Softball Hosts Notre Dame in Three-Game Series This Weekend

The University of Louisville softball team will return to ACC action this weekend when the Cardinals host Notre Dame in a three-game series at Ulmer Stadium. The teams will open the series with a single game Saturday at 12 p.m. Saturday's 2 p.m. matchup will be shown on ESPNU with Melissa Lee calling play-by-play and Jennie Ritter providing analysis. The series finale is slated for Sunday at 7 p.m. and will be featured on ESPN's ACC Monday. Admission is free.

Weekend Information
Date: April 1-3, 2017
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Ulmer Stadium
Admission: Free
Television: ACC Network Extra/ESPNU
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball

• Louisville brings a 20-8 record into the game after defeating Indiana 2-1 in a midweek non-conference tilt.
• UofL is currently second in the ACC standings with a 4-0 league record - behind No. 1/3 Florida State (28-1-1, 9-0).
• Prior to the game against Indiana, the Cards defeated Syracuse 7-4 in a weather-shortened ACC series last weekend.
• Junior Jamie Soles leads the team with a .370 average. Junior Nicole Pufahl follows at .358 with a team-best 26 RBIs. Senior Maryssa Becker is hitting .321 and leads the team with 18 runs and four homers - she has reached via a hit or walk in each of the last 14 games.
• Becker (15-5) also paces the Cards in the circle with a 1.72 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 122.0 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .224 batting average.
• Louisville is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll.
• Senior Jordan McNary has reached base via a hit, a walk in 15 of her last 17 games and is a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases.
• Sandy Pearsall enters her 18th 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 13 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Notre Dame
Series Record: Notre Dame leads 16-15
Last Meeting: May 13, 2016 - Notre Dame won 4-2. The Cards had late-inning scoring opportunities, but fell short in a 4-2 loss to No. 20/23 Notre Dame in the semifinals of the ACC Championship.
•Megan Hensley took the loss after giving up three earned runs on two hits in one inning. Maryssa Becker surrendered one run on six hits and struck out five. She retired seven straight batters to end the game. Jordan McNary went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Sidney Melton was 2-for-4 with a double to pace the Cards offensively.
•Rachel Nasland got the win, allowing two earned runs on nine hits and striking out seven in a complete game effort. Morgan Reed was 3 for 3 with two RBIs.
• The teams split a doubleheader in the 2016 regular season series with host Notre Dame taking the first game 8-7 and Louisville winning the second 8-3. The third game was cancelled due to weather.
NOTE: The bulk of the series between the teams came between 2005 and 2013 when they were both members of the BIG EAST Conference.
Scouting the Irish: Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 17-13 overall record and in the midst of a five-game win streak dating back to March 22 when the Irish beat Michigan State 11-3. Most recently, Notre Dame edged Eastern Michigan 1-0 in a midweek home matchup Wednesday.
• The Irish swept Virginia Tech in their latest ACC series last weekend. Notre Dame took the first game of a doubleheader 6-1, won the second game 9-1 (5 innings) and completed the sweep with a 9-4 victory on Saturday.
• The Irish are led offensively by Morgan Reed who carries a .396 batting average with 28 RBIs. Ali Wester follows a .383 with a team-high 25 runs while Caitlyn Brooks has four home runs on the season.
• Rachel Nasland (9-5) has a 3.17 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 88.1 innings.

Up Next
Louisville will continue ACC play with a three-game series at Boston College April 7-9.

Up Last
With her team trailing 1-0 in the fifth, junior Nicole Pufahl delivered a two-run single to lift the University of Louisville softball team to a 2-1 win over Indiana. The centerfielder's game-winning hit backed a solid pitching performance by senior Maryssa Becker who surrendered one earned run and struck out five and did not walk a batter while scattering two hits in a complete game effort to push her record to 15-5 on the season.
• In addition to Pufahl's two-RBI performance, Jamie Soles also went 2-for-2 and Morgan Meyer went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI to help pace the Cardinals offensively.

Cards in the ACC
Louisville is currently second in ACC standings with a 4-0 mark against league opponents. While in its third season in the conference, UofL has compiled a 35-15 record in ACC play and has only lost a conference series three times (vs. Virginia Tech in 2015; vs. North Carolina and Florida State in 2016).

Last Weekend
Junior Jenna Jordan drove in a career-high five RBIs as Louisville scored seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take a 7-1 lead and held off a Syracuse rally in the bottom of the seventh to win 7-4. Inclement weather and field conditions forced the cancellation of the final two games of the series.
• Becker (14-5) took home the win, allowing four runs, one earned, and striking out five while scattering eight hits. Jordan finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored and a career-high five RBIs. Pufahl and Szydlowski both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Hitting for average
The Cardinals are hitting .304 as a team. In the current starting lineup, eight players are batting above .300 on the season. Junior Jame Soles recently took as the team's leading hitter with a .370 average. Fellow junior Nicole Pufahl stands second at .358 with junior Alison Szydlowki's .340 average rounding out the top three hitters. Senior Jordan McNary carries a .337 average with senior Tiarra Sanabria and freshman Caitlin Ferguson tied a .333. Senior Maryssa Becker (.321) and junior Jenna Jordan (.317) round out the .300 hitters.
• Before suffering a season-ending injury in the Feb. 25 game against California, junior shortstop Sidney Melton carried a .364 batting average.

