Softball Travels to Indiana

The University Louisville softball team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a midweek game against Indiana University on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

About Louisville:
• The Cardinals bring a 26-9 overall record into the midweek game, most recently taking two of three games in an ACC series against Virginia Tech over the weekend. With an 11-4 record in conference play, the Cards now stand second in the ACC.
• Junior Maryssa Becker leads the team with a .426 batting average, 11 doubles and 46 RBIs. Freshman Megan Hensley is batting .364 with a team-high 11 home runs and stands second on the team with 40 RBIs. Sophomore Sidney Melton is batting .358 with a team-best 32 runs and 12 stolen bases.
• Becker (14-6) leads the pitching staff with a 2.03 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 134.1 innings. Hensley (12-3) carries a 2.36 ERA with 56 Ks in 92 innings of work.
• Freshman Lillie Goetz recently snapped a 21-game on-base streak. She has now reached safely in 21 of her last 22 games.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 228-101.
• The Cardinals are receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
• Head coach Sandy Pearsall is in her 17th season at the helm. Since starting the program in 2000, she has led the Cardinals to six conference championships and 12 NCAA appearances. Pearsall has a 645-324 overall record at UofL and an 895-658 tally in her 30th season as a head coach.

Cards vs. Indiana
Series Record: Louisville leads 14-3
Last Meeting: March 25, 2015 - Louisville won 6-1 Ulmer Stadium.
• Kayla Soles and Maryssa Becker had two RBIs apiece to help lead the University of Louisville softball team to a 6-1 win over Indiana. Becker got the win, holding the Hoosiers scoreless on four hits and striking out three in 5.0 innings of relief. Shelby McCombs allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out two in 2.0 innings.
• Lora Olson took the loss allowing six runs, four earned, on eight hits in 4.0 innings. Rachel O'Malley paced the Hoosiers offensively with a 2 for 3 performance at the plate.
Scouting the Hoosiers: Indiana enters the game with a 22-16 overall record and a 5-6 mark in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are coming off of a three-game conference series against Penn State last weekend. The Nittany Lions took the first two games of series 13-3 and 15-7 while the Hoosiers won game three by a score of 11-2.
• Rebecca Blitz leads the team with a .368 average, 27 runs and 22 stolen bases. Erin Lehman has driven in a team-high 22 RBI while CaraMia Tsirigos has four home runs on the season.
• In the circle Josie Wood (10-6) carries a 3.25 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 118.1 innings of work. The pitching duties are distributed evenly as Tara Trainer (11-10) has tossed 116.0 innings with 149 strikeouts and carries a 3.26 ERA.

Up next
Following the midweek game, the Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium for a seven-game homestand starting with a three-game series against North Carolina Central this weekend.

Up Last
Louisville took two of three games against Virginia Tech in an ACC series last weekend at Ulmer Stadium. With the series win, the Cards take sole possession of second place in ACC stadings with an 11-4 league record.
Louisville 12 - Virginia Tech3 (five innings)
The University of Louisville softball team used a nine-run fifth inning to break open a 3-3 tie in a 12-3 win over Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium. Junior Maryssa Becker went 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs and got the win in the circle while freshman Megan Hensley hit a three-run walk-off home run to end the game in five innings.
Virginia Tech 4 - Louisville 0
The Cardinals were held scoreless for only the third time this season and left five runners on as Virginia Tech's Maggie Tyler struck out seven in a complete game shutout to pull the Hokies even in the ACC series.
Louisville 2 - Virginia Tech 1
In game two of the doubleheader, the Cardinals scored two runs in the second and held on for a 2-1 win to clinch the series.

Dual Threats
Two of Louisville's top offensive threats also double as the Cards Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers. Junior Maryssa Becker (who also plays first base) leads the team with a .426 batting average and 46 RBIs - she also has thrown a team-high 134.1 innings and has 115 Ks while carrying a 2.03 ERA.
• Freshman Megan Hensley stands second on the team with a .364 batting average and leads Louisville with 11 home runs while splitting time in the outfield, at designated player and in the circle. The rookie carries a 12-3 record and a 2.36 ERA in 92 innings of work.

