Softball Set for Louisville Tournament
March 13, 2008 | Softball
March 13, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville softball team will host the Louisville Invitational March 14-16 at Ulmer Stadium. In addition to the Cardinals, the tournament field features No. 9 Michigan, Minnesota and Miami (Ohio). U of L will face Miami at 2 p.m. and Minnesota at 4 p.m. on Friday. Michigan and Minnesota will get the tournament started at noon.
Louisville Tournament
March 14-16
Friday, March 14
12 p.m. Minnesota vs. Michigan
2 p.m. Miami (Ohio) vs. Louisville
4 p.m. Louisville vs. Minnesota
Saturday, March 15
11 a.m. Michigan vs. Miami(Ohio)
1 p.m. Louisville vs. Michigan
3 p.m. Minnesota vs. Miami (Ohio)
Sunday, March 16
11 a.m. 1 vs. 2
1 p.m. 3 vs. 4
Team listed first is home team
About Louisville: The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 10-8 overall record. After sitting idle for a week because winter storms forced the cancellation of the Red & Black Tournament, U of L returned to action on Wednesday defeating Marshall 6-2 and 7-0 at Ulmer Stadium. Senior Sarah Totten went 4 for 6 with a home run and five RBI on the day.
U of L is batting .275 as a team with sophomore catcher Melissa Roth leading the way carrying a .473 batting average, 15 runs, 11 double and two triples. Freshman 3B Chelsea Bemis follows with a .393 average and leads the Cards with a .393 average and 17 RBI.
Junior Kassie Stanfill (3-2) has a team-best 2.10 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. She is holding opponents to a .201 batting average. Sophomore Kristen Wadwell (5-5) carries a 2.30 ERA with 54 K's in 67.0 innings of work. She is limiting opponents to a .207 batting average.
Louisville (10-8) vs. Miami (5-9)
March 14 - Ulmer Stadium
Series Record: First meeting
Note: Prior to coming to Louisville, head coach Sandy Pearsall spent seven years (1993-98) as Miami's head coach.
Scouting the RedHawks: Miami enters the weekend with a 5-9 record.. The RedHawks have won their past two games, defeating North Florida 5-3 and Charlotte 6-5 in the UNC-Charlotte Tournament. Miami is batting .293 as a team, led by Halle Popson's .432 average, 21 runs and six stolen bases. Alicia Hogl follows with a .422 average. Breanna Robinson has belted out a team-leading three home runs and 15 RBI.
Meredith Linch (3-4) carries a 4.17 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 52.0 innings. Shalise Lugo (2-5) has a 3.33 ERA with 21 Ks in 40 innings.
Louisville (10-8) vs. Minnesota (16-5)
March 14 - Ulmer Stadium
Series Record: Minnesota leads 5-2
Last meeting: Feb. 27, 2005 - U of L defeated Minnesota3-2 in the Louisville Tournament.
Scouting the Gophers: Minnesota enters the weekend with a 16-5 record and on a 10-game winning streak - their longest since 2002. With the weather-forced cancellation of last week's Buzz Classic, the Gophers have been idle since March 2 when they defeated UT-Martin 6-0 and Indiana State 1-0.
Minnesota is batting .275 as a team. Colleen Conway is leading the way with a .441 average, 19 runs and nine stolen bases. Sila Fernandez stepps in with a .347 average and 15 RBI. Amber Nelson has a team-best two home runs.
Briana Hassett (10-2) carries a 1.23 ERA and has been mowing down batters with 127 strikeouts in 80.0 innings. Katie Dalen (6-3) has a 3.00 ERA with 59 K's in 63 IP.
Louisville (10-8) vs. No. 9/9 Michigan (17-2)
March 15 - Ulmer Stadium
Series Record: Michigan leads 8-0
Last meeting: The teamsmet twice in2007 with Michigan defeating Louisville 2-0 at Ulmer Stadium on March 25. The Cards were sent to Ann Arbor for the NCAA Regional where the host Wolverines won 6-3. Scouting the Wolverines: Michigan enters the weekendwith a 17-2 record and ranked ninth in both the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN.Com/USA Softball polls. With their only losses coming to Maryland (2-0) and (Louisville's Tuesday opponent) Drake (2-0), the Wolverines are on a 10 game winning streak. In the past 10 games, Michigan has outscored opponents 53-5.
Like Louisville and Minnesota, Michigan has a .275 team average. Samantha Findley leads the team with a .400 average, six home runs and 21 RBI. Molly Bausher and Teddi Ewing follow, both hitting .313 on the season. Maggie Viefhaus rounds out the above l300 hitters with a .311 average.
The Wolverines have been very stingy in the circle with a 0.57 team ERA and limiting opponents to a .163 average at the plate. Jordan Taylor (10-1) has a 0.58 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 73.0 innings. Nikki Nemitz (7-1) has a 0.56 ERA with 69 Ks in 62.0 IP. Note: Michigan's sophomore 2B Molly Bausher's sister Sara was a four-year starting centerfielder at U of L from 2002-2005.
Last Up for Louisville
Senior Sarah Totten went 4 for 6 with a home run and five RBI on the day as the University of Louisville softball team swept visiting Marshall 6-2 and 7-0 in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium.
Up Next for the Cards
Louisville will host Drake at 2 p.m. and Northern Iowa at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18.
Bemis Off to Impressive Start
Freshman 3B Chelsea Bemis has been one of Louisville's most consistent players this season. Bemis is batting .393 (22 for 56) on the season with a team-leading 17 RBI and has had a hit all but two of Louisville's 18 games. Bemis was named to the Samford Bulldog Bash All-Tournament team after batting .385 (5 for 13) with two doubles and five RBI in the tournament.
Offense Coming Back Around
The Cardinals got off to a promising start, going 3-1 at the Florida State Early Bird Tournament where they batted .331 as a team and scoring 18 runs. The following two weeks, the Cards ran into a roadblock, hitting a paltry .175 and scored 15 runs in six games. Since Feb. 29, U of L has batted .314 with 13 doubles, three triples and four home runs.
