Softball Travels to Virginia Tech
April 02, 2015 | Softball
Louisville - Virginia Tech Game Notes 
Series Info: Louisville at Virginia Tech
Dates: April 3-4, 2015
Location: Blacksburg, Va.
Venue: Tech Softball Park
Television: ESPN3
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball
The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Blacksburg, Va. for a three-game ACC series against Virginia Tech. The teams will meet in a single game Friday at 7 p.m. and will play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. Saturday. All three games will be shown on ESPN3.
Cardinal Quick Hits
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 22-9 overall record after snapping a six-game win streak with a loss to No. 13/14 Kentucky in a midweek matchup. Louisville owns an 11-1 ACC record and is currently tied for first in conference standings with Florida State.
? Kelsi Jones leads Louisville offensively with a .446 batting average, 30 runs and 15 doubles. Maryssa Becker has produced a team-high 30 RBIs and has five home runs on the season while carrying a .404 batting average. Jordan McNary follows at a .403 clip.
? Freshman Shelby McCombs (8-2) carries a team-best 2.90 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 70.0 innings. Sophomore Maryssa Becker (8-3) follows closely with a 3.00 ERA and 83 Ks in 86.1 innings of work. She also leads the ACC with three saves.
? Sandy Pearsall is in her 16th season as UofL's head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to six conference championships. Under her watch, Louisville has made 11 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. On March 14, Pearsall recorded her 600th win at UofL (also the 600th victory in program history). She is now 611-304 as the Cardinals' head coach.
Cards against Virginia Tech
Series Record: Virginia Tech leads 2-1
Last Meeting:May 16, 2008 - Virginia Tech won 1-0 in 10 innings in the Knoxville Regional.
? This will be the first time the teams have met during the regular season. Their other three meetings have all come during NCAA regionals (played in Knoxville, Tenn.) In their first matchup (May 19, 2006), Viginia Tech edged Louisville 1-0 in 12 innings, but the Cardinals came back to win 10-1 in an elimination game the following day. The teams were pitted against each other again in 2008 - this time the Hokies won 1-0 in 10 innings.
Scouting the Hokies: Virginia Tech enters the series with a 25-9 record after defeating Elon 6-2 in a midweek matchup on Wednesday. The Hokies are 3-8 and stand in eighth place in the ACC. Four players are hitting above .300 on the season. Kylie McGoldrick has a team-high .366 batting average and 33 RBIs while scoring 25 runs on the season. Kelsey Mericka adds 12 home runs and 28 RBIs along with her .316 average. Breanna Davenport contributes a .339 average along with 26 runs, 20 RBIs and a team-high ten doubles. Michelle Prong adds six home runs and 19 runs with her .308 average.
Up Next: Louisville will travel to Chicago, Ill., on Wednesday to take on DePaul in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. The Cardinals will then return home to host Florida State for a three game set at Ulmer Stadium over the weekend. The series will begin on Saturday night and continuing through Monday night. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. with Sunday and Monday's games being televised on ESPNU.
Last Up: The Cardinals are coming off of a 4-0 loss to in-state rival No. 13/14 Kentucky on Wednesday at Ulmer Stadium. In that game, the teams played through four scoreless innings before the Wildcats broke through with a run in the fifth. A three-run homer in the sixth brought the score to 4-0. The Cards ended the game with runners on second and third, stranding seven while being shutout for only the third time this season.
Most recent ACC series:
Louisville is coming off of a three-game sweep of ACC opponent Syracuse over the weekend. The series was originally slated to take place in Syracuse, but weather and field conditions prompted the move to Louisville's Ulmer Stadium. The Cardinals swept the opening doubleheader 15-11 and 5-4 and in the third game built a 4-0 lead, only to fall behind 7-4 in the fifth before storming back for a 13-7 win.
Arion leads Cards to Syracuse Sweep Senior Whitney Arion led the Cardinals to a 4-0 record on the weekend - including a three-game sweep of ACC opponent Syracuse. The shortstop batted .615 (8 for 13) with two doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and three runs. Arion registered a .923 slugging percentage and earned three walks to help produce a .722 on-base percentage.
? She reached base via a walk or a hit in each of Louisville's games and produced multi-hit and multi-RBI performances in all three games against Syracuse. Arion went 4 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs in the 15-11 win and had two hits and three RBIs in both the 5-4 win and the 13-7 over the Orange.
