Softball Set for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Raleigh, N.C. for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this weekend. NC State's Dial Stadium will serve as the host site as the Cardinals take on No. 21/22 Ohio State and Northwestern which is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA coaches' polls. The Cardinals (4-1) will open the weekend Friday with a pair of games against Northwestern starting at 11 a.m.. Action continues Saturday Louisville takes on No. 21/22 Ohio State at 10 a.m. The Cards and Buckeyes will wrap up the weekend with a 10 a.m. first pitch Sunday.

About the ACC/Big Ten Challenge
- The third annual event features 10 schools from each conference, playing four games each at five campus sites over a three-day period from Feb. 16-18, 2018.
      - The Cards hold a 6-3 all-time record through the first two years of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
      - Louisville posted a 4-1 mark in the 2017 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, starting with a 9-0 win over Ohio State followed by a pair of victories against Purdue (6-5, 9-1). The Buckeyes handed the Cardinals a 4-3 loss on the final day.

About Louisville
Louisville is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches' polls after starting the season with a 4-1 record at the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Invitational last weekend.
• Junior outfielder Blaire Bass leads Louisville with a .400 batting average and four RBIs. Senior Nicole Pufahl follows at a .385 clip with four runs and four RBIs.
• Freshman RHP Danielle Watson (3-0) carries a team-best 0.89 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work while holding opponents to a .145 batting average.
• Louisville is coming off of a 31-19 campaign in 2017. The Cardinals finished the season with a 14-8 mark in ACC play which placed them second in the final ACC regular season standings.
• The Cardinals return six starters from last season including 2017 all-ACC selection senior Nicole Pufahl and all-ACC freshman team member sophomore Caitlin Ferguson as well as 2016 all-ACC selection junior Megan Hensley.
• The Cardinals were picked to finish fourth in the ACC regular season according to a poll by the league's 12 head coaches.
• Sandy Pearsall enters her 19th 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 NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Cards against the field
Northwestern
Series Record: Louisville leads 3-2
Last Meeting: March 8, 2015 - Northwestern won 11-0 at Ulmer Stadium in the Louisville Softball Invitational.
Scouting the Wildcats: Northwestern enters the weekend with a 4-1 record and receiving votes in both USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches' polls.
• Northwestern opened its season last weekend at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. After dropping their opening game 4-1 to then-No. 7 Arizona, the Wildcats went on to beat San Diego State (7-6, 8 inn.), Boise State (11-3, 5 inn.), Indiana (5-1) and South Dakota (13-5, 5 inn.)
• The Wildcats are led offensively by Lily Novak who is hitting .500 (6 for 12) with seven RBIs and three runs. Rachel Lewis follows at a .400 clip with six runs and five RBI. Lewis and Sabrina have five stolen bases apiece to account for 10 of the Wildcats' 18 stolen bases.

Ohio State
Series Record: Louisville leads 8-4
Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2017 - Ohio State defeated Louisville 4-3. Lillie Goetz drove in three runs, but it wasn't enough in a 4-3 loss to the Buckeyes in the final game of the 2017 ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
• Goetz paced Louisville at the plate with a 2-for-3, three RBI performance, connecting on doubles in the first and seventh innings. Megan Hensley took the loss after surrendering four earned runs on six hits and striking out two in a complete game effort.
      - Lena Springer got the win after giving up three earned runs and striking out seven in seven innings. Alex Bayne went 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Buckeyes offensively.
• Louisville defeated Ohio State 9-0 in the first matchup of the 2017 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Megan Hensley connected on a grand slam to back Maryssa Becker's complete game shutout.
      - Shelby Hursh took the loss after allowing seven runs, one earned, on five hits and striking out four while walking four in 4.0 innings. Shelby McCombs gave up two earned runs in 1.0 innings of relief. Emily Clark and Bri Betschel each had a hit for the Buckeyes (3-2).
Scouting the Buckeyes: Ohio State enters the weekend with a 5-0 record and ranked No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches' poll and No. 22 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches' poll.
      Last weekend in the FAU First Pitch Classic, the Buckeyes picked up wins over Northern Illinois (9-0 and 10-2), Duke (5-2), Florida Atlantic (10-1), and Boston University (3-2-8 inn.)
• The Buckeyes are led by current Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Shelby McCombs who carries a 3-0 record and a 0.34 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 20.2 innings. She is also hitting .500 (4 for 8) with a home run and two RBIs. Ashley Goodwin and Bailee Sturgeon pace the Buckeyes offensively, each touting a .462 batting average (6 for 13) along with three RBIs. Lilli Piper has belted out five doubles, and a home run to produce a team-best eight RBIs.

Up Next: After starting the season in Orlando, the Cardinals will return there in the third week for the D-9 Citrus Classic 1 at Disney's Wide World of Sports. While there, Louisville will take on Lehigh, South Carolina, Morgan State, South Alabama and Harvard.

Recapping Last weekend
Junior Blaire Bass led the way offensively with a .400 batting average (6 for 15) and freshman Danielle Watson (3-0, 0.89 ERA) paced the Cards in the circle as Louisville collected wins over Butler (5-2), UCF (5-3) North Florida (5-4) and Illinois (9-7) and suffered its first loss of the season in a 2-0 setback to North Carolina in a non-conference game.
Louisville 5 - Butler 2
• Junior Blaire Bass went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI to help lead the Cardinals to a 5-2 win over Butler. Junior Megan Hensley (1-0) struck out seven, allowed two unearned runs and scattered five hits to get the complete game win.

