be driving the CARDINAL COUPLE chimps up and down the parade route in his jeep as they toss bananas and soft boiled eggs at the crowd...so come hungry. Jenny and I will be in the back of Sonja's battered 1991 Toyota Pickup, dressed as 18th century fedual lords...singing our favorite Beatles and Metallica songs to stunned parade-watchers.

-Paulie

--

Cardinal Couple

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Jeff McAdams catches us up on Lacrosse, Softball, his recruiting efforts and the real MVP of the Purdue game in today's CARDINAL COUPLE edition. Be sure to look for him in the Crescent Hill Easter Parade Saturday on Frankfort Ave...he'll be driving the jeep full of chimps tossing bananas and soft-boiled eggs at the crowd (or to the crowd) lined along the parade route. We're hoping he told parade officials about the entry.) 

Also, today's photo montage is from Austin Lassell's work at The Cardinal -- UofL's student newspaper. We gratefully acknowledge his fine work and thank him and The Cardinal for allowing us to present these action shots of the Purdue game to you! You can discover more of his work at The Cardinal or at his site www.austinlassell.com

 

*** Upcoming Spring Sports Events

*** Good Carl Gets an Honor or Two

*** A Story of a New WBB Season Ticket Holder?

*** Asia Taylor as MVP of the Purdue Game?

Spring Sports Schedule Update

After a multi-game visit to the mid-Atlantic seaboard, tangling with two quality opponents, Lacrosse gets a week break with no games this weekend.  The mid-Atlantic visit included competition with Loyola (Md.) and Georgetown, both ranked teams.  The Cards dropped both games, but both were very hard fought and respectable showings.  With those losses, Louisville Lacrosse has dropped back just out of the rankings once again, but are continuing to receive votes.  The next matchup brings #7 ranked Notre Dame into town for the first Cardinal home Lacrosse game since March 6th.  Almost a month without competing on the UofL Lacrosse Stadium, with the first draw next Friday (not tomorrow), the 5th at 5pm.

Softball, on the other hand, has a busy week ahead of them.  Syracuse comes for a three game visit
starting Friday afternoon with a double-header at 2pm and 4pm, and a followup on Saturday at noon.  Then, Wednesday the 3rd, at 6pm, the Kentucky Wildcats come to play.  With a ranking of 20 or 21, and a first week RPI of 8, our Lexington friends are not a team to be trifled with.  This should be a good game, with Louisville sitting on #11 rankings and a 10th place RPI.  I believe the Kentucky game is a ticketed game, so don't expect to come waltzing into Ulmer like you normally do for a game.

Good Carl Gets an Honor or Two

Caralisa "Carl" Connell has come into some critique from Paulie and I for being hot and cold in her pitching.  Sometimes she's amazing, but sometimes we're glad Rachel Le Coq is around for relief duties.

It seems that we've seen more of "Good Carl" than "Bad Carl" recently, a trend that will get no complaints around these parts, of course.  This week in particular, Caralisa Connell was named to Big East Pitcher of the Week, and has also picked up the CollegeSportsMadness.com National Pitcher of the Week honor.

Here's to hoping we see more of "Good Carl" in the coming weeks.

A Story of a New WBB Season Ticket Holder?

I believe it was at the Women's Basketball Tip-Off luncheon that Jeff Walz encouraged the crowd to bring friends to basketball games, saying that, if we could get people to come to a game, he felt like it would be entertaining enough that people would want to then buy season tickets.  I certainly believe that UofL Women's Basketball is one the best values for entertainment dollars around, and my family has been season tickets holders for a number of years now based on that exact scenario...we decided to go to a UofL vs UConn game back in the days when Katie Olson and Jazz Covington were playing.  We had such a great time that we got season tickets starting the next year.  Despite this experience, I questioned how often that reaction to coming to a game really happened.  I'm more of a believer, now.

I, on Tuesday, was having a water-cooler conversation with a relatively new employee at my place of employment...except we weren't at an actual water-cooler...just having a random conversation in the hallway, so I guess it was a figurative-water-cooler conversation.  Let's, unimaginatively, say this co-worker's name is "Bob".  Another co-worker who's very well known as a UofL fan walked by.  We'll equally unimaginatively call him, "Glenn".  I asked Glenn, as he walked by if he was going to the game, mentioned the $5 endzone ticket promotion they were doing.  Glenn said he wasn't going to be able to make it due to other committments.  Bob, however, perked up his ears at the idea of $5 tickets to the game.  Bob and his wife had already lined someone up to watch the kids and were looking for something interesting, and hopefully not terribly expensive, to do that evening.  $5 tickets to a basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center during tournament time seemed like a great idea.  I filled him in on the details and he said he thought it sounded like a good idea and that he'd suggest it to his wife and that he thought they would probably go.