Louisville/Syracuse Series Highlights
Louisville 15 - Syracuse 11
? In the opening game of the series, senior Hailey Smith went 4 for 4 with two home runs and Kelsi Jones drove in four RBIs as Louisville built an early 8-0 lead and went on to beat Syracuse 15-11.
Louisville 5 - Syracuse 4
? Louisville built a 5-0 lead and held on to beat Syracuse 5-4 to clinch the series. Jordan McNary went 3 for 4 with two runs while Arion was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Louisville 13 - Syracuse 7
? Sophomore Tiarra Sanabria connected on her first career home run and then added another one to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
? Sophomore Jordan McNary registered an inside-the-park home run for her first career round-tripper. The speedy outfielder slapped a shot to the fence in left centerfield and sprinted around the bases before sliding in under the tag at the plate to give the Cards a 4-0 lead.
? Syracuse scored seven runs in the fourth inning to gain a 7-4 lead, but Louisville answered with two runs in the sixth and put up a seven-spot of its own in the seventh for the 13-7 final.
? Kelsi Jones went 4 for 4 to lead the Cardinals who pounded out a season-high 20 hits - one shy of the school record.
? Shelby McCombs registered a career-high seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings en route to getting the win in the circle.
Cards receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll
For the second straight week and the third time this season, Louisville is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll for the second time this season. Louisville last appeared in the top 25 on Feb. 18, 2014 when the Cards were No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and No. 25 in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll
? 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. USA Today/NFCA Division I poll
? The Cardinals have been ranked as high as No. 8 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll - most recently on April 23, 2013. That season, Louisville spent three weeks in the top 10.
Power surge
Louisville has 30 home runs through 31 games. Maryssa Becker and Brittany Sims lead the team with five homers apiece while six other Cardinals have totalled two or more home runs on the season. Jordan McNary has the team's only inside-the-park home run which came on March 29 in the 13-7 win over Syracuse.
Getting on base
Maryssa Becker has batted in 30 of Louisville's 31 games and has reached safely via a hit or a walk in every game in which she has played. Kelsi Jones recently snapped a 20-game on-base streak while Whitney Arion has reached base the last 14 games.
Hitting for average
The Cardinals are batting a healthy .349 as a team with 11 players registering an average of .300 or above. Kelsi Jones leads the charge with a .446 batting average, Maryssa Becker follows at .404 and Jordan McNary rounds out the top three hitters with a .403 average.
? Entering the week, Louisville stands first in the ACC and eighth in the nation with its .349 team batting average.
Fountain of youth
The graduation of six senior multi-year starters from last year's team has left the Cardinals with some big shoes to fill. The Cardinals' most recent starting lineup featured six underclassmen on the field with two of the three active pitchers being freshmen - the other is a sophomore.
Cards among ACC and NCAA leaders
Louisville entered the week ranked among the ACC and NCAA's statistical leaders in several categories.
ACC
?As a team, the Cardinals lead the ACC in batting average (.349), hits (300), doubles (63) and saves (3). They are ranked second in on-base percentage (.428), slugging percentage (.541), runs scored (209) and RBIs (188).
? Kelsi Jones leads the ACC in three offensive categories. The senior outfielder stands atop the league with a .446 batting average, 15 doubles and a .553 on-base percentage.
? Becker leads the conference with three saves.
NCAA
? The Cards are ranked among the NCAA's top 25 in four categories. Their .354 batting average is good for eighth. They are second in doubles per game (2.10), 21st with a .433 team on-base percentage and 23rd with a .549 slugging percentage.
? Kelsi Jones ranks among the top 20 in the nation in three statistical categories. She is fourth in the nation in doubles per game (0.44), 15th in on-base percentage (.573) and 20th with a .466 batting average.
? Maryssa Becker has three saves on the season and ranks 15th nationally.
Arion climbing record books
Senior shortstop Whitney Arion is currently 10th on the school's career list with 24 home runs. She needs one more to tie Sara Bausher (2002-05) for ninth place. Courtney Moore (2004-07) holds the record with 42 home runs.