Louisville 5 - UCF 3
• In the second game of opening day, Bass went 2 for 3 with an RBI and Jordan connected on a two-run homer to back freshman pitchers Danielle Watson and Kyra Snyder who combined to allow four hits and struck out eight.

Louisville 5 - North Florida
The Cards rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the fourth and scored a pair of runs in the seventh to beat North Florida 5-4 in the third game of the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Invitational Saturday afternoon.
• Senior Nicole Pufahl went 3 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs to tie the game twice and senior Jamie Soles drive in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh to help lift the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over North Florida. Freshman Danielle Watson (2-0) picked up her second straight win after holding the Ospreys to two hits, striking out four and allowing two runs, one earned in 5.0 innings of relief.

North Carolina 2 - Louisville 0
The University of Louisville softball team fell 2-0 to North Carolina in a non-conference matchup Saturday at the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Invitational.
• Senior Alison Szydlowski and sophomore Caitlin Ferguson had two hits apiece to account for Louisville's four team hits in Louisville's first shutout of the season. Junior Megan Hensley (1-1) took the loss, allowing two earn runs on four hits in 4.1 innings of work.

Louisville 9 - Illinois 7
Freshman Kyra Snyder went 4 for 5 with a double and three RBIs to help lead the University of Louisville softball team to a 9-7 win against Illinois in the final game of UCF's Friends of Jaclyn Invitational Sunday morning. The Cardinals finish their opening weekend with a 4-1 overall record.
• In a game that featured a total 24 hits and five combined errors between the two teams, the Cardinals built a 7-2 lead only to see the Illini chip away and then tie the game in the sixth. For the second time in as many days, Louisville put together a late-inning rally to secure the win.

Hitting for average
The Cardinals posted a .303 team batting average in their opening weekend with five starters hitting above .300. Junior Blaire Bass leads the way at .400 with senior Nicole Pufahl following at .385. Senior Alison Szydlowski is a close third with a .375 average. Freshman Kyra Snyder is hitting .357 in the early season while sophomore Caitlin Ferguson rounds out the top five at a .333 clip. Junior Madison Cousineau carries a .500 average, going 3 for 6 in three games including one start at catcher.

Pufahl back at it
Centerfielder Nicole Pufahl returns as Louisville's offensive leader in most categories following a career-best season in 2017. After pacing the team with 43 RBIs and 37 runs last year, she picks up where she left off, tied with Blaire Bass and Jenna Jordan for a team-high four runs and matching Sidney Melton with four RBIs. She also has one home run and one stolen base.

Watson off to stellar start
Freshman Danielle Watson was impressive in her opening weekend as a Cardinal. The right-handed pitcher posted a 0.89 ERA and a 3-0 record in four appearances and struck out 12 in 15.2 innings of work while holding opponents to a .145 batting average.
•The Osceola, Ind., native made her debut in the Cardinals 5-3 win over UCF. In that game, she surrendered one earned run and struck out five while scattering four hits in 5.0 innings. Against North Florida, Danielle Watson (2-0) picked up her second straight win after holding the Ospreys to two hits, striking out four and allowing two runs, one earned in 5.0 innings of relief and retired eight of the last nine batters she faced. She wrapped up the weekend with her third win – again in relief. Against Illinois, she allowed three unearned runs on two hits and struck out three in 3.0 innings.

Senior leadership
Through the first five games of the season, the four seniors in the starting lineup have been instrumental in the Cardinals' early success.
•Catcher Jenna Jordan has also driven in four runs and connected on a home run.
•Centerfielder Nicole Pufahl is tied for the team lead in runs (4), RBI (4) and home runs (1).
• Second baseman Jamie Soles has started four games and reached base three of them and drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh to propel Louisville to a 5-4 come-from-behind win over North Florida.
• Third baseman Alison Szydlowski stands third on the team with a .375 batting average and is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
Note: Senior Ashley Nikolao is currently sidelined by injury.

Youthful impact
Along with the veteran leadership on the field, several underclassmen have also made valuable contributions.
• Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson has started every game at shortstop or third base and carries a .333 batting average with two doubles and two runs scored.
• Freshman RHP Danielle Watson leads the pitching staff with a 3-0 record and a 0.89 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work.
• Freshman Kyra Snyder has started every game at first base or in the circle and stands fourth on the team with a .357 batting average and three RBIs.

The road ahead
The Cardinals 2018 schedule, which features games against six teams who qualified for the 2017 NCAA Tournament and eight opponents who are ranked or are receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA top 25 polls of 2017. The Cardinals will play 23 games at Ulmer Stadium, including two tournaments.

Cards on the air
At the start of the 2018 season, the Cardinals will have 25 games televised nationally including one contest on ESPNU. The television slate feature all of the Cardinals' 23 home games.
• All 12 ACC institutions sponsoring softball will be featured multiple times throughout the season, with more than 220 games streaming on ACC Network Extra, Watch ESPN and the ESPN App. ESPN's broadcast schedule will include more than 650 college softball games.
• The Cardinals will appear on ESPN's ACC Monday on April 23 for the third game of its ACC matchup against preseason ACC favorite Florida State.
• Louisville's matchup at in-state rival Kentucky will be carried on the SEC Network.
• The remaining home games will be carried on ACC Network Extra.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blaire Bass

Madison Cousineau

Caitlin Ferguson

Megan Hensley

Jenna Jordan

Sidney Melton

Ashley Nikolao

Nicole Pufahl

Kyra Snyder

Jamie Soles

Alison Szydlowski

Danielle Watson

University of Louisville Athletics