Softball Travels to Orlando for D9 Citrus Classic I

The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Orlando, Fla. for the D-9 Citrus Classic 1. The Cardinals will open the tournament on Friday when they take on Lehigh and No. 24 South Carolina. Action will continue on Saturday when Louisville faces Morgan State and South Alabama. The Cards will wrap up the weekend against Harvard Sunday.

Feb. 23
Louisville vs. Lehigh - 10 a.m.
Louisville vs. South Carolina - 12:30 p.m.
Feb. 24
Louisville vs. Morgan State - 12:30 p.m.
Louisville vs. South Alabama - 3 p.m.
Feb. 25
Louisville vs. Harvard- 9 a.m.

About Louisville
• The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 6-3 overall record after a 2-2 showing in the 2018 ACC/Big Ten Challenge last weekend. For the second week in a row, Louisville is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Coaches polls.
• Senior Alison Szydlowski and sophomore Caitlin Ferguson are tied among Louisville's offensively leaders with a .364 batting average.
• Senior Jenna Jordan leads the Cards with eight RBIs and two home runs.
• Four players have scored five runs apiece: Szydlowski, senior Nicole Pufahl, sophomore Celene Funke and junior Sidney Melton
• Freshman Danielle Watson (4-2) carries a team-best 1.43 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 29.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .162 batting average. Junior Megan Hensley (2-1) follows with a 3.03 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 32.1 innings and is limiting opponents to a .228 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.
• 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
Lehigh
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Mountain Hawks: This will mark the opening weekend for Lehigh which was picked to defend its Patriot League championship in 2018. Emily Sorem was selected as the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Sorem is joined on the Preseason All-Patriot League team by Carolyn Wright and Nicole Yozzo.
• Sorem returns as the Mountain Hawks' leader in the circle after posting an 11-9 record and a 2.81 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 127.0 innings last season. Yozzo led the squad with .329 average, 24 runs and 28 stolen bases. Wright carried a .308 average and a team-best 42 RBIs in 2017.
• The Mountain Hawks went 36-20 last season and claimed their 14th Patriot League title including their sixth in the last 10 seasons. They also earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

South Carolina
Series Record: South Carolina leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 8, 2002, South Carolina won 3-2 in Tallahassee, Fla.
Scouting the Gamecocks: South Carolina enters the weekend with a 10-1 overall record and ranked No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA poll. South Carolina is coming off of a 5-0 midweek win over North Carolina on Tuesday. Last weekend, South Carolina went 4-0 in the Gamecock Invitational with wins over Michigan State, Southern Illinois, Georgetown and Mercer. The Gamecocks' only loss of the season came on Feb. 10 when they fell 3-1 to Florida International at the FIU Tournament.
• Mackenzie Boesel leads the team with a .414 batting average, three home runs and 10 RBIs. Kenzie Maguire follows with a .407 average and is tied with Boesel with a team-best 11 runs.
• Cayla Drotar (5-0) has shouldered the majority of the pitching duties so far with a 1.27 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 33.0 innings.
• South Carolina posted a 34-25 record last season and went 2-2 in the Tucson Regional.

Morgan State
Series Record: Louisville leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 25, 2000 - Louisville won 3-1 in Greenville, N.C.
Scouting the Bears: Morgan State brings a 2-4 overall record into the weekend. The Bears opened the season at the Dot Richardson Tournament. After falling to UT Chattanooga, Liberty, Toledo, and Detroit Mercy, Morgan State wrapped up the weekend with wins against Toledo and Fairleigh Dickinson.
• Damali Young leads the team with a .588 batting average and four runs. Gabriella Gorosave follows at a .333 clip with three RBIs and two runs.
• Amy Begg (1-2) carries a 0.82 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 17.0 innings of work.

South Alabama
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Jaguars: South Alabama enters the weekend with a 5-4 record prior to a Wednesday matchup with No. 7/9 Florida State. The Jaguars went 1-3 in Mississippi State's February Freezer Tournament last weekend, with losses to Murray State, Mississippi State and Drake adn a win against Murray State to close out the weekend.
• Katelyn Gruich leads the team with a .316 batting average and Lyric Cabral as driven in a team-high seven runs.
•Alexis Reid (2-2) carries a 1.84 ERA and is holding opponents to a .155 batting average while Devin Brown (3-2) holds a 1.89 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 33.1 innings of work.
•South Alabama is coming off of a 35-20 campaign in 2017.