I made my way by his office yesterday morning (Wednesday) and asked if they had gone to the game.  The response was effusive.  He and his wife and his mother-in-law had gone to the game and had end-zone tickets and they loved it.  They had a wonderful time.  Bob immediately asked about season ticket prices and almost didn't believe me when I told him how little I paid for my season tickets.  He was equally floored when I told him where my tickets were and that other tickets in other sections of seating would be even less expensive.  We then proceeded to talk about the Louisville team, and about how the women's game is a little different from the men's (no 10-second backcourt violation...30 vs 35 second shot clock...generally awful officiating, though not usually as bad as it was for that game...how all of this combined to change the overall feel of the game).  At the end of the conversation, Bob said he thought they would probably get season tickets for next year.

Huh, it really does work.

Asia Taylor as MVP of the Purdue Game?

Maybe the most pivotal moment of the whole contest between Purdue and UofL may have gone largely unnoticed Tuesday night.

Before the game, Asia Taylor was standing near the scorer's table with a couple of the other injured UofL players.  Dee Kantner, the head official for the evening, approached and said something to Asia
that I couldn't hear from my seats.  Asia got a surprised look on her face and made some sort of comment in response.  Dee responded in a way that seemed reassuring.  At that point, Asia picked a couple of basketballs off of the cart of balls used for warm-ups, looked them over, bounced them a couple of times, considered them further, and then handed one of them to Dee.

Dee checked the ball over, bounced it a couple of times, nodded, and promptly went on to use that ball as the game ball.

I think congratulations are owed to Asia Taylor, number 31, who's judicious selection of the game ball, may very well have played a critical role in the advancement of our Louisville Cardinals to the Sweet 16 over Purdue Tuesday night.

Of course, it might have had something to do with Sara Hammond's double-double, but I'd like to think that it wouldn't have been possible without Asia Taylor's critical contribution.

Way to go ATayy, you're tops in my book.

--Jeff McAdams

(Great story on ATayy and the newest Cardinal fans. We're pretty sure...based on the practice reports we're getting...that #31 will be picking up a lot of MVP honors for games in 2013-14 if she can keep up with the progress we're hearing that she's displaying during practice. Good job, Asia and you are still Sonja's favorite Lady Card. And, apparantly the darling of a lot of other fans' out there as well...)

Thursday Cardinal Couple

Thursday Cardinal Couple - The Its-Supposed-to-be-Spring-Now Edition

( Jeff McAdams has the Thursday CARDINAL COUPLE report on UofL women's sports. He likes to "get in the mood" for each segment...so he started by typing with a lacrosse stick, went outside Shoni's dorm and added the second part...then ran over to Ulmer Stadium for his softball recap and finally ended up sitting in the dark, cold Trager Field Hockey Stadium with his laptop...juggling field hockey balls. That's dedication! Campus security finally stopped following him when he hopped into the Jeep and drove to the Holy Grale. )

On deck today

***Lacrosse

***Shoni

***Softball

***Field Hockey

Lacrosse

After solid wins...let's call them what they really were...beatdowns...of Presbyterian College and Detroit, and an eeked-out, come-back win against a good Drexel team, Louisville Lacrosse has made an appearance in the national rankings again.  Sneaking in the last position on both polls, this ties the highest Louisville has ever appeared in the rankings with their appearance at 20th a few weeks ago.

After appearing in the rankings previously, the Louisville Lacrosse squad headed out west and lost a tight game against Denver, who is receiving votes, but not ranked, in both polls.  Drexel is also receiving votes in the deBeer Women's Media Poll.

The road ahead is a lot harder for the Lacrosse crew as the only opponents on the rest of the schedule that aren't at least receiving votes in the polls are Cincinnati, Villanova, and Marquette.  That leaves, on the Cards schedule either ranked or getting votes...#16 Loyola (MD), #8 Georgetown, #7 Notre Dame, #5 Syracuse, with Connecticut and Rutgers getting votes.  I'm looking at the ILWCA poll here, the deBeers numbers are a little different...Rutgers is #19 in that one, for example.  Regardless, the takeaway here, is that Big East play is tough in Lacrosse.  Looking forward, it gets no easier in the ACC as Notre Dame and Syracuse will be waiting there for us, and we'll also have to contend with Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia who are all ranked...and well ranked, at that.

Back to the present though, Lacrosse is over the hump on their road trip with three games gone and all chalked up in the victory column.  Loyola (Md.) is up next in Baltimore, MD on Friday at 6pm.

Shoni

Shoni Schimmel collected another honor today, in the form of an All-Region 1 nominee to the WBCA Coaches All-America team.  The WBCA Coaches All-America Team is a ten member selection, picked from the 52 candidates picked from the eight regions.  The announcement of the final team will be made during the Final Four celebration, April 6th in New Orleans.

Softball

Whitney "Arion Nation"
put two outta there Weds.

Kudos to Sandy Pearsall's Softball squad for tangling with the IU Hoosiers...and the cold...and coming out victorious against both.

You can credit much of this one to Whitney Arion, who accounted for all 4 RBIs in the 4-1 victory...and, oh yeah, two of those Runs that she Batted In were herself.  Arion started it off for the Cards with a lead-off shot over the right field fence in the 3rd to bring the Cards back to all-square with the Hoosiers who put one over the left field fence in the first frame for their only score of the game.  She followed it up in the 4th, by following Kayla "de la" Soles and Taner "her mother thinks I look like Zach Galifianakis" Fowler who each had one-out singles to get on base.  Arion put this one over the right field fence to bring everyone home.

