Softball Plays Host to Providence Thursday and Saturday
April 21, 2011 | Softball
April 21, 2011
The University of Louisville softball team will wrap up the home season with a three-game series against Providence starting with a single game Thursday at 5 p.m. U of L will be celebrating Earth Day at Ulmer Stadium. The first 300 fans will receive free Tulip Poplars.
The Cards will honor seniors Chelsea Bemis, Christina Roesel and Colby Wherry following the 11 a.m. game of Saturday's doubleheader. Saturday will also feature U of L's annual Egg Hunt. This will be the Cards' last home softball weekend until the BIG EAST Conference Tournament May 12-14.
About Louisville:
The Cardinals (32-14) are currently fourth in BIG EAST Conference standings with a 10-4 league record. Freshman right fielder Hannah Kiyohara leads the team offensively with a .385 batting average. Senior shortstop Colby Wherry follows closely at .384 and senior third baseman Chelsea Bemis rounds out the top three batters at .375 with a team-best eight home runs and 37 RBIs.
Freshman Caralisa Connell (18-7) carries a 2.34 ERA with 142 strikeouts in 173.1 innings of work. Junior LHP Tori Collins (12-6) has a 2.43 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 118.0 innings and is holding opponents to a .206 batting average.
Cards Against the Field
Providence
Record: Louisville leads the series 9-0
Last Meeting: The Cards swept the Friars in a three-game series in Providence last April. Louisville won 9-2, 10-1 and 3-0.
Scouting the Friars: Providence has recorded a 20-25 regular season record and a 4-10 BIG EAST record. They are coming off of a 1-2 weekend against conference for Rutgers. The Friars won the last game 14-11 on a two-homerun effort by sophomore Jessie Bryant.
Providence is paced by junior Jen Abrams who is batting .333 on the year. Abrams is the team leader in hits (47) and doubles (6). Bryant leads the team with 11 home runs on the season, including a grand slam to lift the Friars over Rutgers in their last outing.
In the circle they are led by junior Alicia Grosso with a 3.70 ERA in 128.2 innings pitched. Grosso has a 10-14 record and has notched 55 strikeouts on the year.
Card Notes
• The Cards' 12 game winning streak (spanning March 26-April 13) was the fourth longest in school history. The 2006 team holds the record of 17 games (April 22-May 13, 2006).
• Six of Louisville's 13 losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top 5: twice to No. 1 Michigan, twice to No. 4 Alabama and twice to No. 5 Texas.
• Sophomore Jennifer Esteban is a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen bases this season and is currently on a streak of30 perfect attempts dating back to the Feb. 28, 2010 win over Northern Illinois.
Cards receiving votes coaches polls
For the third week in a row, the Cardinals are receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches polls.
Up Next...
U of L will enjoy some time off before heading to Georgetown for a doubleheader on May 4 and wrapping up the regular season at Syracuse May 7-8.
Bemis owns career RBI record
On April 16, senior Chelsea Bemis delivered a sacrifice fly in the 8-5 loss to No. 24 Notre Dame to become the school's sole career RBI leader at 179 - she surpassed Courtney Moore's (2004-07) mark of 174.
Walk this way
Senior Chelsea Bemis now holds the record for career walks with 106. She drew a walk in the April 3, 9-3 win over Seton Hall to give her 103, surpassing Courtney Moore's previous mark of 102 which has stood since the 2007 season.
Wherry joins the 200 Hits Club
On April 10, Colby Wherry had a pair of hits in the 10-3 win over Pittsburgh to earn her 200th career hit. She becomes the seventh player in program history to record 200 hits. She currently has 211 and is seventh on the all-time hits list - six behind teammate Chelsea Bemis.
Ruckenbrod throwing down
Freshman catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod picked off two runners in the first game of the Pitt doubleheader. She now has 10 on the season and owns the single game, season and career records for runners picked off.
Hitting for average - underclassmen stepping up to the plate
Louisville is batting .324 as a team with seven active players batting at, or above .300. Hannah Kiyohara leads the way at .385. Colby Wherry follows at .375 and Chelsea Bemis rounds out the top three at .375. Alicja Wolny 362), Jennifer Esteban (.354), Katie Keller (.344) annd Maggie Ruckenbrod (.301) complete the .300 lineup.
Five of the Cards' top seven hitters are underclassmen Kiyohara, Keller and Ruckenbrod are freshmen while Wolny and Esteban are sophomores. Sophomore Jordan Trimble was also batting .410 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.
Bemis a Member of the 200 Hits Club
On March 30, Chelsea Bemis blasted solo home run in the 13-2 win over DePaul to notch her 200th career hit, becoming the sixth player in program history to record 200 hits. She currently has 218 and is sixth on the all-time hits list. She needs five more to tie Lacy Wood for fifth (223). Audrey Rendon holds the school record with 283.
Cards in NCAA Standings
The Louisville softball team is among the top performers in the nation in several categories including: doubles per game, batting average and fielding percentage. Senior Chelsea Bemis, junior Tori Collins are also ranked in the top 25 in the latest NCAA stats released on April 19.
As team the Cardinals are 19th with 1.58 doubles per game, 22nd in team batting average (.323) and 20th in fielding percentage (.973). Collins is ranked 20th in the nation with three saves and 24th with seven shutouts. Bemis stands in at No. 15 with 0.38 doubles per game (17/45).
