No. 16/17 Softball Travels to Jacksonville University Tournament
February 14, 2013 | Softball
Feb. 14, 2013
Louisville Week Two Game Notes 
The No. 16/17 University of Louisville softball team will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for the Jacksonville University Softball Classic Feb. 15-17.
The Cardinals (4-1) will take on Stony Brook Friday at 9:30 a.m. and Bethune-Cookman at 11:45 a.m. On Saturday, Louisville will face Ohio State at 11:45 a.m. and host Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m. U of L will wrap up the weekend against Stony Brook at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Louisville opened the season with a 4-1 performance at the UNLV Sportco Classic. Current BIG EAST Player of the Week Katie Keller led the Cards offensively, batting .529 (9 for 17) with four home runs, 13 RBIs and eight runs.
About Louisville
The Cardinals (4-1) are No 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and No. 17 in the USA Today/NFCA rankings. Louisville is batting .365 as a team and has scored 40 runs in its first five games. The Cards produced seven home runs, 11 doubles and a triple for a .613 slugging percentage.
Louisville has eight players batting above .300 with junior Katie Keller leading the way with a .529 average. Senior Katelyn Mann is hitting .455 with Taner Fowler rounding out the top three at .400.
Previewing the 2013 Jacksonville University Tournament
Cards against the opponents
Stony Brook
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Seawolves: The Seawolves will open their season against the Cards on Friday. The Seawolves return 10 letterwinners from last year's team that went 36-17-1 and posted a 14-3-1 mark and finished second in the America East Conference. Allison Cukrov, the reigning America East Pitcher of the Year, returns to anchor the circle while Shayla Giosia returns as the leading hitter back from last year's team with a .337 average, eigh home runs and 44 RBIs.
Bethune-Cookman
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Wildcats: The Wildcats bring an 0-4 record into the weekend after opening the season with losses to Jacksonville, North Florida (twice) and Florida State. Simone Ceasar leads the Wildcats with a .400 batting average. Aurelia Gamch is batting .417 with a double and an RBI. Samantha Gale (0-1) has four Ks in 12.0 innings.
Ohio State
Series Record: Louisville leads 3-2
Last Meeting: March 20, 2012 - U of L swept a doubleheader 7-0 and 7-2 at Ulmer Stadium.
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches' poll after opening the season with a 4-1 record. The Buckeyes posted a pair of wins over Winthrop and beat Elon as well splitting two games with then-No. 8/9 Georgia. OSU is led by first-year head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly.
Evelyn Carrillo leads the Buckeyes offensively with a .444 average, one home run and seven RBIs. Olivia O'Reilly (2-0) carries a 2.05 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.
Jacksonville
Series Record: Louisville leads Series 1-0.
Last Meeting: Last game was played on Feb. 7, 2009 at the FIU Combat Classic in Miami, FL. The game resulted in a 2-0 victory for the Cards.
Scouting the Dolphins: The Dolphins bring a 3-1 record into the weekend after picking up a win over Bethune-Cookman and pair of wins over Florida A&M and falling to No. 21/25 Florida State last weekend.
Sarah Simon leads the team with a .400 batting average, two home runs and four RBIs. Dale Tilman(1-0) has struck out five batters in 8.2 innings.
Up Next
Louisville will host the Cardinal Classic Feb. 22-24 at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards will face Kent State in their home opener on Feb. 22 at 2:30 and will play Buffalo on Feb. 23 at 12:30 p.m. U of L will wrap up the weekend against Kent State and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
Recapping last weekend
Last weekend, Louisville opened the season at the UNLV Sportco Kick-Off Classic. The Cards overcame a 5-1 deficit in the third inning and went on to defeat Texas Tech 10-6 win. Louisville suffered its first loss of the season with a 10-1 setback against host UNLV - the game marked the first time the Cards were run-ruled since a Feb. 18, 2011 loss at No. 3 Alabama.
Louisville rebounded from the loss to UNLV with an 8-2 non-conference win over DePaul on Saturday and picked up a 5-3 victory over UCF. The Cards capped the weekend with a slugfest agains Minnesota in which the rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 16-8 in six innings.