Hot and cold Caralisa "Carl" Connell was hot in the cold tonight as she went the distance with 9 Ks and only allowing three hits.

The Softball Cards hit the road again this weekend with a three game series at Oklahoma.  Those festivities start Saturday with two games, and the third on Sunday.  If you're going to be at the KFC Yum! Center cheering on the Women's Basketball Team...and really, what possible excuse could you possibly have for not being there...we'll have to make due on our own for getting softball news.  Sean Moth with be announcing the games Sunday, but as its an NCAA event, he has to be neutral, which presumably means there won't be announcements about other UofL team scores.

Field Hockey

For the first time in weeks, I've got nothing about Field Hockey to talk about.  I may be going through withdrawal symptoms later, but I'll stay strong.  You can check us out again Saturday at 11am on the Crescent Hill Radio - Cardinal Couple Radio Hour and see how I'm doing kicking this Field Hockey signing announcement habit.

Jeff McAdams

(Nice work today, Jeff! We'll do all we can to help you go "cold turkey" on field hockey on Saturday's show by having you recap ALL the current and upcoming games in Saturday NCAA women's basketball action. In Cantonese...)

WE'D ALSO LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT THE CARDINAL COUPLE WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT ENTRIES NEED TO BE IN BY SATURDAY 11 AM. TURN THEM IN AT 10:55 and then listen to the CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR on CRESCENT HILL RADIO.

ENTRIES CAN BE SENT TO cardinalcouple@insightbb.com  or entered in the comments section of today's article. You can hear us babble live or in the archives of www.crescenthillradio.com

BE THE ENVY OF ALL THE KIDS ON THE BLOCK. Enter today!

Paulie

--

 

Q reviews WBB -- Softball takes two -- Gadd not bad

SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Quentin Voigt recaps WBB regular season

-Louisville Softball downs UNC, EMU

-Gadd takes sixth in 1-meter board

-More FCC sanctions coming...CARDINAL COUPLE on radio today.


(Quentin Voigt returns to the fray after being on the injured reserve list here at CARDINAL COUPLE for a couple of weeks. We're glad to see him back in the lineup and hope you enjoy his report on Louisville WBB!)

MEETING EXPECTATIONS

Muffet McGraw was invited to sing Danny Boy on
the CARDINAL COUPLE Radio show today but
declined the offer.

The University of Louisville Womens' Basketball team is, at best, "meeting expectations" with their performance this year -- to date. While it's true that UofL was picked to finish third in the BIG EAST but actually finished fourth -- the difference is minuscule. The Cards also received a preseason ranking of #9 but have hovered around outside the top 10 for most of the year.

Good things appeared on the horizon for Louisville when, on November 9th., they beat a good Texas A&M team -- who eventually beat Kentucky on the way to a SEC Conference Tournament Championship. A solid win over Gonzaga on November 22nd. got UofL a #7 ranking, their highest of the year.

After leading Kentucky by 11 points with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Cards lost by a point when freshman guard Janee Thompson (who averages 4.2 points a game) hit a three pointer for her 13th point of the contest. UofL had the game won and had a commanding lead that most teams are able to maintain from the free throw line down the stretch -- but the Cards couldn't.

Maybe the residuals from the Kentucky loss led to the less than stellar performance Dec.14th. at Colorado or maybe not. Colorado recently slipped to #19 in the national rankings. They still remain a talented, well-coached team with height and speed.

Following closely on the Colorado loss was the news regarding Shawnta Dyer's injury of her ACL and end of season for her. A major hit to Louisville's prospects for the season, she joined Tia Gibbs, Asia Taylor, Monique Reid and Monny Niamke on the bench as spectators. Dyer started 10 games for Jeff Walz and was the second leading rebounder for the Cards at the time of her departure with 5.5 grabs a game. She was also averaging 7.5 points.

On Jan., 5th., the most perplexing loss of the season occurred -- at DePaul by six points. Lack of focus, no defensive intensity and a late game fold led to a 86-80 defeat.

Bad losses to the two BIG EAST bullies -- Notre Dame and UConn, that -- if nothing else -- showed that not much ground had been gained on the two from the previous year. The inexplicable loss to USF by 11 in the YUM and season-ended surrender to Syracuse finishes up the "low-lights" of the regular season. An encouraging BIG EAST Tournament win over St. John's but a nasty loss to Notre Dame again brings us to a 24-8, 11-5 record for the pride of Derby City.

A #16 ranking and a shot at being a #4 seed in one of the regions for the NCAA WBB Tournament. I call it a record that fans can be proud of -- but one that just barely meets expectations.

A few breaks here and there and the team is 28-4 and a bonafide top ten in the nation. For Walz and players, "meeting expectations" probably wasn't the mission statement they started the season with...but it is where the Cards are as they head into NCAA Tournament play.

-- Quentin Voigt.

***************************************************************

Louisville softball took two in the opening day of the Louisville Classic yesterday in Ulmer Stadium. The Cards are now 23-3 on the season.