Harvard
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Crimson: Harvard will open its 2018 season this weekend against Purdue. The Crimson was chosen to finish second in the Ivy League preseason poll. Led by NFCA All-Region selections Rhianna Rich and Maddy Kaplan, the Crimson returns all seven of its All-Ivy honorees from last year's 22-19 squad, while welcoming a class of three in 2018.
CARDINAL CONNECTION: Harvard assistant coach Lacy Wood played for the Cardinals from 2003 through 2006. The three-time all-conference honoree was Louisville's first National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America selection in 2016.

Up Next: After spending the first three weeks of the season on the road, the Cardinals open a 14-game homestand on March 1 when they play host to UAB in a single game and then welcoming Maryland, Miami and Eastern Illinois to Ulmer Stadium for the Red & Black Classic.

Recapping Last weekend
Louisville went 2-2 in last weekend's ACC/Big Ten Softball Challenge. Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson led the Cardinals at the plate with a .400 average (6 for 15). Senior Jenna Jordan posted a .538 slugging percentage with a home run and four RBIs.

Louisville 7 - Northwestern 6/8 innings
Senior catcher Jenna Jordan's two-out, three-run homer in the top of the seventh tied the score at 6-6 and senior Jamie Soles' sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run as the University of Louisville softball team rallied from a 6-2 deficit to beat Northwestern 7-6 in game one of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Louisville 3- Northwestern 2
Freshman Danielle Watson got the complete-game win, allowing two runs, one earned and striking out seven while scattering three hits. Offensively, Louisville outhit Northwestern 9-3, with Szydlowski and Jordan each collected two hits.

No. 21/22 Ohio State 6- Louisville 5/9 innings
The Cards scored three runs in the seventh and eighth innings, but fell 6-5 in nine innings to No. 21/22 Ohio State Saturday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
• Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson went 3 for 4 with a double, two runs and an RBI while junior Megan Hensley connected on a two-run homer and struck out nine.

No. 21/22 Ohio State 4 - Louisville 0
The University of Louisville softball team fell 4-0 to No. 21/22 Ohio State in the final game of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Sunday at NC State's Dail Stadium.
• Seniors Jenna Jordan and Alison Szydlowski and sophomore Celene Funke each had a hit for the Cardinals. Freshman Danielle Watson (4-2) took the loss after giving up one earned run on three hits and striking out four in 4.0 innings of work.

Hitting for average
The Cardinals boast four players who are batting over .300 on the season. Senior Alison Szydlowski and sophomore Caitlin Ferguson are tied atop team standings with a .364 average. Senior Nicole Pufahl and sophomore Celene Funke follow at a .308 clip.

Watson off to stellar start
Freshman Danielle Watson was impressive in her debut as a Cardinal. The right-handed pitcher carries a 4-2 record and a 1.43 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 29.1 innings while holding opponents to a .162 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 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 two weeks of the season, the four seniors in the starting lineup have been instrumental in the Cardinals' early success.
•Catcher Jenna Jordan leads the team with eight RBI and two home runs.
•Centerfielder Nicole Pufahl is tied for the team lead in runs (5), and has driven in four with a triple and a home run under her belt.
• Second baseman Jamie Soles has played in every game with seven starts, scored four runs and has three RBIs.
• Third baseman Alison Szydlowski carries a .364 batting average and has reached base via a hit or walk in eight of the Cardinals' nine games this season.
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, third base or first base and carries a .364 batting average with four doubles and four runs and three RBIs.
• Sophomore Celene Funke is hitting .308, has scored a team-best five runs and is 3 for 3 in stolen bases.
• Freshman RHP Danielle Watson leads the pitching staff with a 4-2 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.

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

Caitlin Ferguson

Celene Funke

Megan Hensley

Jenna Jordan

Sidney Melton

Ashley Nikolao

Nicole Pufahl

Kyra Snyder

Jamie Soles

Alison Szydlowski

Danielle Watson

University of Louisville Athletics