Softball Welcomes Lipscomb and Western Kentucky for a Pair of Midweek Games

The University of Louisville softball team will kick off an eight-game home stretch with a pair of midweek games this week. The Cards will play host to Lipscomb in a single game Tuesday at 5 p.m. and Western Kentucky Wednesday at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Game Information
Date/Opponent/Time
April 18, 2017 - Lipscomb, 5 p.m
April 19, 2017 - Western Kentucky, 6 p.m.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Ulmer Stadium
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball

Cardinal Quick Hits
• Louisville brings a 25-13 record into the weekend after three-game ACC series sweep at Virginia Tech last weekend.
• Junior Nicole Pufahl leads the team with a .395 batting average, seven home runs, 37 RBIs and 28 runs. The centerfielder also leads the Cards in multi-hit games (13) and multi-RBI games (10) and has reached via a walk or hit in the last 12 games.
• Louisville has six players in the starting lineup batting over .300 on the season.
• Senior Maryssa Becker (19-7) paces the Cards in the circle with a 2.13 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 167.2 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .247 batting average.
• Senior Jordan McNary has reached base via a hit, a walk in 21 of her last 23 games and is a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases.
• UofL is currently third in ACC standings with a 9-4 league record. No. 1/2 Florida State (39-3-1, 18-0) stands first in the league with North Carolina (35-11, 13-5) in second.
• Sandy Pearsall is in 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.

Cards Against the Opponents
Lipscomb
Series Record: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: March 2, 2016 – Lipscomb took the first game of a doubleheader in Nashville, Tenn. with a score of 2-1. Louisville came back in the second game to win 7-1.
• Maryssa Becker took the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits and striking out seven in six innings.
• Tanner Sanders took the win, surrendering one earned run and striking out six in seven innings. Khayla Green went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI to lead Lipscomb at the plate.
• Megan Hensley took the win in game two, allowing one earned run on four hits, striking out seven in a complete game effort. Becker went 2-for-3 with a run and Sidney Melton finished the game 1 for 2 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Mandy Jordan took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits and striking out five through 4.2 innings of work.
Scouting the Lady Bison: Lipscomb enters the weekend with a 31-13 overall record.
• The Bison took two of three games in an Atlantic Sun series with North Florida last weekend in Nashville, Tenn. Lipscomb won game of the Friday doubleheader 8-1, dropped the second game 5-0, and took decisive third game with a 2-1 win Saturday.
• Lipscomb is led offensively by Caitlin Plocheck who carries a .347 batting average with a team-best 52 hits, 13 doubles, 28 RBIs, and 9 homeruns. Kasey Gibson follows with a .329 batting average and leads the team with 24 runs and three triples.
• Current ASUN Pitcher of the Week Mandy Jordan (20-7) leads Lipscomb in the circle with a 1.21 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 180.0 innings and has notched two saves. McCarley Thomas follows with a 10-6 record and a 2.63. She has logged 101.0 innings and added 105 strikeouts.

Western Kentucky
Series Record: Louisville leads 16-3
Last Meeting: March 30, 2016 – Louisville won 12-0 in five innings in Bowling Green, Ky.
• Becker got the win while scattering four hits and struck out five in her third shutout of the season. She also went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs to help the Cards who logged 11 hits in the game.
• Hannah Parker took the loss after giving up seven earned runs on four hits and striking out one in 1.2 innings of work.
Scouting the Hilltoppers: Western Kentucky enters the game with a 24-22 overall record. The Hilltoppers stand fourth in the Conference USA East Division with 8-10 mark in league play.
• Western Kentucky took two of three games from Charlotte in a weekend series in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers won 3-2 and 12-5 in the first and second games of a doubleheader, respectively. The 49ers took the third game 2-0 Saturday.
• Jordan Mauch leads WKU with a .311 batting average with a team-high 41 hits, nine doubles, and 11 homeruns.
• Kathryn Downing (13-9) carries a 2.12 ERA tallying 82 strikeouts in 141.2 innings.

Up Next
The Cards will return to ACC play with a three-game series against No. 1/2 Florida State this weekend at Ulmer Stadium. The teams will open the series in a single game Saturday at 12 p.m. which will be carried by the ACC Network Extra. Game two is slated for a 12 p.m. start Sunday and shown on ESPNU. Monday's series finale will air on ESPNU as part of the network's ACC Monday.

