No. 23/25 Softball Travels to Jacksonville
February 13, 2014 | Softball
Feb. 13, 2014
Jacksonville University Softball Tournament Notes 
The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for the Jacksonville University Tournament Feb. 14-16. The Cards were originally scheduled to face No. 14/18 Missouri in Friday's opening game, but travel issues due to inclement weather forced the Tigers to pull out of the tournament. UofL will now play Jacksonville at 4 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, the Cards will face former BIG EAST foe and future ACC opponent Notre Dame at 9:30 a.m. and future ACC opponent North Carolina at 12 p.m. Louisville will wrap up the tournament with a second game against Notre Dame Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Quick hits
• Louisville enters the second week of the 2014 season with a 3-2 record and ranked No. 23 in the USA Softball and No. 25 in the NFCA coaches polls. The Cardinals have been among in the top 25 in the coaches' polls for the past 33 ranking periods, dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season.
• Junior centerfielder Kelsi Jones transferred to Louisville from Missouri and has had an immediate impact this season. The inaugural American Athletic Conference Player of the Week, leads the team with a .438 batting average, two home runs, four RBIs and is 3 for 3 in stolen bases.
• Fellow junior transfer Brittany Duncan (Valparaiso) was walked eight times in the Cards' opening weekend and also belted out two doubles. The designated player has reached base in all five games and carries a .632 on-base percentage.
• Senior Caralisa Connell (2-1) carries a 0.93 ERA and has 14 Ks in 15.0 innings of work. She has limited opponents to five hits and is holding them to a .111 batting average.
• Louisville will be competing in the American Athletic Conference this season after spending the last eight years in the BIG EAST. The Cardinals are the coaches' preseason favorite to win the conference.
• Head coach Sandy Pearsall is in her 15th season at UofL. She started the program in 2000 and is the only head coach in UofL Softball history leading the program to a 556-276 record.
Cards against the opponents
Jacksonville
Series record: Louisville leads 2-0
Last Meeting: March 16, 2013. The Cards beat the Dolphins 9-0 in the JU Softball Tournament
Scouting the Dolphins: Jacksonville enters the weekend with a 3-2 record The Dolphins opened the season in Miami at the FIU Felsberg Memorial Tournament and picked up wins over DePaul, and Maryland (twice) and fell to FIU and DePaul. Codi Kelly leads the team with a .467 batting average. Victoria Brown has belted out three home runs and produced six RBIs. Brown has also been strong in the circle with a 2-0 record, a 0.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. 1
The Dolphins were picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll after finishing the 2013 season with a 30-22 record and an 11-15 league record.
Notre Dame
Series record: Louisville leads 14-12
Last Meeting: May 5, 2013 - Louisville fell 3-1 to the Irish at Melissa Cook Stadium
Scouting the Irish: Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 3-1 record after opening the season at the Auburn Plainsman Invitational. The Irish began with a 9-1 win over Tennessee Tech, but followed that game with a 4-1 loss to North Dakota State. On the final day of the tournament, Notre Dame pitcher Allie Rhodes tossed a no-hitter in the 9-0 win over Morehead State. The Irish then edged the host Tigers 3-2 in eight innings to close out the weekend.
Notre Dame is led offensively by Emilee Koerner who is batting .429 with three home runs, six runs and seven RBIs. Rhodes (2-0) has not allowed a run and struck out 11 in 9.0 innings. Laura Winter (1-1) carries a 2.00 ERA with 19 Ks in 14.0 innings of work.
The Irish were picked to finish third in their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but won the 2013 BIG Championship and advanced to their 15th NCAA appearance on the heels of a 43-15 mark last season.
North Carolina
Series record: Cards lead the series 3-1
Last Meeting: March 15, 2013 - UofL beat UNC 4-2 at Ulmer Stadium in the Louisville Classic
Scouting the Tar Heels: North Carolina enters the weekend with a 1-3 overall record after opening the season at the Louisiana Classic. The Tar Heels fell 8-7 to Northern Iowa and then suffered a 7-3 loss to No. 10 Texas. UNC picked up its first win over Purdue before falling 6-5 in 10 innings to No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette. The Tar Heels are led offensively by Kendra Lynch by Elena Covert how is batting .385 with five hits. Kristen Brown has two home runs and four RBIs. In the circle, Lori Spingola (1-2) carries a 3.96 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. UNC was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll after finishing the 2013 season with a 40-21 record and finished third in the league with 13-8 mark in conference play. UNC returns three All-ACC honorees in Brown, Amber Parrish and Spingola.
Up next
Following this weekend, the Cardinals will return to Louisville to host the 2014 Cardinal Classic in their home-opening weekend Feb. 21-23. UofL will open tournament play against Northern Ientucky and Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively on Feb. 21. The Cards will face IUPUI at 2 p.m. and Central Michigan at 4 p.m. on Feb. 22 and wrap up play against Northern Kentucky on Feb. 23 at 12 p.m.
Recapping Last Weekend
Louisville opened the 2014 season with a 3-2 showing at the Florida Atlantic Kick-Off Classic. The Cardinals began the tournament with a 7-1 win over Northern Illinois, but fell 3-0 to the host Owls in Friday's nightcap.
On Saturday, the Cards found themselves down 4-0 with two outs in the sixth before breaking up a perfect game with Kelsi Jones' 2-run home run and then a two-run single by Brittany Sims in the seventh. Katie Keller's RBI single in the eight gave the Cards the 5-4 win. Following the victory over OSU, Louisville fell 4-0 to Tulsa.
