No. 21/23 Softball Travels to ECU Pirate Clash
February 16, 2012 | Softball
Feb. 16, 2012
The No. 21/23 ranked University of Louisville softball team will travel to Greenville, N.C. for the East Carolina Pirate Clash Feb. 17-19.
The Cardinals are coming off of a 5-0 performance to win the FIU Combat Classic. In their opening weekend, the Cards defeated Michigan State (4-1), Illinois (8-3), UAB (5-4), FIU (4-2), and UMass (2-0).
Louisville is batting . 309 as a team with sophomore Taner Fowler leading the way at .500 (8 for 16), five RBI and two home runs. Senior Tori Collins (3-0) carries a team-best 1.72 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 20.1 innings of work.
ECU Pirate Clash
Friday
11 a.m. U of L vs. Virginia
1 p.m. East Carolina vs. U of L
Saturday
9 a.m. Hofstra vs. U of L
11 a.m. U of L vs. UNC-Greensboro
Sunday 9 a.m. Fordham vs. U of L
Cards Against the Field
Virginia
Series Record: Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: May 22, 2010 - UL won 7-4 in an elimination game in the NCAA Regional at Tennessee. The Cavaliers had defeated the Cards 1-0 on May 21 to send them to the loser's bracket.
Scouting the Cavaliers: Virginia enters the weekend with a 4-0 record with wins over Drexel (14-0, 5-2) and East Carolina (3-1). The Cavaliers are led offensively by Erica Cipolloni who is batting .615 with three home runs, six runs and four RBIs. Kristen Hawkins follows at .500 with two homers and five RBIs.
In the circle, Melanie Mitchell (2-0) holds a 0.64 ERA with 21Ks in 11.0 innings of work. Rachel Gillen carries a 2-0 record with a 1.50 ERA and 9 strikeouts in 14.0 innings.
UVA returns 14 letterwinners and eight starters from last season's team which posted a 24-31 record.
East Carolina
Series Record: UL leads 8-6
Last Meeting: The teams were C-USA opponents from 2000-05. ECU won the final three game series, defeating the Cards 6-2 and 1-0 on April 16, 2005 and 4-1 on April 17, 2005.
Scouting the Panthers: East Carolina has posted a 3-1 record on the season, falling to Virginia 3-1, defeating Canisius twice (12-4 and 6-2) and beating Drexel 9-7 in the Pirate Classic.
The Panthers are led offensively by Rebecca Lee's .556 batting average and six runs. Suzanne Riggs is hitting .500 with a home run and four RBIs. Courtney Smith carries a 1-1 record and a 2.23 ERA with four strikeouts in 15.2 innings.
ECU entered the season receiving votes in both coaches' polls after posting a 40-22 record earning Conference USA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they went 2-2.
Hofstra
Series Record: Hofstra leads 1-0
Last Meeting: March 13, 2010 - Hofstra won 2-1 at Ulmer Stadium
Scouting the Pride: This will be Hofstra's opening weekend of play. The Pride are coming off of a 40-13 overall record and a 19-1 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association en route to winning the league regular season title Hofstra was selected as the co-favorite to win the CAA this season - along with Georgia State. Among the Pride's top returners are 2011 CAA Pitcher of the Year Olivia Galati and fellow pitcher Erin Wade along with All-CAA selections Jess Hirschbuhl, Tessa Ziemba and D.J. Slugh.
UNCG
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Spartans: UNC-Greensboro (0-5) started the season with losses to Virginia Tech (10-1, 12-3), Jacksonville (10-3), Buffalo (6-3), Saint Louis (1-0). The Spartans are led offensively by Aisha Figueroa who is hitting .429 with two runs and three stolen bases. Eileen Horsmon has two home runs and four RBIs for UNCG. In the circle, Erica Navarette (0-2) carries a 5.62 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
The Spartans return 14 players and seven starters from 26-32 campaign in 2011.