LOUISVILLE 4 - NORTH CAROLINA 2

Caralisa Connell drew the start for the Cards in the first game but it was the "bad Carl" version and she found herself in hot water after facing six batters in the first inning. 1-0 Heels...and runners on all three bags when Sandy Pearsall went to the circle and summoned "the Le Gran Coq" to the strip. Rachel got the next two outs and Cards got out of the inning with no further damage.

As Tony Soprano might say..."This girl, what stugots she got!"

The Cards evened it up in the bottom of the first when Katie "Killer" Keller walk and advanced to home eventually due to some general nonsense by the UNC infield.

Louisville took a 2-1 lead in the third when Killer got plunked by the UNC pitcher and dashed home after a single by Cards first basewoman Alicja Wolny. UNC tied it up in the sixth but the Cards, knowing I was frustrated because GAMETRACKER froze up at the end of the sixth inning, got the win in the bottom of the seventh when Wolny singled and danced home when "the Ruck" Maggie Ruckenbrod sent a shot out onto Brandeis Street to end the game with a walk-off homer. 4-2 C-A-R-D-S!

LOUISVILLE 6 - EASTERN MICHIGAN 1

"Good Carl" showed up for the Cards second game...Connell holding the the EMU Eagles hitless for six innings in Louisville's five run margin of victory. The Cards started off in fine fashion...Jordan Trimble sending one onto the outfield berm in the first to make it 1-0 UofL.

Whitney "Arion Nation" singled in the fourth inning and made it to the plate when freshman Jasmine Smithson-Willett singled. Good to see JSM back out there in the lineup! GO JSM! (Paul's new favorite player, sorry Jordan...)

The Cards increased the lead to 3-0 in the fifth when Trimble doubled and travelled home on a Ruckenbrod double. UofL added three runs in sixth...Killer, Arion and JSM all getting hits and receiving greetings at home plate.

Connell (who was voted Favorite Cardinal Womens' Athlete of 2012 by our CARDINAL COUPLE readers) was magnificent...no-hitting the Eagles until the top of the seventh. She finished with ten strikeouts, just one walk and allowed two hits to go to 14-2 on the year.

The Cards take Saturday off and then return Sunday to face Wisconsin at 10 a.m. Pajamas optional.

**************************************************************************

Hannah Gadd prepares to dive from...no
wait...that's Hannah Kiyohara. Never mind.

Congratulations to Louisville Womens' Swimming diver Hannah Gadd, who finished sixth in the NCAA Zone C Meet up in West Lafayette, IN on the Purdue campus. She advances to the championship rounds....where participants will try to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

A chance for more for the senior. Once a competitor qualifies for the NCAA Championships in any of the three diving events, she is permitted to compete on all three boards at the NCAAs. However, divers must continue to compete in every event at the Zone meet...even if they qualify for the NCAAs on the first day of the Zones.

Eat your Wheaties, Hannah...

***************************************************************************

CARDINAL COUPLE radio rears its' ugly head again this morning at 11 a.m. on Crescent Hill Radio.  We're down a host since Jenny is in Indianapolis on a 10-day contract with the Pacers. Or something like that. Jeff and I will need to step our game up...and since we have no game whatsoever...this could be challenging. When the brains of the bunch is gone....chimps rule!

We'll discuss womens' hoops, softball, lacrosse, swimming and we have an exclusive interview with Cardinal WBB head coach Jeff Walz. Our Jeff McAdams is busily rehearsing the Irish classic Danny Boy with the Dixon brothers and Bill the Goat for a St. Patrick's Day salute of the blarney stone.

Somehow, we'll muddle through. If push comes to shove, the option of taking a microphone out on Frankfort Ave. and doing a few "man on the street" interviews is always a possibility. Maybe the ladies from the hair salon will participate. We could try sumo wrestling on the studio floor. Coward Goatsmell might stop by. Where did I put those pliers? It's gonna be fun, don't miss it.

www.crescenthillradio.com


-Paulie

-- 

Cardinal Couple Thursday

Thursday Cardinal Couple

( Jeff McAdams...with the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE ...continues his fascination with sports that sticks are used in by catching us up on Field Hockey signings and Lacrosse's dominating win over Detroit. BE sure to catch his sparkling commentary and witty quips on the weekly broadcasts of CARDINAL COUPLE...when he joins Jenny O'Bryan and myself Saturday 11 a.m. for our pre-St. Patrick's Day hour-long celebration of Cardinal athletic events that have taken place in Ireland. It could be a short segement. We've got a backup plan, though...Jeff's busily rehearsing the lyrics to "Danny Boy" and will sing the song on the air with Bill the Goat and THE WALKING DEAD actors Merl and Daryl. You won't want to miss it!)

Field Hockey Signing Day Update

We've reached the finish line of the Field Hockey signing updates with the sixth and final announcement of signed recruits.  This weeks recruit comes to us from Putnam Valley, NY.  I don't think it would be fair to call Putnam Valley a suburb of New York City, but at only about an hour's car drive north of midtown Manhattan, I suspect it still falls under the sphere of influence of the Big Apple quite a bit.

