Softball Travels to NC State for Regular Season Finale

The University of Louisville softball team will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at NC State this weekend. The teams will open the series with a single game Friday at 5 p.m. Game two will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. while the series finale Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games will be shown on the ACC Network Extra.

Louisville vs. NC State Series Information
May 5-7, 2017
Location: Raleigh, N.C.
Venue: Dail Softball Stadium
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring: GoPack.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball

Louisville (28-18) stands fourth in the ACC with an 11-8 league record while NC State (17-34) is currently seventh with a 10-11 mark in conference play. Both teams have clinched a spot in next week's ACC Championship with seeding to be determined after the weekend.
Louisville will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at NC State this weekend.

Cardinal Notes
• The Cardinals bring a 28-18 record into the weekend after taking two of three games against Virginia in their final home series last weekend.
• UofL is currently fourth in ACC standings with a 11-8 league record. No. 2/3 Florida State (47-3-1, 24-0) stands first in the league. Boston College (29-19, 13-7) follows in second place while North Carolina (38-18, 14-9) stands third.
• Junior Nicole Pufahl leads the team with a .377 batting average, seven home runs, 41 RBIs and 35 runs. The centerfielder also paces the Cards in multi-hit games (13) and multi-RBI games (10) and has reached via a walk or hit in the last 20 games.
• Louisville has six players in the starting lineup batting over .300 on the season.
• Senior Maryssa Becker (20-10) paces the Cards in the circle with a 2.59 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 189.1 innings of work. Her 20 wins match last year's total and equal her career high for wins in a season.
• Senior Morgan Meyer is on a six-game hitting streak.
• Senior Jordan McNary has reached base via a hit, a walk in 29 of her last 31 games and is a perfect with a career-best 13-for-13 in stolen bases.
• 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
NC State
North Carolina State
Series Record: Louisville leads the series 5-1
Last Meeting: March 26, 2016 – Louisville took the third game of a weekend series 19-3 in five innings to complete the series sweep at Ulmer Stadium.
• Maryssa Becker took the win after only allowing three earned runs on four hits while striking out four in 5.0 innings.
• The Cardinals set a school record as Lillie Goetz and Becker both hit grand slams in the third inning. Louisville ended the inning scoring 15 runs.
• Courtney Mirabella took the loss after giving up 17 runs, nine earned, on 13 hits in 3.0 innings. Molly Hutchinson went 1 for 2 with two RBIs to lead the Wolfpack at the plate.
Scouting the Wolfpack: North Carolina State enters the weekend with a 17-34 overall record and a 10-11 conference mark.
• The Wolfpack is coming off losing two of three at Boston College. The Wolfpack dropped the first game 6-1 Friday. They came back on Saturday to win 4-1, but fell in the deciding game 7-6 on Sunday.
• Jade Caraway who carries a .396 batting average with a team-best 65 hits, and 4 triples leads the Wolfpack at the plate. Tyler Ross follows with a .323 average and leads the team with eight doubles. Ross is also tied with Hutchinson for a team-best 10 homeruns.
• Peyton Silverman (12-21) leads the Wolfpack in the circle with a 4.97 ERA. She also carries 122 strikeouts in 204.1 innings and has logged one save with 21 complete games.

Up Next
The Cards will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the ACC Championship May 11-13.