Katie Keller Named BIG EAST Softball Player of the Week
Junior second baseman Katie Keller was selected BIG EAST Softball Player of the Week after the first week of action.
Keller helped the Cardinals open the 2013 season with a 4-1 record. The junior hit .529 (9 for 17) with four home runs and two doubles during the week. She drove in 13 runs and tied a school record with seven RBI in a 16-8 win against Minnesota. Keller was 3-for-4 in that game with two home runs, seven RBI, one double and tied a school record with four runs scored. She tallied a 1.353 slugging percentage in five games.
Her two-run home run broke a 5-5 tie in their 10-6 season-opening win over Texas Tech. She also homered to break 3-3 tie in the 5-3 win over UCF. For the third time in five games, she hit a home run to break a tie when she connected on the first of two homers in the 16-8 win over Minnesota. Keller also went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the 8-2 win over DePaul.
• Keller was also selected to the College Sports Madness BIG EAST Player of the Week and and the CollegeSoftball360.com Primetime Performer honor roll.
Louisville Moves Up in Both Coaches' Polls
U of L moved up two spots to 16th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Preseason Poll which was released on Feb. 11. Louisville also improved one spot to No. 17 in the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association poll which was released on Feb. 11. The Cards made their 2013 debut at No. 18 in both polls.
• Cards in ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings
Louisville was ranked No. 18 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball poll on June 12, 2012. The Cardinals reached a program-best No. 7 on May 15, 2012 after spending two weeks at No. 8 - they were ranked in the top 10 for the final five weeks of the season. Louisville spent 15 weeks in USA Softball top 25 after debuting at No 23 on Feb. 14.
• Cards in NFCA rankings
Louisville finished the 2012 season at No. 17 in the final USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll after being appearing in the top 25 in every ranking period. The Cards reached their highest ranking at No. 9 on April 24, 2012 and spent four weeks at that spot.
Fowler named to College Sports Madness Preseason All-America Team - joins Esteban, Connell, Keller and Wolny on the website's All-BIG EAST squad
Junior Taner Fowler was selected to the College Sports Madness Softball Preseason All-American Third Team. The website also named two preseason All-BIG EAST Conference teams and Fowler was joined by teammate Jennifer Esteban on the first team while Caralisa Connell, Katie Keller and Alicja Wolny represented Louisville on the second team.
• Fowler, a junior designated player/utility player registered a .366 batting average with a team-best 12 home runs and 52 RBIs in 2012. She was selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America third team and earned Ohio Valley Region and All-BIG EAST first team honors.
• Esteban, a senior outfielder from Brea, Calif., is a two-time All-BIG EAST selection and was fourth on the team with a .335 batting average last season. She also scored 43 runs and led the Cards with 16 stolen bases.
• Connell, a junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn., is a two-time All-BIG EAST honoree and finished the 2012 season with a 19-1 record and a 1.55 ERA with 99 strikeouts.
• Keller, a junior second baseman from Livermore, Calif., posted a .277 batting average with seven home runs and 39 RBIs. She earned All-BIG EAST conference honors in 2011 and 2012.
• Wolny, a senior first baseman from El Dorado Hills, Calif., led the team with a .387 batting average and registered 10 home runs and 43 RBI. She is a three-time All-BIG EAST pick.
Cards Picked to Finish Third in BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll
The University of Louisville softball team was picked to finish third in the 2013 BIG EAST Softball preseason poll which is decided by the league's 13 head coaches. USF was the preseason favorite with Notre Dame narrowly edging the Cards for second place.
U of L, the reigning BIG EAST Champion received four first-place votes and 128 points. The Cardinals claimed the BIG EAST regular-season and championship titles in 2012. They finished with a 55-5 overall mark and a 20-2 conference record. The 2012 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year loses two All-BIG EAST First Team selections from a year ago but returns seven all-conference selections. Catcher/utility Taner Fowler and first baseman Alicja Wolny were first-team selections last season while second baseman Katie Keller and pitcher Caralisa Connell were named to the second team. Three third-team selections, including the BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, outfielder Jordan Trimble, return for 2013. Joining Trimble are outfielder Jennifer Esteban and shortstop Whitney Arion.
