Softball Travels to Houston
March 28, 2014 | Softball
March 28, 2014
The University of Louisville softball team will hit the road for a three-game American Athletic Conference series at Houston March 28-29.
Louisville Softball Quick Hits
• The Cardinals are led offensively by senior second baseman Katie Keller who is batting .409 with 31 runs and 18 RBI. Junior Kelsi Jones has belted out a team-best seven home runs and has 24 RBIs on the season. Fellow junior Brittany Duncan follows closely with five home runs and 24 RBIs.
• Louisville is hitting .314 as a team with six players boasting batting averages above .300.
• Freshman Maryssa Becker (8-1) has a 1.73 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 72.2 innings while holding opponents to a .195 batting average. Senior Caralisa Connell (7-4) carries a 3.71 ERA with 52Ks in 60.1 innings. Senior Rachel LeCoq (5-6) holds a 3.87 ERA and has 62Ks in 63.1 innings of work.
• 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, guiding the program to a 573-284 record.
Last Up
Cards sweep DePaul 8-0 and 7-4 in a doubleheader
Freshman Maryssa Becker picked up two wins and struck out 11 on the day as the University of Louisville softball team swept DePaul 8-0 and 7-3 in a midweek doubleheader at Ulmer Stadium.
Louisville 8 - DePaul 0 (six innings)
Junior Kelsi Jones went 2 for 4 with a three-run double to help lead the Cardinals to an 8-0 win over DePaul. Freshman Maryssa Becker got the win, holding the Blue Demons scoreless on three hits and striking out six in 5.0 innings.
Louisville 7 - DePaul 3
In game two, the Cardinals overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat the Blue Demons 7-3. Brittany Duncan was 3 for 4 with four RBIs while Kelsi Jones was 3 for 3 with two runs and two stolen bases and Maryssa Becker picked up her second win of the day to help UofL complete the doubleheader sweep and move to 20-11 on the season.
Cards Against Houston
Series Record: Louisville leads 13-4
Last Meeting: Feb. 13. 2010- Then-No. 21/22 Louisville defeated Houston 4-2 in the Marriott Hobby Houston Classic.
Scouting the Cougars: Houston enters the weekend with a 16-10 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the American Athletic Conference where they are tied for first place with USF and UCF. The Cougars are currently on a four-game win streak dating back to March 19 when they defeated Texas 5-4 in Austin. UH proceeded to sweep AAC opponent Temple in both teams' conference-opening weekend.
• Louisville and Houston have played one common opponent this season - Michigan. The Cards played them on March 15 and loss while the Cougars defeated the Wolverines 5-2 on March 7 in the Judi Garman Classic.
• Tiffani McKnight leads the Cougars at the plate with a .394 batting average. Haley Outon has a team-best six home runs, 24 runs and is tied for the lead with 21 RBIs.
• Diedre Outon (7-5) carries a 2.17 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 77.1 innings of work.
Up Next
The Cardinals will travel to Lexington, Ky. to face in-state rival, 10th-ranked Kentucky on April 2.
Keller and Becker Named to American Athletic Conference Honor Roll
Katie Keller and Maryssa Becker were named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll on March 24.
• Keller helped the Cardinals to a 4-2 record on the week, batting .412 (7 for 17) with a home run and two doubles to help produce five RBIs and scored five runs on the week. The senior also drew six walks to register a .565 on-base percentage and she recorded a .706 slugging percentage.
• She reached via a hit or a walk in all six games. She had three of the six games including a 2 for 3 RBI performance (with a home run) in the 7-4 win at Western Kentucky. Keller went 2 for 3 with three runs in Louisville's 11-3 win over Rutgers.
• Becker went 2-0 with a save in the circle and posted a 1.72 ERA and tossed her first career no-hitter to help the Cardinals to a 4-2 record on the week. She held opponents to a .130 batting average, scattering nine hits and striking out 16 in 20.1 innings.
• Becker opened the week with a strong performance in the Cards' 4-1 loss to Wisconsin on Monday. The freshman entered the the game in the first inning with UofL down 4-0 and proceeded to retire all 20 batters she faced while striking out six. She continued her dominance with her first career no-hitter in UofL's 3-0 win at Western Kentucky, striking out five in that game. Becker entered the second game of the doubleheader and retired both batters she faced to pick up the save and extend her streak of shutout innings to 15.0. She went on to allow four hits in the series opener against Rutgers, but picked up her sixth win of the season as the Cards clinched the series with an 11-3 win on Sunday.
Becker Tosses First Career No-Hitter
On March 19, freshman Maryssa Becker struck out five en route to her first career no-hitter as the Cards defeated host Western Kentucky 3-0. The no-no was Louisville's first since April 15, 2012 when Tori Collins posted her second consecutive one against Longwood.
Ruckenbrod on Patrol
Senior catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod has thrown out 13 of 25 would-be base stealers. She currently has thrown out 53 in her career, placing her second on the school's all-time list behind current softball director of operations Lisa (McMillan) Pinkston who owns the record with 60.• • Additionally, Ruckenbrod has picked off two runners this season. She owns the school record for pickoffs in a game (three), season (11 in 2011) and career (28).
Cards Set School Record for Runs in a Game
Louisville 22- Ohio University 4 (5 innings)
On March 9, the Cardinals defeated Ohio University 22-4 at Ulmer Stadium, setting a program record for runs in a game.The previous record was 18 set against Saint Louis on April 24, 2005. Highlights from the game included:
• Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit as the Cards pounded out a season-high 18 hits
• Senior Taner Fowler and junior Brittany Duncan each tied a school record for runs in a game with four.
• Senior Hannah Kiyohara had a career-high five RBIs to combine with a season-best 3 for 4 performance at the plate.
Power Surge
Junior transfers Kelsi Jones (Missouri) and Brittany Duncan (Valparaiso) have been welcome additions to a team which set a program record for home runs with 63 in 2013. Jones leads the team with seven and Duncan follows closely with five to account for 12 of the Cardinals' 23 bombs on the season.