? Arion also recently moved to eighth on UofL's career RBI list with 131. She needs nine more to tie Keola Calderon (2000-03) for seventh place. Chelsea Bemis (2008-11) holds the career RBI record with 191.
? In the March 19 game against Miami, Arion made her 200th career start - the most of any player on the team.She now has 207 career starts and needs 12 more to move into the school's top 10.
Becker registers 200th career strikeout - moves into career top 10
Sophomore Maryssa Becker registered her 200th career strikeout in the 7-5 win over Virginia on March 15.
? She is currently ranked eighth on Louisville's list of career strikeout leaders with 230. Kristen Wadwell (2007-10) holds the school record with 696.
Arion Reaches Century Mark in Runs
Senior Whitney Arion's solo home run in the 7-5 win over Virginia marked her 100th career run. She currently has 110 in her career, needing seven more to move into a three-way tie with Sara Bausher (2002-05) and Alicja Wolny (2010-13) for 10th on UofL's all-time list.
Louisville/Sandy Pearsall Reach 600 wins
The 5-0 win over Virginia on March 14 marked the 600th win in Louisville softball program history. It was also head coach Sandy Pearsall's 600th victory since starting the program in 2000. Under her watch, Louisville has won six conference championships, made 11 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Cards picked to finish fifth in ACC preseason voting
Louisville was picked to finish fifth in the ACC regular season as voted by the league's 11 head coaches. Defending regular season and tournament champion Florida State was picked to win the title.
2015 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Florida State
2. Notre Dame
3. NC State
4. Virginia Tech
5. Louisville
6. North Carolina
7. Syracuse
8. Georgia Tech
9. Boston College
10. Pittsburgh
11. Virginia
Louisville softball broadcast schedule
The University of Louisville softball team will have 11 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season games televised on the ESPN family of networks as announced by ESPN Tuesday. ESPNU will carry two of the Cardinals' games against 2014 Women's College World Series participant Florida State when the Seminoles visit Ulmer Stadium April 12 at 7 p.m. and April 13 at 7 p.m.
? Additionally, Louisville will appear on ESPN3 nine times during the regular season. The Cardinals will kick off their ESPN3 coverage March 21 and 22 when they host North Carolina in a three-game series. Louisville's ESPN3 slate continues on the road with all three games at Virginia Tech being shown on April 3 and 4. The Cardinals will conclude their regular season coverage April 25 and 26 when Boston College visits Ulmer Stadium in their final home weekend series. The remainder of Louisville's home games will be streamed on CardsTV through GoCards.com.
Louisville Softball on ESPN Networks
March 21- 12 p.m. - North Carolina (ESPN3)
March 21 - 2:30 p.m. - North Carolina (ESPN3)
March 22 - 12 p.m. - North Carolina (ESPN3)
April 3 - 7 p.m. - @ Virginia Tech (ESPN3)
April 4 - 12 p.m. - @ Virginia Tech (ESPN3)
April 4 - 2 p.m. - @ Virginia Tech (ESPN3)
April 12 - 7 p.m. - Florida State (ESPNU)
April 13 - 7 p.m. - Florida State (ESPNU)
April 25 - 12 p.m. - Boston College (ESPN3)
April 25- 2:30 p.m. - Boston College (ESPN3)
April 26- 12 p.m. - Boston College (ESPN3)
New neighborhood, familiar faces
The 2015 season will mark Louisville softball's debut in the Atlantic Coast Conference. While the Cardinals will be facing some new opponents, they will also be encountering some familiar foes in Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse - all of whom played in the BIG EAST Conference prior to joining the ACC.
? Louisville was a member of the BIG EAST Conference from 2006-2013, and won two regular season titles and two conference tournaments during that time.
? Prior to moving to the BIG EAST, the Cardinals spent six seasons in Conference USA where they won 2005 regular season title. UofL was one of seven teams to play in the league's first season of softball.
? In 2014, the Cardinals competed in their lone season in the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference.
? The following is a breakdown of the Cards' inaugural conference seasons.
Conference First season UofL Conference RecordAmerican* 2014 14-7 (Finished 3rd regular season, won tournament title)BIG EAST 2006 19-3 (Regular season Champion)Conference USA% 2000 8-8^ (Finished 4th- regular season)^UofL's first softball program;*AAC Inaugural conference season; % C-USA's inaugural softball season