Erin McCrudden will be joining us in the fall with a string of accolades and honors, including four years worth of experience in the USA Field Hockey program on the Futures and Futures Elite teams.

 Erin was a three sport athlete at Putnam Valley High School, playing Field Hockey in the fall, Basketball over the winter, and Lacrosse in the spring.  Clearly we're getting a great all-around athlete in Erin.  Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to find out whether that "u" in her last name is a long "u" sound, or a short one.

To wrap up, the 6 member signing class for Field Hockey consists of;
 

from Eastern Regional High School in Voorheers, NJ - Gianna Perrone, and Stephanie Byrne

from Assumption High School here in Louisville - Hailey Netherton

from Penn Manor High School in Pequea, PA - Shannon Sloss

from Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ - Elina Pereira

from Putnam Valley High School in Putnam Valley, NY - Erin McCrudden

Lacrosse Beats Up On Another Team, and Mother Nature

28 degrees and snow didn't slow down the UofL Lacrosse attack against Detroit yesterday.  Only allowing 9 shots by Detroit, Louisville won by a resounding 17 point margin, 19-2.

The Cards shut out Detroit in the first half while scoring nine.  Here's a name you're probably getting used to hearing...Nikki Boltja scored three, with two contributions each from Erika Eipp and Courtnee Daley.  The nine in the first half were rounded out by Jamie Redding and Colleen O'Malley.

Three of these goals were scored within a two and a half minute span.

Katie Oliverio and Kaylin Morrisette got into the action in the second half with two shots finding the back of the net, while Nikki Boltja picked up another pair.  Colleen O'Malley struck again in the second half.

A little extra recognition for Carissa Corbett who got on the board for the first two scores of her sophomore campaign, and Kelli Gerding, who claims her first mark in collegiate play.

Kellie Young's team continues their epic road trip with a visit to Philadelphia to play Drexel with the start set for Sunday at 1pm.

YOUR ATTENTION. PLEASE!

Jeff Walz and the University of Louisville Women's basketball team cordially invite you to join them Monday night at the KFC YUM! Center beginning at 6 p.m. for a selection show watch for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament drawings. Fun for all ages and we're trying to get permission to allow the S.E.P. Lady Chimps basketball team to scrimmage the Lady Cards after the show ends. Funny, but Jurich and Walz won't return our calls on this matter. Must be busy...

Have you purchased your 1st and 2nd Round NCAA Tickets yet? The event is being held at the KFC YUM! Center, you know...and Louisville will play on Sunday March 24th and probably Tuesday March 26th as well if they win their opening game.

The Cards are being projected as a 4th or 5th seed, depending which prognsticator you check out. Come enjoy the thrill and excitement of women's college basketball with your Lady Cards!

Tickets are available at www.ncaa.com , the KFC YUM! Center ticket office and more information is available at www.gocards.com . Be sure to catch our exclusive interview with Coach Walz Saturday morning on our radio show on Crescent Hill Radio!

www.crescenthillradio.com

Having a large, Cardinal-friendly crowd to see our seniors in their final apperances in the KFC YUM! Center is important in many ways and the type of turnout that Louisville can get for this huge event could have a HUGE impact of what other NCAA Women's basketball events Louisville is awarded down the road. The tickets cost a little extra, sure...but are your Lady Cards worth it? WE definitely think so and urge you to "tell a buddy and take a friend" to see UofL quest for the national championship.

Paulie

--

 

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Softball takes two. Lacrosse takes a loss

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Softball downs Longwood, Ga Tech in Citrus.

-Lacrosse falls in Mile High City

-UofL women's swimmer "three peat"

-With a little help, WBB earns double bye


#15 Cardinal softball won both outings Saturday in the Citrus Classic in chilly Orlando...breaking Longwood 9-1 and stinging the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 6-3 on ESPN 3.

LOUISVILLE 9 - LONGWOOD 1

Six innings was all it took to win the first game on Saturday, Louisville getting a strong pitching performance from Rachel Le Coq and the Cards bats producing 11 hits.

Longwood took the early lead 1-0 after one inning but Louisville responded with two runs in the second frame. Maggie Ruckenbrod singled and scored on Hannah Kiyohara's three-bagger. Kiyohara got greeted at home when Chrisanna Roberts singled. Roberts has been playing center field a lot lately...not sure what's going on with Jordan Trimble, but we do have a call in to Louisville Softball Sports Information.

The Cards made in 6-0 in the fifth. Kayla Soles' double brought home Katie Keller and Jennifer Esteban and Ruckenbrod doubled later in the inning to score Soles and Alicja Wolny.

The Cards added the final three runs in the sixth. Esteban drilled a double that got Kiyohara and Keller back to the dugout and Esteban made it 9-1 when she scored on a Longwood error.

LeCoq gave up just one run on five hits, Caralisa Connell pitched the final 1.2 innings for the Cards allowing just one hit and fanning three.

