Softball Travels to Indiana Wednesday

The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana in a midweek game Wednesday at 5 p.m. The teams were originally slated to meet on March 20, but that game was postponed due to inclement weather.

Team Notes
• The Cardinals bring a 27-14 overall record into their midweek matchup at Indiana after splitting an ACC doubleheader at Syracuse over the weekend. The series finale was cancelled due to weather.
• On March 4, Louisville defeated Eastern Illinois 6-0 to mark the 700th win in school history - all under head coach Sandy Pearsall who started the program in 2000. She now has a 711-363 mark at UofL.
Individual Notes
• Freshman Danielle Watson (13-7) carries a team-best 2.41 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 110.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .212 batting average. Junior Megan Hensley (12-5) holds a 3.14 ERA and leads the pitching staff with 108Ks in 138.1 innings.
• Hensley also leads the team with a .374 batting average and five home runs. The junior also has a team-best 14 multi-hit games.
• Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson leads the team with 37 RBIs and 11 multi-RBI games.
• Sophomore Celene Funke leads the team with 14 stolen bases.
• Junior Sidney Melton is on a nine game hitting streak and has reached base in the last 15 games. She leads the team with 36 runs and is 12-for-12 in stolen bases.
• Sandy Pearsall is in her 19th season as UofL's head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall recently achieved her 700th victory at Louisville. She 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
Indiana
Series Record: Louisville leads 16-3
Last Meeting: March 29, 2017 - Louisville won 2-1 at Ulmer Stadium. With her team trailing 1-0 in the fifth, Nicole Pufahl delivered a two-run single to lift the Cards 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.
Scouting the Hoosiers: Indiana enters Wednesday's game with an 18-24 overall record following a three-game at Big Ten foe Maryland last weekend. IU now stands second in the Big Ten with a 10-2 league record.
• The Hoosiers are led offensively by Gabbi Jenkins who carries a .348 batting average with a team-best 26 runs. Rebecca Blitz follows with a .331 average with 22 runs and leads IU with 23 stolen bases. Maddie Westmoreland is hitting .316 and has belted out a team-high seven home runs with 36 RBIs.
• Tara Trainer (11-13) has carried the bulk of the pitching duties this season with 31 appearances and 130.1 innings of work. She carries a 2.79 ERA with 151 strikeouts. Emily Goodin (5-5) follows with a 2.30 ERA and 84 Ks in 85.1 innings.

Up next:
The Cardinals will head to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on No. 8/10 Florida State in a three-game ACC series starting Saturday.

Recapping last weekend
The Cards split an ACC doubleheader at Syracuse, taking the opener 3-2 and falling 4-3 in game two. The rubber-game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Louisville 3 - Syracuse 2
Megan Hensley struck out eight to pick up the win in the circle and notched her fifth home run of the season to help the Cardinals open the series with a 3-2 win.
• Hensley (12-5) surrendered two earned runs on five hits and struck out eight in a complete game effort. She recorded one hit along with Melton, Wolfe, Snyder and senior Alison Szydlowski.
• Alexa Romero (13-11) took the loss after giving up three earned runs on four hits and striking out five in 4.2 innings. Five different players had a hit for the Orange.
Syracuse 4 - Louisville 3
In the second game of Friday's doubleheader, the Cardinals fell behind 2-0 and rallied with two runs in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead, but the Orange answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to even the series at a game apiece.
• Nicole Pufahl went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs and Maddy Newman finished 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI to lead the Cardinals at the plate.
• Snyder (1-2) took the loss, allowing one earned run on two hits in 0.2 innings of relief. Watson gave up three earned runs on seven hits and struck out three in six innings of work.
• AnnMarie Gatti (7-6) got the win after surrendering two runs, one earned on seven hits and striking out five in seven innings. Sammy Fernandez, Teran and Mayfield each had a pair of hits to lead the Orange at the plate.

Hensley surpasses 100 career RBIs
On April 6, Megan Hensley hit two home runs to help the Cardinals beat Virginia 14-7. With her first home run of the game, a three-run shot, she achieved and surpassed her 100th career RBI. Hensley became the 16th player in school history to reach the 100 RBI milestone. • She now has 113 and needs 15 more to move into Louisville's career RBI list, tying Lacy Wood (2003-06) for 10th with 128.

Pufahl joins 100 RBI club
In the April 13, 4-3 loss at Syracuse, senior Nicole Pufahl connected on a two-run single to record her 100th and 101st career RBIs. She becomes the 17th player in program history to reach the 100 RBI mark.

Funke fast
Sophomore Celene Funke (pronounced Funky) is a perfect 14-for-14 in stolen bases to lead the Cardinals. The speedy outfielder needs two more to enter Louisville's top 10 list, joining Shannon Nord (2004), Vanessa James (2010) and Jennifer Esteban (2012) who are in a three-way tie for tenth with 16. Coleen Coughlin owns the school record with 28 stolen bases in 2000.

Ferguson matches single-season run record
In the Cardinals' April 7 16-1 win over Virginia Caitlin Ferguson tied a school record with four runs after registering a double and three walks.
• She became the 12th player in program history to score four runs in a game and the first since Sidney Melton accomplished the feat against Southern Utah on Feb. 10, 2007.

