Softball Plays Host to North Carolina Central

The University Louisville softball team will kick off a seven-game home stand this weekend when the Cards play host to North Carolina Central in a three game series at Ulmer Stadium. The teams will meet in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday and will play a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Series Info: Louisville vs. N.C. Central
Date: April 16-17, 2016
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Ulmer Stadium
Live scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter updates: @UofLSoftball

About Louisville:
• The Cardinals bring a 27-9 overall record into the weekend after beating Indiana 12-2 in a midweek game in Bloomington. Prior to that, Louisville took two of three games in an ACC series against Virginia Tech last 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 .433 batting average, 12 doubles and 48 RBIs. Freshman Megan Hensley is batting .369 with a team-high 11 home runs and stands second on the team with 42 RBIs. Sophomore Sidney Melton is batting .351 with a team-best 34 runs and 13 stolen bases.
• Becker (15-6) leads the pitching staff with a 1.99 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 137 innings. Hensley (12-3) carries a 2.37 ERA with 58Ks in 94.1 innings of work.
More Cardinal Quick Hits
• 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 240-103.
• 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 646-324 overall record at UofL and an 896-658 tally in her 30th season as a head coach.

Cards vs. North Carolina Central
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Eagles: N.C. Central brings a 4-35 overall record into the weekend. The Eagles are coming off of a doubleheader split with Norfolk State, falling 9-1 in the first game, but rebounding for a 7-2 victory in the nightcap on Wednesday.
• Markell Wylie leads the team with a .308 batting average and 18 runs. Jenny Tracy follows with a .303 average and a team-best four home runs.
• Jennifer Allison (1-12) carries a 5.55 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 87.0 innings while Booker (3-14) has a 5.98 ERA with 70 Ks in 86.2 innings of work.
Up next
Following this weekend, the Cardinals will resume ACC play with a three-game series against Syracuse next weekend at Ulmer Stadium. Louisville will also honor seniors Morgan Hart, Brittany Sims and Hailey Smith prior to the Sunday game.

Up Last
Louisville 12- Indiana 3
Sophomore Nicole Pufahl had three RBIs to help lead the University of Louisville softball team to a 12-2 win over Indiana on Tuesday evening at IU's Andy Mohr Field. Louisville (27-9) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but scored 12 unanswered runs while outhitting Indiana 11-3 in a five-inning contest.
• Junior Maryssa Becker (15-6) did not allow a run or a hit while strikeout out four in 2.2 innings of relief en route to her career-best 15th win of the season. She also finished the game going a 2 for 3 with a double and a run. McNary went 2 for 4 with a double, a stolen base and two RBIs. Sims was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Hensley went 1 for 1 with two RBIs and was walked three times in the game.

Up Last in the ACC
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 leage 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 .433 batting average and 48 RBIs - she also has thrown a team-high 137 innings and has 119 Ks while carrying a1.99 ERA.
• Freshman Megan Hensley stands second on the team with a .369 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 2.37 ERA in 94.1 innings of work.

Hitting for average
Louisville is hitting .319 as a team with nine players batting above .300. Junior Maryssa Becker leads the team with a .433 average while freshman Megan Hensley follows at .369. Sophomore Sidney Melton rounds out the top three with a .351 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 71 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 strikeouts in 77 at bats. The speedy outfielder 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:
• 6 RBIs to move into the top 10 on the career list (118)
• 2 RBIs to tie for 10th on single season list (48)
• 4 walks (offensively) to tie for 8th on the career list (67)
• 2 saves to tie for 1st in career saves (12)
• 3 shutouts to move into a tie for 7th on the career list (13)
- On April 12, Becker got the win in relief in the Cards' 12-2 victory over Indiana. In doing so, she registered her 15th win of the season - a career high for wins. She also moved to sixth on Louisville's career wins list with 42.
- Also in the IU game, Becker drove in a pair of runs to give her 48 on the season and move her into Louisville's top 10 list for single season RBIs.

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

Jordan McNary

Sidney Melton

Morgan Meyer

Ashley Nikolao

Nicole Pufahl

Michala Riggle

Brittany Sims

Hailey Smith

Kayla Soles

Jordan Vorbrink

University of Louisville Athletics