LOUISVILLE 6 - GEORGIA TECH 3

UofL got a huge performance from Alicja Wolny in the battle against the Yellow Jackets with two home runs and Whitney Arion added a third round-tripper. Carl Connell went the distance in the circle for Sandy Pearsall and the Cards improved to 15-3 on the season with the win over the future ACC opponent.

Louisville used four hits in the first inning to sprint out to a 3-0 advantage. Keller scored after doubling and Esteban reached the plate on a Ruckenbrod single. Soles put the Cards up by three...scoring on an Arion single.

The Cards went up 4-1 when Arion took one out over the right-center field barrier. Wolny increased the Cardinal advantage to 5-1 with her first homer in the top of the fifth to right field and she made it 6-2 in the top of the seventh with her second "touch 'em all"...a massive blast over the center field fence.

Connell (9-2) gave up three runs, on seven hits and stuck out nine G.T. batters.

Louisville ends their stay in Mouseville with a matinee versus LSU today.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>><><><><><>

Four goals each from Nikki Boltja and Katie Oliverio went enough Saturday in the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver, Colorado...Louisville Lacrosse losing for the first time this season....as the Denver Pioneers take a 19-13 win.

Defense not as efficient as in the first three games of the year for Coach Young...and the Cards had 13 first half turnovers...trailing 8-5 at the intermission. Denver scored the first three goals of the match and got a score with just 26 seconds remaining to go up by three.

After three straight Pioneer scores to start the final half , the Cards rallied to cut the lead to 11-8, Nikki Boltja leading the charge with two goals. Denver responded with their own run, though, and pushed their advantage to 15-8. Louisville did outscore the Pioneers 5-4 the rest of the way...but it wasn't enough to produce a win.

Lacrosse returns home for a Wednesday, March 6th draw against Vanderbilt. Game time is 1 p.m.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Congratulations to the Louisville women's swimming and diving squad, who captured their third straight BIG EAST Conference title in Indianapolis yesterday...defeating Notre Dame and the eight other BIG EAST schools involved in the swimming championships.

Coming up big for Louisville was Kelsi Worrell, who won the 100-free...barely defeating teammate Breann McDowell. The Cards also won the 400-free relay with Worrell, McDowell, Krissie Brandenburg and Grite Apanaviciute combining to set a new BIG EAST record in the process.

Hannan Gadd came in second in women's platform diving for Louisville.

Great job, splashers! Best of luck in the NCAA...

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Louisville WBB got some huge help Saturday from Villanova and Seton Hall...the VU Wildcats knocking off Syracuse in three overtimes 77-75 and SHU downing St. John's 61-50.

What it means is that the Cards are assured of a double bye in the BIG EAST Conference, regardless of the outcome Monday night in Syracuse between the Orange and the Ville.

A win against the Quentin Hillsman coached Syracuse team would keep Louisville in third place in the final conference regular season standings. A loss would drop them into a tie with Syracuse for third but they would still own the tie-breaker of St. John, if the Red Storm wins Monday.

A little pressure off now, the Cards can go up to the Dome and take care of business against the tough 'Cuse team. We'll preview it tomorrow here at the 'Couple!

WE discussed how impressed we were with the Seton Hall bunch after their appearance here Wednesday during our CARDINAL COUPLE Radio Show on Saturday. They were probably listening and went out and proved us right yesterday. Pirates rock, anyway and I'm having Jenny and Jeff wear eye-patches and say 'ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!" a lot on this upcoming Saturday's broadcast.
 
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Finally, thanks to Jenny O'Bryan and Jeff McAdams for co-hosting the inaugrual broadcast of The Cardinal Couple Hour on Crescent Hill Radio Saturday with me.

WE had a fun time, didn't mess up too much on 'live radio' and discussed a lot of Louisville women's athletic topics.

Miss it, did you? Not to worry, the broadcast is hanging out up there somewhere on a sound cloud and you can find it at:

http://www.crescenthillradio.com


Just go to the site and click on the ARCHIVES link. We're there waiting for you.

Paulie

--

Cardinal Couple Friday Edition

FRIDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( Staff columnist Jeff McAdams accidently found his lap-top and decided to do the Friday Edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. This was after he sent the words below to several reputable and well-known sports web-sites and had the offerings returned. Nevertheless, he's one of ours and chips in when it's time for the weekly washing of the staff animals....so read at your own risk...)

 

Spring has sprung...well, sort of.

The winter sports season is nearing an end.  There is still plenty of excitement to be had, but the regular seasons of basketball and...the other basketball team...is drawing to a close.  That means that we here at the Cardinal Couple are starting to turn our attention to spring sports.  We've talked quite a bit about Lacrosse, and we'll touch base on the latest in the Lacrosse world here in a moment.

Softball is also a popular spring sport here at the Cardinal Couple as Paulie is a big fan...and we'll go there in a moment as well.  First, though, let's catch up with our recurring item from the past few weeks...news from a fall sport...Field Hockey.

Field Hockey signing announcement, round 4

We're in week four of an expected six signing announcements for UofL Field Hockey.  This week we hear about Shannon Sloss from Pequea, PA.  You may have noticed that I like to give a description of where the towns are that newly signed student-athletes list as their hometown.  This one may be the biggest challenge yet.  Pequea is roughly the midpoint between Harrisburg, PA; Philadelphia, PA, and Baltimore, MD, and that doesn't really help, does it?  Pequea is on the Susquehanna river, a bit south of Lancaster, PA.