Fordham
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Rams: Fordham is entering its first weekend of competition after coming off of a 42-19 campaign in 2011 and earning the Atlantic 10's regular season and tournament titles along with an NCAA regional appearance. The Rams were selected to repeat as league champions and return seven starters including All-American pitcher Jen Mineau as well as all-conference selections Nicole Callahan and Gabby Luety.
Note Cards
• The Cardinals posted a 5-0 record in the FIU Combat Classic, marking the best start since they began the season with a 5-0 mark in 2009. The 2006 team began the season with nine straight wins. Both teams went on to post 40-win seasons (48 and 45 respectively).
• Louisville featured a young lineup in its opening weekend with four freshmen and four sophomores in the lineup at times.
• Head Coach Sandy Pearsall is entering her 13th season as the head coach of the University of Louisville softball program. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to three conference championships, eight consecutive NCAA regional appearances including serving as a host site in 2009 and 2011
On Deck
After two weeks on the road, the Cardinals will play host to Canisius in their home opening weekend. The teams will play at single game on Feb. 24 and meet in a doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 25. Louisville owns a 1-0 record against Canisius, having beaten the Golden Griffins 3-0 on Feb. 25, 2000 - in the Cards' inaugural season.
Collins tabbed BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week; Fowler on honor roll
Senior Tori Collins was tabbed BIG EAST Softball Pitcher of the Week and sophomore Taner Fowler was named to the honor roll after the first week of action.
Collins posted a 3-0 record and led the Cardinals to a 5-0 start and an FIU Combat Classic Title. In four appearances, she struck out 30 batters in 20.1 innings of work, including a career-high 13 strikeouts in a 2-0 shutout win over UMass. Collins also scattered 15 hits, holding opponents to a .195 batting average and earning a 1.72 ERA. In addition to her three games started, she also appeared in 2.1 innings of relief, allowing only one hit to pick up a win against Illinois.
Fowler started all five games at catcher, first base or designated player and led the Cardinals offensively, batting .500 (8 for 16) with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs. She three multi-hit games including a 3-for-3 performance in the 4-1 win over Michigan State. Fowler also registered an .875 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage on the week.
Fowler earns College Sports Madness honor
Sophomore Taner Fowler was named College Sports Madness Big East Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 14. She currently leads the Cardinals with a .500 batting average and has two home runs wih five RBIs on the season.
Cards move up to No. 21/23 in Coaches' Polls The Cards have moved up to No. 21 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches' Associate rankings - they moved up three spots from their preseason debut at tied for 24th. This marked the Cards'first appearance in the top 25 since April 13, 2010 when they were ranked 25th. Louisville reached as high as No. 14 in the NFCA poll on March 24 and spent several weeks in the top 25 in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 and was receiving votes in 2011.
U of L is also ranked No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll after receiving votes in the preseason rankings. Louisville reached a program-best in that poll at No. 14 on March 1, 2010. They were also ranked in the top 25 in the 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Louisville Picked Fourth in BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll
The University of Louisville softball team recorded two first-place votes and 120 overall points - one behind Notre Dame - to place fourth in the preseason poll. The Cardinals finished the 2011 season with a 38-20 record and a 12-7 league record while making a run to the BIG EAST Championship final, finishing as runner-up for the second year in a row. UofL will return five All-BIG EAST selections in first baseman Alicja Wolny, infielder Katie Keller, infielder Hannah Kiyohara, pitcher Caralisa Connell and outfielder Jennifer Esteban.
2012 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Poll
1. DePaul (3) 41-15 (19-2)
2. Syracuse (4) 45-13 (15-5)
3. Notre Dame (3) 46-11 (19-1)
4. Louisville (2) 38-20 (12-7)
5. USF (1) 33-21 (13-5)
6. Pittsburgh 34-17 (13-8)
7. Rutgers 19-30 (7-12)
8. Connecticut 19-30 (6-15)
9. Providence 23-30 (7-13)
10. St. John's 20-30 (6-12)
11. Villanova 16-32-1 (3-18)
12. Georgetown 13-40 (6-12)
13. Seton Hall 16-35 (3-19)