Becker Ties School Record with Twelfth Career Save
On March 18, Maryssa Becker entered the game in relief in the seventh inning during game two of Louisville's ACC series with Pitt. The Cards were leading 5-1, but the Panthers had the bases loaded with no outs in the inning with the tying run at the plate. After surrendering a run on a groundout, Becker proceeded to strike out the next two batters to pick up her school-record tying 12th career save.
• Becker is currently tied with Chelsea Leonard (2010-12) and Catherine Bishop (2004-07) and needs one more save to own the record outright.

Becker Sets Single Game RBI Mark
In the Cards' 13-2 win over CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 10, Maryssa Becker connected on an RBI single, a three-run homer and a grand slam, producing eight RBIs and setting a school record. She surpassed the previous record (7) held by Katie Keller (twice in 2013) and Melissa Jacobo (2002).

Becker Earns 50th Career Win, Notches 500th Strikeout
On Feb. 12, senior Maryssa Becker tossed a two-hit, complete game shutout to help the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over Indiana State. The victory marked the 50th of Becker's career and moved her to sixth on Louisville's all-time list. She currently has 62 wins and needs three more move into a tie for fifth along with Jessica Rak (2000-03). Kristen Wadwell (2007-10) owns the record with 94 victories.
• In the Feb. 24 game against California, Becker registered her 500th career strikeout. She becomes only the sixth player in program history to earn at least 500 career Ks. Becker has 559 strikeouts and stands fifth on the all-time list, needing one more to move into a tie for fourth with Jessica Rak (2000-03). Kristien Wadwell (2007-10) holds the all-time record with 696.

Homegrown Talent
The Cardinals' roster featured nine (of 19) players from the commonwealth of Kentucky. Caitlin Ferguson (Fr., INF, Versailles, Ky./Woodford County), Lillie Goetz (So., INF, Owensboro/Owensboro Catholic), Shelby Graybill (Fr., INF/C, Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands), Megan Hensley (So., P/UT, Ashland/Paul Blazer), Jordan McNary (Sr., OF, Madisonville/Hopkins County Central), Morgan Meyer (Sr., OF, Louisville/Mercy), Ashley Nikolao (Jr., UT, Flaherty/Meade County), Michala Riggle (So., C/1B, Louisville/Christian Educational Consortium), Jordan Vorbrink (So., OF, Louisville/Mercy).

Record Watch
Senior 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:
Pitching
• Needs 1 save to own the record for career saves (12)
• Fourth in career strikeouts (573) needs 17 more to tie for third.
• Currently sixth on Louisville's career list for shutouts (16); needs five more to tie for fifth.
• Sixth on the list for career wins (62), needs three more to tie for fifth
Hitting
• Tied for fifth on Louisville's all-time list with 145 career RBIs... needs 20 more to move into a tie for fourth.
• Sixth with 93 walks, needs eight more to tie for fifth.
• Ninth with 26 home runs - needs one more to tie for eighth

Dual Threats
Two of Louisville's top offensive threats also double as the Cards' Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers. Senior Maryssa Becker leads the team with four home runs and is second with 21 RBIs. Sophomore Megan Hensley has six doubles and two homers and has driven in 17.
• In the circle, Becker (15-5) carries a 1.72 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 122.0 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .224 batting average with three shutouts on the season, while Hensley (5-3) has a 2.25 ERA and 32Ks in 53.0 innings.
• The duo is picking up where it left off last season. Listed below are their accomplishments in 2016.
        • Becker led the team with 16 multi-RBI games and 15 multi-hit games. Hensley was right behind her with 14 and 15 respectively.
        • The two combined for 23 of Louisville's 37 home runs and 112 of its 281 RBIs.
        • Becker was a 2016 All-ACC first team selection while Hensley earned second team honors.
        • Hensley earned NFCA All-Southeast Region third team honors.

Louisville Softball Tabbed to Finish Second in 2017 ACC Preseason Coaches' Poll
The University of Louisville softball team was picked to finish second in the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season as voted by the league's 11 head coaches.
• Louisville, which finished second in the league and reached the semifinals of the tournament in
• In 2016, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina and Notre Dame earned postseason berths, with the Seminoles finishing as the Women's College World Series semifinalist.
ACC Softball Predicted Order of Finish
1.       Florida State- 100 (10 first-place votes)
2.       Louisville – 86 (1 first-place vote)
3.       Notre Dame – 84
4.       North Carolina – 67
5.       Virginia Tech – 58
6.       Boston College – 57
7.       Syracuse – 48
8.       Pittsburgh – 44
9.       NC State – 30
10.   Georgia Tech – 17
11.   Virginia – 14

Softball Hosts Notre Dame in Three-Game Series This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Maryssa Becker

Caitlin Ferguson

Lillie Goetz

Shelby Graybill

Megan Hensley

Jenna Jordan

Jordan McNary

Sidney Melton

Morgan Meyer

Ashley Nikolao

Nicole Pufahl

Michala Riggle

Tiarra Sanabria

Jamie Soles

Jordan Vorbrink

University of Louisville Athletics