Shannon picked up three All Pennsylvania Region team selections in her time at Penn Manor High School, two of which were first team picks.  She also collected a third team All-America honor in 2011.

Again, we expect two more signing announcements for Field Hockey in the coming two weeks.  Stay tuned.

Lacrosse reaches new heights

UofL Lacrosse heads out, and a mile up, for a Saturday meetup with Denver University, in the mile high city on Saturday the 2nd, with a first...draw, I believe is the term...at 1pm ET.  UofL Lacrosse is riding high after a 21-3 beatdown of Old Dominion this past weekend which, of course, comes on top of a major upset of the then #13 Ohio State University the previous weekend.

The big news, however, is that, for the first time in UofL Lacrosse's 6 years of play, the team is nationally ranked.  In the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll, Louisville Lacrosse is ranked 20th.  Unlike many other sports, which rank the top 25 teams, Lacrosse only seems to rank the top 20, so we've only just snuck into the poll, but this is a historic high for Louisville Lacrosse and reflects on the upward trajectory of so many of UofL's Athletics programs.

Lacrosse returns to the UofL Lacrosse Stadium for a game against Vanderbilt on Wednesday the 6th with a 1pm first draw.

Softball

To round out the discussion of ranked UofL Athletic teams, Softball, with a 12-2 record, is showing up in the rankings at either 15th or 16th, depending on which poll you look at.

The Cards swept the weekend with victories over Kent State on Friday, Buffalo on Saturday, and a double-header on Sunday against Kent State again, and Eastern Illinois.  I had the opportunity to make it out to Ulmer Stadium on Sunday to catch most of the Kent State game and all of the Eastern Illinois game.  While it got a bit chilly towards the end of the second game as the sun dropped behind the back of the seating, leaving most of the fans in shade in the cool weather, it was a wonderful day to be out at the ballpark cheering on Sandy Pearsall's squad and visiting with random other UofL fans in the stands.

Softball is always a great opportunity to visit with your fellow Cards fans, though this weekend, they are in Orlando, FL with match-ups with 5th/8th ranked Texas, Temple, Longwood, future conference-mate Georgia Tech, and 11th/11th ranked LSU out of the softball powerhouse SEC conference.  They will return to the friendly...and hopefully warmer as spring makes its presence felt...confines of Ulmer Stadium the weekend of the 8th through 10th with games against Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Austin Peay, and Illinois State.

I Still Can't Believe We're Doing This...

A reminder that Crescent Hill Radio has been crazy enough to let Paulie have an hour of time on their Internet radio station  http://www.crescenthillradio.com starting at 11 o'clock this Saturday.  At this point, Jenny O'Bryan and myself are slated to join him...at least until someone gives us a better offer...anyone?  Please?  Let's hope that Bill the Goat doesn't eat the mic shields, at least.

Tune in, I expect we'll have a lot of fun, and hopefully not too much embarrassment.





( Editor's Note: It should be noted that we invited Jeff solely because Timmy the Intern is being
held in a Mexican jail...probably for illegally listening to Mexican radio...we can't raise the bail and we need someone to help CoCo make mudpies out in front of the studio. We showed CoCo a picture of Jeff and then a picture of Shoni Schimmel and CoCo picked Jeff to help make the mudpies. Probably just as well, Shoni would most likely make round mudpies and tossed them successfully into the trash can....one by one...25 feet away. No profit in that. We realize that Co-Co will have to train Jeff in the art of mud-pie making, but feel confident his parents will be glad to finally see a degree in SOMETHING hanging from the den wall. Bill the Goat will NOT be allowed in the studio. Period. We're still paying off the damage he did to Lt. Governor Abramson's office...)

--

Thursday Coupnal Cardpile -- Jeff looks ahead

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

( After spending the last several days tracking down errant Shoni threes, wide-right net shots by Nikki Boltja and practice balls hit by UofL women's golf team members, staff columnist Jeff McAdams has parked the jeep, taken off the hard-hat and yellow vest and returned to the CARDINAL COUPLE Corporate Headquarters deep below the Parrish House to compose the Thursday edition of CARDINAL COUPLE. Losing a bet to Sandy on how many free-throws Bill The Goat could consecutively hit...Billy drilled 14 straight...Jeff has taken over the role of laundry attendant and catches us up on the Cardinal women's sports schedule and recruiting news. He's also training the staff chimps on proper procedures to follow in the event of a zombie Apocalypse...but all they want to do is run with their hands over their heads and scream. Now on the tee...the southpaw from the scenic Highlands...Jeff McAdams.)    

I'm Looking at You, Weekend

As is frequently the case, not a lot going on mid-week, but there are some other news items to pick up on from over the course of the week that haven't gotten mentioned.

First, though, a little bit of a look ahead to this weekend's activities.

