No. 11 Softball Travels to No. 1 Oklahoma
March 22, 2013 | Softball
March 22, 2013
The No. 11/11 Louisville softball team will travel to top-ranked Oklahoma (27-1) for a three-game series March 23-24.
About Louisville
U of L (25-4) is No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches' poll and No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate poll for the second straight week. Louisville is led offensively by junior second baseman Katie Keller who is hitting .484 on the season with seven home runs, 37 runs and 27 RBIs. Senior first baseman Alicja Wolny follows at .425 with six homers and 25 RBIs.Junior catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod is hitting .393 with 11 doubles and 27 RBIs.
Caralisa Connell (15-2) carries a 1.99 ERA with 123 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .197 batting average in 109.0 innings pitched. Rachel LeCoq (10-2) holds a 1.42 ERA with 44 Ks in 84.0 innings of work. Each pitcher has three shutouts.
Cards vs. Oklahoma
Series Record: OU leads 4-2
Last Meeting: March 7, 2010 - The Sooners won 7-0 in Norman
Scouting the Sooners: Oklahoma (27-1) enters the weekend atop the national rankings - a unanimous No. 1 pick in both coaches polls. The Sooners are on a 10 game win streak after suffering their only loss of the season, a 1-0 setback to Nebraska. Their pitching staff owns the lowest ERA in the nation at 0.67 and has recorded seven straight shutouts.
Lauren Chamberlain leads the team - and the nation with a .507 batting average and 16 home runs on the season. Keliani Ricketts follows at .439 - she also carries a 14-0 record in the circle and 0.72 ERA with 148 strikeouts in 97.2 innings. Michelle Gascoigne (11-1) leads the nation with a 0.59 ERA with 133 Ks in 71.2 innings.
Quick hits
• Junior Maggie Ruckenbrod snapped a 13 game hitting streak 19 game on-base streak in Wednesday's 4-1 win over Indiana.
• Senior Alicja Wolny maintains a streak of 17 games in which she has reached via a hit, walk or being hit by a pitch.
• On March 18, the Cards fell 6-2 to Iowa, snapping an 11 game win streak. It was also the first regular season home loss since April 13, 2011 when they fell 5-1 to Connecticut.
• The Cardinals are batting .336 as a team with six players hitting over .300 on the season, six with over 20 hits on the season and seven players with double-digit RBIs. • Louisville is ranked 10th in the NCAA national rankings with a .343 team batting average.
• The Cards have been among in the top 25 in the coaches' polls for the past 23 ranking periods, dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season.
• U of L has three wins over top 25 teams: then-No. 11/11 LSU, No. 14/14 Michigan and No. 24/24 North Carolina. The win over No. 11/11 LSU marked the Cards' highest ranked win since defeating No. 7/8 Northwestern on March 23, 2007.
On Deck
Following this weekend, the Cards will open BIG EAST Conference play with a three-game series against Syracuse March 29-30 at Ulmer Stadium.
Recapping the week
The Cardinals won a pair of games on the first day of the Louisville Softball Classic, defeating No. 24 North Carolina 4-2 and Eastern Michigan 6-1 Friday. The tournament schedule was altered due to inclement weather, washing out Sunday's game against Wisconsin. Back in action on Monday, the Cards stumbled with a 6-2 loss against Iowa - snapping an 11 game winning streak and a 26 regular season home win streak.
On Tuesday, Katie Keller went 3-for-4 and Taner Fowler added three RBIs to lead the University of Louisville softball team to a 6-4 win over visiting Iowa Monday evening at Ulmer Stadium. The Cardinals struck early with a four-run first, added two in the fifth and then managed to stave off a hard-charging Hawkeye team that scored four runs in the final two innings and left the bases loaded in the final inning.
Louisville ended a 10-game home stand with a 4-1 win over Indiana on Wednesday. Sophomore shortstop Whitney Arion had two homers and all four RBI to lead the Cards offensively and Caralisa struck out nine and allowed an unearned run as Louisville improved to 25-4 on the season.
Bruggeman Posts 700th Career Win
On March 20, 2013, the Cards defeated Indiana 4-1 at Ulmer Stadium. The win marked Associate Head Coach Carol Bruggeman's 700th career victory. Prior to becoming Louisville's first Associate Head Coach in 2006, Bruggeman built the Purdue softball program and spent 12 seasons as the head coach, producing a 378-302 mark with the Boilermakers.
Ruckenbrod Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Maggie Ruckenbrod of Louisville was selected BIG EAST Softball Player of the Week in the sixth weekly awards of the 2013 campaign.
