University of Louisville
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Softball Tops Northern Kentucky 8-0
February 23, 2014 | Softball
Feb. 23, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville softball team defeated Northern Kentucky 8-0 in six innings on Sunday, the final day of the Cardinal Classic.
"I'm happy with the way we came out today," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "I thought we did a great job of hitting the ball and I was really pleased with the effort from everyone on the team."
The Cardinals (8-6) jumped to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Katie Keller drew a leadoff walk, took second on Whitney Arion's sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a groundout by Kelsi Jones. A wild pitch sent Keller home to put Louisville on the scoreboard. Walks to Duncan, Becker and Ruckenbrod loaded the bases for Tiarra Sanabria's RBI single. An error on the throw also sent Becker home make the score 3-0. Ruckenbrod crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
UofL added another run in the fourth when Keller registered a one-out triple and Arion followed with an RBI single to make the score 5-0.
The Cards tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth when Taner Fowler and Sanabria registered back-to-back singles for Brittany Sims' RBI hit. Keller's sacrifice fly plated Sanabria to increase the lead to 7-0.
In the sixth, Soles earned a leadoff walk and Autumn McDuffie's double to right field put runners on second and third. An intentional walk to Maryssa Becker loaded the bases for Taner Fowler's RBI single which ended the game via the eight-run rule.
Becker (3-0) got the win, holding the Norse scoreless on one hit and striking out three in 2.0 innings of relief. Caralisa Connell and Sanabria also combined on the shutout. Sanabria earned the start and went two innings surrendering one hit while striking out two and Connell fanned four in two innings of relief. Keller was 1 for 1 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs while Sanabria was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Fowler was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI.
Kelley Benhase (0-1) took the loss, allowing four runs, two earned and walking four in the first inning. Reliever Alyssa Enrique gave up four earned runs on 10 hits and struck out one in 4.1 innings of work. Mandi McQueen and Natalie Papi each had a hit for NKU (1-8).
The Cardinals (8-6) will travel to Fullerton, Calif., for the Mayfair Tournament Feb. 28-March 2. They will face Northwestern and CS-Fullerton on Friday. On Saturday, Louisville will face UC-Santa Barbara and No. 8/9 UCLA and will wrap up the weekend Sunday against Oregon State.