Softball in Florida

After last weekend in Las Vegas and starting off with a 4-1 record, UofL Softball heads to sunny Florida this weekend.  They're really suffering for their sport, you know.  In all seriousness, I can only imagine the toll the travel schedule of an NCAA sport would take on a person over the course of a season or four.

In Jacksonville, the Louisville squad has an early start with a 9:30am first pitch on Friday versus Stony Brook, followed by a noonish...listed at 11:45am, but after the first game of events like this, scheduling always seems to be approximate...start with Bethune Cookman.  

Saturday is apparently UofL vs Ohio State day as Softball starts the second day of the Jacksonville Tournament with OSU at 11:45 or so.  OSU will make another appearance here in a few paragraphs, so hang onto the thought of beating the Buckeyes for a minute.  The evening game for our Cards is 6:30'ish with the home team Jacksonville.  

No staying out late and celebrating though, as Sunday brings another early start, this one at 9am, against Stony Brook again.

Katie Keller was selected BIG EAST Player of the Week for her hot hitting streak in Vegas. Congrats to Kate 'em Up...she ate them up!

Lacrosse Here at Home

Paulie and I enjoyed watching the home opener of UofL Lacrosse beating Canisius...though we do both remain a bit mystified at some of the rules, we're learning a bit at a time.

The second game is Saturday at 2pm, again here at home with Ohio State showing up in the picture again.  With a high temperature barely above freezing forecast for Saturday, you'll want to bundle up for this one.  I've been fighting off a bit of a head cold for the past day, so I doubt I'll make it out for this one, but I will be present at other match-ups later in the season, for sure.

Do I Even Need to Mention Basketball?

1:30pm tip Sunday for the next installment of Walz Ball at the KFC Yum! Center, with DePaul coming in for the return engagement.  The Blue Demons got the W up in the windy city.  McGrath Arena only seats around 3,000...I made the road-trip up there a couple of years ago...let's show them what another 10,000 people cheering can do in a top-notch arena.

This game is the annual Pink Game honoring breast cancer survivors.  Shelby Harper always loves this one...she gets to wear even more pink than usual, and sure enough, she's on the season tickets for this one...wearing pink, of course.

More Commitments

After last week's singing...I mean signing...day, we only had one confirmed commitment to talk about.  We've got a few more that have been announced since then.

Field Hockey

Hailey got game....oh, yeah!

Justine Sowry is taking the slow and steady approach to announcing her commitments, this week announcing the signing of a local, Hailey Netherton, from Assumption High School here in Louisville.

Assumption is, of course, quite well known for Volleyball prowess...you knew I had to get a Volleyball mention in here somewhere...but they also have a stand-out Field Hockey team.  This year's team picked up the runner-up spot in state this year, and Hailey got the team MVP award.  She also has two years worth of All-State selections, as well as a couple of placements on Kentucky Select first teams the past couple of years, and a second team nod the year before.


Basketball

Sydney Brackemyer gave a verbal commitment to Louisville earlier in the week, as most of you reading this probably know. She and her mom will be in attendance at the Sunday game against DePaul. They plan on attending South East Christian for services before the contest and are looking forward to the visit. Sydney is ahead of schedule on her knee rehab and excited about several things...more strength and conditioning, getting her driver's license, getting her (teeth) braces off and cheering on UofL Sunday. If you see her and her mom at the game, give them a big CARDINAL COUPLE howdy!


 

Soccer

Karen Ferguson-Dayes isn't teasing us.  She announced her full recruiting class of six players this week.



Taylor Smith should provide lots
of...hey, wait a second...that's
Taylor Swift. Timmy! To Sonja's
office immediately. Darn chimps.

One local, Taylor Smith out of Christian Academy and the Javanon club.  Out of Aurora, IL, basically Chicago area, is Rachele Armand.  Paige Brown hails from Jackson, MO down around where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers join up.  Caroline Kimble comes to us from Ashton, MD, which about splits the difference between Baltimore and Washington D.C.  Christy Monroy is from what is basically a suburb of NYC in Scotch Plains, NJ.  Lastly, welcome Kari Weinland out of New Albany...no, not that New Albany, this one is in Ohio...a suburb of Columbus.

Welcome, to the newest Cardinals.  You all are gonna love it here !


Outstanding work today by Jeff. As mentioned earlier in here, the Sunday game is the wear your pink for Breast Cancer Survivors. The Cards are facing a dangerous DePaul team that recently defeated Rutgers without star Anna Martin. Whether Martin's knee will allow her to go against UofL or not...we're not sure yet. One thing we're very sure of, though...is that the team needs you to show up in big-time numbers for this one on Sunday. Jeff Walz would like to see the top deck curtains pulled back and fans in the seats in the 300 level. He has personally promised to go up there before, after and during the game to sit with each one of you, bring popcorn, Reese's Cups and a wide selection of beverages. ((OK, that last part isn't true...he's going to be busy coaching...) but please turnout in force for this one, Cardinal fans. There are only three home games left before the BIG EAST Tournament. Show up Sunday! Maybe we can talk Candyce Bingham into bringing the beverages, candy and popcorn up to the 300 level seats... 

--