Ruckenbrod helped lead the No. 11 Cardinals to a 3-0 performance on the week. The junior batted .500 (5 for 10) with two home runs, and a double, three runs and five RBI. She posted a 1.200 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base percentage.
Ruckenbrod had at least one hit and one RBI in each game and hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie against No. 24 North Carolina. She also went 3 for 3 with a home run, two runs and two RBIs in the 7-2 win over in-state rival Western Kentucky. NOTES:
• This marks the fifth time the Cards have had a player earn the league's weekly honor: Katie Keller has been Player of the Week twice while Hannah Kiyohara and Alicja Wolny have also earned the honor. Additionally, Caralisa Connell and Rachel LeCoq have each been named Pitcher of the Week this season.
• Ruckenbrod was also named the CollegeSportsMadness.com Big East Player of the Week
Louisville Stays at No. 11 in both coaches' polls
For the second straight week, U of L is No. 11 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll which was released on March 19. The Cards made their 2013 debut at No. 18. Louisville also stayed at No. 11 in the most recent USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll on March 19. The Cards opened the 2013 season at No. 18.
• Cards in ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings
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 USA Today/NFCA rankings
The Cards reached their highest ranking at No. 9 on April 24, 2012 and spent four weeks at that spot.
Cards in the March 17 National Rankings
The Cards are among the nation's leaders in several categories, including batting average (10th), Win/Loss percentage (7th),Doubles per game (7th), Slugging Percentage (14th) and Double Plays per game (18th) and ERA (23rd)
Katie Keller is ranked fifth in the nation in runs per game with 36 runs in 26 games, 14th with a .344 batting average, 13th with a .569 on-base percentage, and 17th with an .893 slugging percentage. Maggie Ruckenbrod is 12th in doubles per game with 11 doubles in 26 games while Keller is 17th with 10 doubles in 26 games. Alicja Wolny is 10th with a .576 on-base percentage. Caralisa Connell is seventh with 14 victories in the circle.
Home Sweet Home
The Cards are 13-1 at Ulmer Stadium in 2013 - the 6-2 loss to Iowa on March 18, 2013 snapped a 26 game regular season win streak dating back to April when they fell 5-1 to Connecticut.. Louisville was tough at home during the 2012 regular season posting a perfect 25-0 record at Ulmer Stadium and a 27-2 record after the NCAA regional. In 2011, the Cards were an impressive 18-3 at Ulmer Stadium.
Hitting for Average
The Cards are batting .336 as a team - which ranks tenth in the national standings - with six players hitting over .300 on the season. Junior Katie Keller leads the way at a .484 clip. Senior Alicja Wolny follows at .425, while junior Maggie Ruckenbrod rounds out the top three at .393. Sophomroe Kayla Soles (.339), senior Jordan Trimble (.324) and junior Hannah Kiyohara (.308) round out the list.
Bombs Away
Louisville has 26 home runs on the season with nine players connecting on at least one homer. Junior Katie Keller has seven and senior Alicja Wolny follows closely with six. Junior Maggie Ruckenbrod has four. Sophomore Whitney Arion has three and sophomore Kayla Soles has two. Seniors Katelyn Mann and Jordan Trimble, juniors Hannah Kiyohara and Taner Fowler each have one.
The Road Ahead
The remainder of the 2013 schedule features three top 25 teams including No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 17/17 Kentucky. Additionally 13 teams on the Cards' 2013 slate played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Louisville does not face BIG EAST foe and Women's College World Series participant USF during the regular season, but the teams could potentially meet in the conference tournament which will be held May 9-11 in Tampa, Fla.
Ruckenbrod on Patrol
Junior catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod has thrown out nine of 13 base stealers and has picked off eight runners this season. She owns the school record for pickoffs in a game (three), season (11 in 2011) and career (23).
Esteban and Wolny Join 200 Club
Senior Jennifer Esteban registered her 200th career hit on March 9, 2013 in the 12-0 win over Austin Peay. The following day fellow senior Alicja Wolny reached the milestone with a home run in her only official plate appearance (she was walked three times) in the 9-3 win over Illinois State. There are only 10 players in program history who accumulated 200 or more hits. Wolny is ninth on the all-time list with 208 while Esteban is No. 10 with 203. Audrey Rendon (2004-07) holds the all-time record with 283.
Wolny Doubling Up
Alicja Wolny is currently second on the career doubles list with 60. Two-time All-America selection Melissa Roth (2007-10) holds the all-time record with 68.