UofL wrapped up the weekend with a 7-0 win over former BIG EAST opponent St. John's.
Louisville No. 23/25 in Coaches' Polls
• Cards in ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings• After going 3-2 in the FAU Kick-Off Classic, Louisville dropped five spots to No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings released on Fb. 11. The Cards the 2014 season at No. 18.
• UofL finished the 2013 season at No. 23 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll after posting a 47-13 record and earning its tenth-straight NCAA tournament bid and the No. 15 overall seed in the tournament for the second consecutive season. After making their 2013 debut at No. 18 in the preseason rankings, the Cards went on to spend three weeks in the top 10, matching the highest ranking in program history on April 23.
• Louisville recorded program-best No. 7 ranking for the first time on May 15, 2012. The Cardinals were ranked in the top 10 for the final five weeks of that season.
• This marks the 32nd straight week Louisville has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25 rankings dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season.
• Cards in USA Today/NFCA rankings
UofL is No. 25 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll released on Feb. 11. The Cardinals dropped six spots after going 3-2 in their season-opening weekend at the FAU Kick-Off Classic.
• Louisville finished the 2013 season at No. 19 in the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll after posting a 47-13 record and earning its tenth-straight NCAA tournament bid and the No. 15 overall seed in the tournament for the second consecutive season.
• Last season, the Cards debuted at No. 18 and went on to tie their program high at No. 8 on April 23. The Cards spent three weeks in the top 10 and five weeks at No. 11 in 2013. This marks the 33rd straight week Louisville has appeared in the NFCA top 25 rankings dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season.
Jones Named Inaugural American Athletic Conference Player of the Week - Connell Selected to Honor Roll
Following the opening weekend of the 2014 season, Louisville's Kelsi Jones was named the American Athletic Conference's inaugural Player of the Week and senior Caralisa Connell was named to the weekly honor roll. Jones (Carmel, Ind.) batted .438 in a 3-2 weekend for the Cardinals at the FAU Kick-Off Classic, with two home runs and a double for four runs and four RBIs. On Feb. 7 she went 3-for-3 with a home run in Louisville's 7-1 rout of Northern Illinois. The junior centerfielder also highlighted the Cards' extra-innings victory over Ohio State on Feb. 8, breaking up a no-hitter in the sixth inning with a two-run homer. Senior pitcher Caralisa Connell went 2-1 for Louisville on the weekend, posting a 0.93 ERA and earned 14 strikeouts in 15 innings of work.
Keller Named to Top 50 "Watch List" for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Katie Keller was named to the Top 50 "Watch List" for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year as announced by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball on Jan. 29.
• The preseason "Watch List" includes 24 seniors, 20 juniors and six sophomores, with freshman ineligible for consideration. (Freshman can be considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level.) Athletes named to the "Watch List" represent 36 NCAA Division I universities and 12 athletic conferences.
The Top 25 Finalists for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 9. While an athlete does not have to be on the "Watch List" to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be announced May 7 and the Top 3 Finalists will be announced May 21. On May 27 prior to the start of the 2014 NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed.
Cardinals earn College Sports Madness Preseason Honors
Senior second baseman Katie Keller was named to the College Sports Madness preseason All-America second team. The website also named Keller the preseason American Athletic Conference Field Player of the Year and freshman pitcher/first baseman Maryssa Becker was tabbed Rookie of the Year. UofL's Sandy Pearsall was named the preseason conference Coach of the Year by College Sports madness.
Keller joins fellow senior Rachel LeCoq on the CSM preseason All-AAC first team. Seniors Caralisa Connell and Hannah Kiyohara were named to the second team.
Cards Tabbed 2014 American Athletic Conference Preseason Favorites
UofL was chosen as the preseason favorite in 2014 American Athletic Conference Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll, as selected by the conference's eight head coaches.
Louisville received six of seven possible first place votes for 48 total points to take the honor.
The conference's teams all begin play in March, with the eight teams looking toward the inaugural American Athletic Conference Softball Championship. Held at the Cougar Softball Field on the campus of the University of Houston May 8-10, the Championship will take the form of a single-elimination bracket. The quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will all be broadcast live on The American Digital Network, with the final featured live on ESPNEWS.
2014 American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Louisville
2. USF
3. Houston
4. UCF
5. Rutgers
6. UConn
Memphis
8. Temple
The Ulmer Stadium Expansion
In July 2013, the University of Louisville began a $3.5 million expansion project on the stadium which is scheduled to be completed by opening day of the 2014 season.
The expansion will feature an upper deck terrace with elevator access and additional seating to accommodate up to 1,000 people within the stadium, increasing the facility's capacity to approximately 2,500. The remodeling will extend to the plaza which will serve as a welcome area for fans at the main entrance. Additionally, the public restrooms will be restructured and located south of the concession area.
The upgrade will include a new team locker room and clubhouse with team meeting rooms and offices which will be located on the south side of the stadium. Restrooms will be also added to the home and visitor dugouts. A two-foot wall extending across the backstop will complete the field area improvements.
Also part of the expansion is a newly constructed press box which will feature separate booths for home and visiting radio and television as well as an area for media and game operations. The roof of the press box will be covered and provide a camera deck for televised games as well as still photography.