Hitting for average
Louisville is hitting .316 as a team with nine players batting above .300. Junior Maryssa Becker leads the team with a .426 average while freshman Megan Hensley follows at .364. Sophomore Sidney Melton rounds out the top three with a .358 average.

Power trip
The Cardinals connected a pair of grand slams in back-to-back games against North Carolina State (March 26) and Western Kentucky (March 30). Louisville now has four grand slams on the season, setting a school record for most grand slams in a season and a game (twice).
• On March 26, freshman Lillie Goetz and junior Maryssa Becker each had a grand slam to highlight a 15-run third inning, marking the first time a Louisville team had two grand slams in the same inning - and game.
• Four days later, in the Cards' March 30 contest at Western Kentucky, Goetz delivered her second grand slam in as many games and one inning later, Hensley registered another.

Goetz - efficient production
Freshman Lillie Goetz has two home runs on the season and she had made the most of them, connecting on grand slams both times.
• Goetz is the first Louisville freshman to hit two grand slams in the same season.

Jordan and McNary putting the ball in play
• Sophomore Jenna Jordan is sixth in the NCAA's "Toughest to Strikeout" category with one strikeout in 70 at bats. The catcher's lone strikeout of the season came on March 12 in the 6-1 win over Eastern Kentucky.
• Junior Jordan McNary has two strikeout ins 73 at bats. She played in 26 games with no strikeouts before her first K of the season in the 8-6 loss to North Carolina on April 3.

Becker record watch
Junior Maryssa Becker is ranked among the top 10 in several career categories at Louisville. The following is a list of milestones she will reach in the near future:
• 8 RBIs to move into the top 10 on the career list (118)
• 2 RBIs to tie for 10th on single season list (48)
• 5 walks (offensively) to tie for 8th on the career list (67)
• 1 win to tie for 6th in career wins (42)
• 2 saves to tie for 1st in career saves (12)
• 3 shutouts to move into a tie for 7th on the career list (13)

Potent offense
On March 26, Louisville used a 15-run third inning - which included grand slams by freshman Lillie Goetz and junior Maryssa Becker - en route to a 19-3 win over NC State.
• The 19 runs are the second most in school history behind a 22-4 win over Ohio University on March 9, 2014.
• The two grand slams in the third inning marked the first time in program history that Louisville has hit a pair of grand slams in the same inning – or game.
• Goetz's grand slam was the first since March 9, 2015 when Kayla Soles hit one against Illinois State.
• Louisville is ranked 21st in the nation in scoring with 6.51 runs per game.

Rookie sensation
Freshman Megan Hensley is in the midst of an impressive rookie campaign. The pitcher/outfielder/designated player leads the team with a 11 home runs and is the first freshman in program history to hit 10 or more home runs.
• Hensley currently has 40 RBIs, placing her second among freshmen in program history in that category. She needs 10 more to tie (current director of softball marketing) Chelsea Bemis who had 50 in her freshman campaign (2008).
• Her homer in the 12-3 win over Virginia Tech on April 9 moved Hensley into a three-way tie for 10th on Louisville's single season list. She needs one more to move to a tie for sixth. Courtney Moore owns the school record for most home runs in a season with 17 (2005).

Homegrown Talent
The Cardinals' roster features 11 (of 21) players from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Jessica Adell, Morgan Hart, Morgan Meyer, Michala Riggle and Jordan Vorbrink all hail from Louisville. Lillie Goetz (Owensboro), Megan Hensley (Ashland), Sarah Lopesilvero (Simpsonville), Jordan McNary (Madisonville), Ashley Nikolao (Flaherty), Brittany Sims (Lexington) round out the other players from the Commonwealth.

Youth Factor
With six underclassmen in its most recent starting lineup and only three seniors on the team, it is fair to say that the 2016 Cardinals are a young team. Three of the four pitchers on the roster are underclassmen with junior Maryssa Becker serving as the veteran on the staff.

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Adell

Maryssa Becker

Lillie Goetz

Morgan Hart

Megan Hensley

Jenna Jordan

Sarah Lopesilvero

Shelby McCombs

Jordan McNary

Sidney Melton

Morgan Meyer

Ashley Nikolao

Michala Riggle

Brittany Sims

Kayla Soles

Jordan Vorbrink

University of Louisville Athletics