Up Last
Junior Jenna Jordan went 2-for-2 with an RBI to pace Louisville offensively, but the Cardinals could only muster four hits and tied a season high with four errors as No. 21/22 Kentucky evened the all-time series between the teams at 19 wins apiece with a 10-1 victory Wednesday evening.

Last Weekend
Louisville swept host Virginia Tech to improve to 9-4 in ACC play.
Louisville 13- Virginia Tech 6
In game one of the doubleheader, junior Jenna Jordan went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, junior Nicole Pufahl scored three runs and senior Maryssa Becker drove in three to help the Cardinals beat the Hokies 13-6.
• Megan Hensley (6-6) got the win after a strong performance in 5.1 innings of relief. The sophomore surrendered two earned runs and on five hits and struck out two while helping her cause with a run, an RBI and a 3-for-5 performance at the plate.

Louisville 6 - Virginia Tech 0
Maryssa Becker scattered six hits and struck out four en route to her fourth complete game shutout of the season while Pufahl and Jordan tallied two RBIs to help the Cards clinch the series with a 6-0 win.
Louisville 10 - Virginia Tech 8
The Cards scored 10 runs in the first three innings and held on to beat Virginia Tech 10-8 to complete an ACC series sweep Saturday at Tech Softball Park.
• Megan Hensley, who had entered to pitch in the sixth, retired all three batters she faced in the seventh inning to pick up her first save of the season.
•Becker earned the win, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits and striking out seven in five innings. Hensley surrendered one earned run on one hits in two innings of relief.
• Offensively, the Cardinals held a 13-11 edge in hits with five different players tallying two hits. Ferguson, Hensley and Soles drove in three apiece.

Hitting for average
Louisville is hitting .302 as a team with six players in the current starting lineup batting above .300 on the season. Junior Nicole Pufahl is the team's leading hitter with a .395 average. Senior Jordan McNary follows at .351 while junior Jamie Soles stands third at a .333 clip. Freshman Caitlin Ferguson (.319), junior Jenna Jordan (.309) and senior Maryssa Becker (.303) round out the top six hitters.
• Before suffering a season-ending injury in the Feb. 25 game against California, junior shortstop Sidney Melton carried a .364 batting average.

Ferguson Takes Over
Caitlin Ferguson stepped into the role of Louisville's starting shortstop and leadoff hitter following junior Sidney Melton's season-ending injury in late February. Since that time, the freshman has settled into the role and is one of the top hitters on the team with a .319 average, eight doubles, 17 runs and 20 RBIs. She is second on the team with six multi-RBI games and stands fifth with nine multi-hit performances.

Pufahl's Time to Shine
Junior centerfielder Nicole Pufahl leads the Cardinals in most offensive categories while in the midst of a career-best season. The three-year starter carries a .395 batting average and a .667 slugging percentage with seven home runs, eight doubles, 37 RBIs and 28 runs. She also has tallied a team-best 13 multi-hit performances and and 10 multi-RBI games.

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 600th 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 66 wins and needs one more to move into a tie for fifth along with Jessica Rak (2000-03). Kristen Wadwell (2007-10) owns the record with 94 victories.
• In the April 15 game against Virginia Tech, Becker fanned seven batters and in doing so, notched her 600th career strikeout. She now stands third on the school's list for career Ks and needs 16 more to move into a tie for second with Catherine Bishop (2004-07). Kristen 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)
• Third in career strikeouts (600) needs 16 more to tie for second.
• Currently sixth on Louisville's career list for shutouts (17); needs four more to tie for fifth.
• Tied for fourth on the list for career wins (66), needs three more to tie for third
Hitting
• Fifth on Louisville's all-time list with 147 career RBIs... needs 18 more to move into a tie for fourth
• Sixth with 989 walks, needs two more to tie for fifth
• Ninth with 26 home runs - needs one more to tie for eighth
• Tenth with 42 doubles - needs one more to tie for ninth

Dual Threats
Two of Louisville's top offensive threats also double as the Cards' Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers. Senior Maryssa Becker is second on the team with four home runs and is second with 23 RBIs. Sophomore Megan Hensley has a team-best nine doubles and two homers and stands third on the team with 22 RBIs.
• In the circle, Becker (19-7) carries a 2.17 ERA with 137 strikeouts in 167.2 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .247 batting average with four shutouts on the season, while Hensley (6-6) has a 3.01 ERA and 41Ks in 74.1 innings.
• 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.

Softball Welcomes Lipscomb and Western Kentucky for a Pair of Midweek Games

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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

Jamie Soles

Jordan Vorbrink

University of Louisville Athletics