Up Last
Tiarra Sanabria helped the Cardinals clinch a spot in the ACC championship with two wins against Virginia this weekend. The senior batted .750 (6-for-8) and had at least one hit and one RBI in each game and scored twice in both of Louisville's wins. She connected on two home runs and a double to help produce a 1.625 slugging percentage and drew two walks to add to an .800 on-base percentage. The first baseman did not commit an error while recording 18 putouts and one assist on the weekend.
Series recap:
Louisville 7 - Virginia 5
A four-run sixth inning helped the University of Louisville softball team overcome a 5-3 deficit and defeat Virginia 7-3 in the opening game of the three-game ACC series.
• Megan Hensley went 3-for-4 with an RBI and picked up her second save in the circle while senior Maryssa Becker registered her career-best 20th win of the season and drove in two runs.
• Erika Osherow took the loss after giving up seven runs, four earned, on 13 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Katie Park and Danni Ingraham each had two hits, an RBI and a run while Madison Labshere finished the game with a pair of runs.
Louisville 11 - Virginia 3
Every player in the batting order registered at least one hit and scored at least one run as the University of Louisville softball team defeated Virginia 11-3 to clinch the ACC series.
• Morgan Meyer and Becker each had two hits and drove in two runs and Tiarra Sanabria connected on a two-run homer and scored twice to back Megan Hensley who gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in five innings.
• Lexi Mettler took the loss after giving up six runs, five earned, on four hits and striking out one in 3.2 innings. Lacy Smith allowed five earned runs on seven hits in one inning of relief.
Virginia 7 - Louisville 3
Tiarra Sanabria went 3-for-3 to help the University of Louisville softball team to 10 hits, but a five-run fifth inning lifted the Cavaliers to a 7-3 win in the Cardinals home finale
• Erika Osherow picked up the win, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits and striking out one in a complete game effort. Ingraham finished the game with three RBIs and scored two runs while Park and Allison Davis had two hits for the Cavaliers.
• Becker took the loss after giving up six runs, four earned, on six hits and striking out two in four innings. Hensley surrendered one earned run on two hits and struck out three and retired eight of the final nine batters she faced in three innings of relief.
• The Cardinals outhit the Cavaliers 10-8 in the game with Meyer and Becker collecting two and McNary going 1-for-4 with a run and a stolen base in her final home game. Pufahl had a hit, a run and an RBI to help her team offensively.

Cards in ACC Championship
Last weekend, the Cardinals picked up two wins against Virginia to clinch a spot in the 2017 ACC Championship. Louisville has made the conference postseason in each of its three seasons an an ACC member and has been a top-five seed in the 17 years in program history dating back to 2000, its inaugural season in Conference USA.

Senior Spotlight
On April 30, the Cardinals honored seniors Maryssa Becker, Jordan McNary, Morgan Meyer and Tiarra Sanabria in their final home game. Entering the weekend, the 2017 senior class has collected 129 wins, played in three NCAA regionals and have appeared in the top 25 rankings five times. As freshmen, they helped Louisville win the American Athletic Conference Championship. All four players are multi-year starters and have been integral in the Cardinals' transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Hitting for average
Six players in the current starting lineup batting above .300 on the season. Junior Nicole Pufahl is the team's leading hitter with a .377 average while seniors Jordan McNary and Tiarra Sanabria are tied for second at .329. Senrio Maryssa Becker stands fourth at .316. Jamie Soles (.301) and Megan Hensley (.300) round out the top six.
• 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 following junior Sidney Melton's season-ending injury in late February. Since that time, the freshman has settled into the role with a .275 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 .377 batting average and a .630 slugging percentage with seven home runs, 12 doubles, 41 RBIs and 35 runs. She also has tallied a team-best 14 multi-hit performances and and 11 multi-RBI games.

Hensley Tosses One-Hitter Against Western Kentucky
Megan Hensley tossed a complete game one-hit shutout and drove in the only run of the game to lift the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over visiting Western Kentucky on April 19. The one-hitter was Hensley's first of the season and third in her career.

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 15 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).

Becker 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 (610) needs 10 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 (67), needs two more to tie for third
Hitting
• Fifth on Louisville's all-time list with 153 career RBIs... needs 12 more to move into a tie for fourth
• Sixth with 100 walks, needs one more to tie for fifth
• Ninth with 26 home runs - needs one more to tie for eighth
• Ninth with 43 doubles - needs one more to tie for eighth

McNary Stealing Records
Senior Jordan McNary leads the team with a career-high 13 stolen bases this season. The speedy outfielder is currently eighth on Louisville's all-time list with 36 career stolen bases and needs two more to move into a tie for seventh with Melissa Roth (2007-10).
• Audrey Rendon (2004-07) holds Louisville's career record with 82 stolen bases.

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, 29 RBIs and nine doubles. Sophomore Megan Hensley also has 10 doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs.
• In the circle, Becker (20-10) carries a 2.59 ERA with 147 strikeouts in 189.1 innings of work with four shutouts on the season, while Hensley (8-8) has a 2.96 ERA and 58Ks in 108.2 innings.

University of Louisville Athletics

Softball Travels to NC State for Regular Season Finale

Players Mentioned

Maryssa Becker

Caitlin Ferguson

Lillie Goetz

Shelby Graybill

Megan Hensley

Jordan McNary

Sidney Melton

Morgan Meyer

Ashley Nikolao

Nicole Pufahl

Michala Riggle

Tiarra Sanabria

Jamie Soles

Jordan Vorbrink

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