Cardinals Shut Out Syracuse 1-0 in ACC Quarterfinals

Thursday, May 12

Raleigh, N.C.

5:00 PM

University of Louisville

35-14

Syracuse

27-26

Syracuse

Louisville

May 12, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

Cards advance to semifinals to face the winner of Notre Dame and Virginia Tech

RALEIGH, N.C. – The second-seeded University of Louisville softball team scored a run in the bottom of the fifth and held on to beat seventh-seeded Syracuse 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship on Thursday evening at NC State's Dail Field. The Cardinals (35-14) move on to the semifinals to face the winner of Friday evening's game between third-seeded Notre Dame and sixth-seeded Virginia Tech. The semifinal game will take place at 3:30 p.m. and will be aired regionally on Fox Sports and ESPN3.

"Obviously we're very pleased to win the first game of the tournament, sometimes that's a tough one for teams," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "I thought we did some really good things today. We came out swinging the bat very well, we hit the ball right on the nose, it just didn't fall for us. We got some great pitching out of Megan Hensley and Maryssa Becker coming in to finish it off really helped us. The other key for us is that we didn't make any defensive mistakes. Unfortunately for Syracuse, they made a key mistake and we were able to capitalize on it for a run. I'm really proud of our team and what they did and the way they kept battling for the win."

Freshman Megan Hensley and junior Maryssa Becker (20-10) combined for Louisville's 11^th shutout of the season in a game that featured a pitchers' duel that saw each team with five hits.

After four and a half scoreless innings, the Cardinals broke through with an unearned run in the fifth. Sophomores Jenna Jordan and Sidney Melton delivered back-to-back singles to start the home half of the inning. Melton was out at second on a fielder's choice by senior Brittany Sims, but an error on a double play attempt sent pinch-runner sophomore Jessica Adell home to give Louisville a 1-0 lead.

The Orange had a scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth when back-to-back two-out hits by Olivia Martinez and Alyssa Dewes put two runners on, but Becker entered in relief of Hensley and retired the next seven batters to get the win.

Hensley got the start in the circle and held the Orange scoreless while striking out two in 4.2 innings. Melton went 2 for 2 to lead the Cards at the plate.

AnnaMarie Gotti (12-14) took the loss after allowing one unearned run on five hits and striking out one in six innings. Dewes and Kelsey Johnson each had two hits for the Orange.