Melton ties school single game record with three stolen bases
On March 23, junior Sidney Melton recorded three stolen bases in Louisville's 5-3 win at Duke. In doing so, it marked the sixth time in program history that a player accomplished the feat and the first time since April 12, 2014 when Kelsi Jones swiped three against Connecticut.

Melton also moves into top 10 in career stolen bases
Melton now stands second on the team with 12 stolen bases (12-for-12) to move her career total to 30. She is now tied with Kristi Cunningham (2006-09) for 10th on Louisville's all-time list and needs four more to tie Kenzie Meisenburg (2001-02) for ninth.

Pearsall, Louisville reach 700 wins
On March 4, 2018, the University of Louisville softball team defeated Eastern Illinois 6-0 in the final game of the Red & Black Classic at Ulmer Stadium.
Pearsall Highlights at Louisville
• Sandy Pearsall is in her 19th season at the helm after starting the program in 2000.
• She has registered a 709-361 record at Louisville; producing 14 consecutive winning seasons (six winning seasons in the 18-year history of the program).
•Six conference championships in three conferences (C-USA, BIG EAST, American Athletic Conference
• Louisville has been ranked in the top 10 numerous times, reaching as high as No. 7 (as recently as 2013)
• Conference Coaching Staff of the Year three times: 2012 (BIG EAST); 2006 (BIG EAST); 2000 (Conference USA); NFCA Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year (2012).

Hitting for average
The Cardinals lead the ACC with a .307 team batting average and boast eight players batting over .300 on the season. Junior Megan Hensley recently took over as the team's leading hitter with a .374 average. Sophomore Celene Funke follows at a .350 clip. Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson stands third with a .339 mark. Junior Sidney Melton and freshman Maddy Newman are tied for fourth with a .333 mark. Junior Madison Cousineau (.321), senior Nicole Pufahl (.328) and senior Alison Szydlowski (.309) round out the top hitters.

Life is grand for Hensley
Megan Hensley connected on a grand slam in Louisville's 9-4 win against Northern Illinois on March 14 marked the first since Feb. 17, 2017 when Hensley launched a grand slam in the 9-0 win over Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Hensley connected on her first career grand slam as a freshman on March 30, 2016 when the Cards beat Western Kentucky 12-0.
• She leads the current team with three career grand slams. Lacy Wood (2003-06) holds the school record with four.

Hensley registers 200th strikeout
In the March 14, 9-4 win against Northern Illinois, Megan Hensley picked up the win while striking out six in 4.2 innings of relief. In doing so, she registered and surpassed her 200th career strikeout. She now has 251Ks and recently moved into a tie for eighth among Louisville's all-time strikeout leaders.

Watson off to stellar start
Freshman Danielle Watson has been impressive in her debut as a Cardinal. The right-handed pitcher is tied for third in the ACC with a 13-7 record.
• Watson carries a 2.41 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 110.1 innings while holding opponents to a .212 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.

Hensley climbing the record book
Junior RHP Megan Hensley has entered Louisville's top career list in several categories.
• Fifth with six career saves with seven and needs two more to tie for fourth with Tori Collins (2009-12).
• Eighth in appearances (84), needs two more to move into a tie for seventh with Aja Sherman (2002-05) .
• EIghth in career games started in the circle (57), needs one more to tie for seventh with Aja Sherman (2002-05).
• Eighth career wins (36), needs six more to move into a tie for seventh with Aja Sherman (2002-05).
• Ninth in career strikeouts (251), needs 31 more to tie Tara McClure (2000-01) for eighth.

Pufahl eclipses 100 career runs
Senior Nicole Pufahl scored her 100th career run on March 10 when the Cardinals' 10-6 defeated Eastern Michigan at Ulmer Stadium. The senior outfielder now has 111 runs in her career and needs six more to move into a tie for 10th with Sara Bausher (2002-05) and Alicja Wolny (2010-13) on Louisville's all-time list for career runs.
• She also recently collected her 100th RBI and now has 101 in her career.

Youthful impact
Along with the veteran leadership from the upperclassmen on the field, several underclassmen have also made valuable contributions. Entering the weekend, Louisville's top two hitters are underclassmen.
• Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson has started every game at shortstop, third base or first base and leads the team with 37 RBIs and 11 multi-RBI games. She is the only player to start every game for the Cards season.
• Sophomore Celene Funke is second on the team with a .350 batting average, and is a team-best 14-for-14 in stolen bases.
• Freshman Maddy Newman stands tied for fourth on the team with a .333 batting average and has scored 19 runs with seven stolen bases. She has played in 33 games with 23 starts.
• Freshman RHP Danielle Watson (13-7) leads the pitching staff and is fourth in the ACC with 13 wins. She carries a team-best 2.41 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 110.1 innings of work.
• Freshman Kyra Snyder has started 39 games at first base or in the circle and carries a .294 batting average.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Madison Cousineau

Caitlin Ferguson

Celene Funke

Megan Hensley

Sidney Melton

Maddy Newman

Nicole Pufahl

Kyra Snyder

Alison Szydlowski

Danielle Watson

University of Louisville Athletics