University of Louisville
USF
Softball Blanks USF 8-0 in American Semifinals
May 09, 2014 | Softball
May 9, 2014
HOUSTON - Senior pitcher Rachel LeCoq pitched a five-hit shutout and the Cardinals backed her with eight runs including Katie Keller's grand slam and a two-run home run by Brittany Duncan as the third-seeded University of Louisville softball team defeated second-seeded USF 8-0 in six innings in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship Friday afternoon.
Severe weather in the area forced the second semifinal between No. 1 UCF and No. 5 Rutgers to be postponed to Saturday at 3 p.m. The Cards will face the winner of that game Sunday at 12 p.m. (ET) in the championship game.
"I'm very proud of my team and how they played," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "They came out to win and that showed in everything they did. Rachel did a great job on the mound and we got some great hitting from Katie Keller and Brittany Duncan. We also played stellar defense against a very good USF team."
The Cardinals put up a five-spot in the second. Taner Fowler got the inning started with a single and took second on a fielding error. Maryssa Becker followed with a single and Hannah Kiyohara drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Kelsi Jones was hit by a pitch to bring Fowler home and put the Cardinals on the scoreboard. One out later, Keller sent a full-count pitch over the left field fence for her first career grand slam and her fourth homer of the season which gave the Cards a 5-0 lead.
Louisville added another run in the fourth when Jones walked and took second on Whitney Arion's sacrifice bunt and scored on Duncan's RBI single to increase the lead to 6-0.
The Cardinals' offense continued with two more runs in the sixth. Keller drew a two-out walk to set up Duncan's smash over the centerfield fence. Her ninth home run of the season capped the scoring at 8-0.
The Bulls' best scoring chance came in bottom of the first when Juli Weber drew a leadoff walk and Ashli Goff followed with an infield single. Kourtney Salvarola's sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position with one out. LeCoq got Stephanie Medina to send a grounder to third baseman Whitney Arion who fielded the ball and threw to catcher Fowler who tagged Weber out at the plate. LeCoq delivered a strikeout to end the inning.
After the first, LeCoq and the Cardinal defense did not allow a runner in scoring position until the fifth when Weber delivered an infield single and tagged up and moved to second on a caught foul ball, but a groundout ended the inning.
LeCoq (12-8) got the complete game shutout win, scattering five hits and striking out four in 6.0 innings. Keller was 1 for 1 with a grand slam and three walks and four RBIs while Duncan was 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Cards at the plate.
Sara Nevins (27-8) took the loss, allowing five earned runs on three hits and striking out two in 1.2 innings of work. Weber was 2 for 2 to pace the Bulls at the plate.
