Cards Hit the Road to Face No. 20/21 Kentucky

Wednesday, April 4

Lexington, KY

7:00 PM

University of Louisville

Kentucky

Photo by: Jermaine Bibb | Louisville Athletics

April 03, 2018 | Softball

Louisville Game Notes vs Kentucky

Wednesday's game between Louisville and Kentucky will be aired on the SEC Network

By: Lori Korte

The University of Louisville softball team will hit the road to face in-state rival No. 20/21 Kentucky in a midweek game Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on the SEC Network with Matt Schick handling play-by-play duties and Jennie Ritter providing color analysis.

Team Notes
• The Cardinals bring a 24-11 overall record into the midweek matchup at No. 20/21 Kentucky.
• Louisville is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll for the fifth straight week and the seventh time this season.
• 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 709-360 mark at UofL.
Individual Notes
• Freshman Danielle Watson (13-7) carries a team-best 2.35 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 104.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .207 batting average. Junior Megan Hensley (10-4) follows with a 2.39 ERA and 93Ks in 117.0 innings and is limiting opponents to a .219 average.
(12) and multi-RBI games (10).
• Sophomore Celene Funke leads the team with 10 stolen bases.
• Junior Sidney Melton has scored a team-high 29 runs and is 9-for-9 in stolen bases.
• Senior centerfielder Nicole Pufahl needs one more RBI to reach 100 in her career.
• 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 versus Kentucky
Series Record: Tied 19-19
Last Meeting: April 12, 2017 - UK won 10-1 in six innings at Ulmer Stadium. The loss marked the most runs Louisville has allowed in the series since UK won 14-8 on April 20, 2011.
• 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 Kentucky evened the all-time series between the teams at 19 wins apiece.
• Megan Hensley took the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, on five hits and striking out one while walking six in five innings. Maryssa Becker surrendered four runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out two in one inning.
• Meagan Prince picked up the win, holding Louisville to one earned run on four hits and struck out six while going the distance in the six inning game. Breanne Ray went 2-for -4 with three RBIs while Katie Reed and Abbey Cheek each had a pair of hits to lead the Wildcats at the plate.
Scouting the Wildcats: No. 20/21 Kentucky enters the weekend with a 20-11 overal record prior to a Tuesday game against Eastern Kentucky. Prior to that, the Wildcats fell 9-3 in the rubber-game of an SEC series against No. 16 Alabama on Sunday. The Crimson Tide won the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader 9-0, but the Wildcats evened the series with an 11-6 victory in the nightcap.
•Kentucky is hitting .308 as a team with six player hitting above .300 on the season. Bailey Vick leads UK with a .419 batting average. Abbey Cheek has belted out a team-best eight home runs and has 30 RBIs.
• Grace Baalman (10-4) holds a 2.09 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. Autumn Humes (5-4) stands second on the team with a 2.72 ERA and 47 Ks in 61.2 innings of work.

Up Next: The Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium for a three-game ACC series against Virginia this weekend. The teams will meet Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m.

Up Last
The Cardinals took two of three games in an ACC series against NC State over the weekend at Ulmer Stadium. Louisville won game one of the series-opening doubleheader 4-2, but the Wolfpack answered with a 6-1 victory in game two. Louisville clinched its second-straight ACC series with a 7-0 win.
• Sidney Melton led Louisville with a .750 (6-for-8) performance at the plate. The junior shortstop scored four runs with a walk and a and posted a .778 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage. Junior Megan Hensley picked up two wins, scattering six hits and striking out 12 in 14.0 innings while holding the Wolfpack to a .125 batting average.
Louisville 4 - NC State 2
After falling behind 1-0 early in the game, the Cards scored three in the fourth and added an insurance run in the fifth to take the series opener. Junior Megan Hensley scattered two hits and struck out five to get the win in the circle, she also doubled and scored a run to help her cause.
• Junior Sidney Melton went 2-for-2 while Pufahl delivered a double, scored, and drove in a run. Jordan also finished with a run and an RBI to help the Cardinals outhit the Wolfpack 6-2.
• Devin Wallace took the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits and striking out one in 6.0 innings. Garner and Jade Caraway delivered the Wolfpack's two hits.
NC State 6 - Louisville 1
In game two of the doubleheader, NC State scored a run in the third, put up a four-spot in the fifth and tacked on a final run in the seventh en route to a 6-1 win to even the series.
• Danielle Watson took the loss, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and striking out four in 4.2 innings. Freshman Paige Schindler allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out one in 2.1 innings of relief. Newman went 2-for-4 while Melton went 1-for-2 with a run. Ferguson's sacrifice fly drove in the Cards' lone run.
• Kama Woodall picked up the win after surrendering one earned run on five hits and striking out two in a complete game effort. Garner went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double and two RBI to pace the Wolfpack at the plate.
Louisville 7 - NC State 0
Megan Hensley tossed a complete game shutout and went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to help lead the Cards to a 7-0 win over North Carolina State in the deciding game of an ACC series.
• Hensley struck out seven and scattered four hits in six innings to move to 10-4 on the season. The Cards belted out 15 hits in the game. In addition to Hensley's three-hit performance at the plate, Funke also went 3-for-3 with a triple, a run and an RBI. Melton went 3-for-4 with three runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
• Devin Wallace took the loss after giving up three earned runs on six hits and striking out one in 1.1 innings. Kaylee Kobziak, Angie Rizzi, Moor and Jones each had a hit for the Wolfpack.

Melton ties school 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 now stands second on the team with nine stolen bases (9-for-9) and has 27 stolen bases, needing three more to enter Louisville all-time top 10.

Louisville/Indiana game postponed, reschedule for April 18
Due to inclement weather, Tuesday's University of Louisville softball game at Indiana was postponed with a make-up date slated for April 18 at 5 p.m.

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 705-359 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 are hitting .303 collectively as a team with eight players batting over .300 on the season. Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson leads the way with a .369 average. Sophomore Celene Funke is hitting at a .353 clip with junior Megan Hensley following closely at .351. Junior Madison Cousineau stands fourth at .333. Senior Nicole Pufahl (.330), freshman Maddy Newman (.317), junior Sidney Melton (.311) and freshman Kyra Snyder (.311) round out the Cardinals' 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 236 Ks and recently moved into 10th place 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 2.35 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 104.1 innings while holding opponents to a .207 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).
• Ninth in appearances (79) - needs one more to move into a tie for eighth with Rachel LeCoq (2013-14) .
• Eighth in career games started in the circle (52), needs five more to tie for seventh with Aja Sherman (2002-05).
• Ninth in career wins (34), needs one more to move into a tie for eighth with Rachel LeCoq (2013-14).
• Ninth in career strikeouts (236), needs 26 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 105 runs in her career and needs 12 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 needs one more RBI to reach 100 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 a .369 batting average, nine doubles and 34 RBIs. She is the only player to start every game for the Cards this season.
• Sophomore Celene Funke is second on the team with a .353 batting average, and is a team-best 10-for-10 in stolen bases.
• Freshman Maddy Newman stands sixth on the team with a .317 batting average and has scored 12 runs with five stolen bases. She has played in 27 games with 17 starts.
• Freshman RHP Danielle Watson (13-7) leads the pitching staff and is tied for third in the ACC with 13 wins. She carries a team-best 2.35 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 104.1 innings of work.
• Freshman Kyra Snyder has started 33 games at first base or in the circle and carries a .308 batting average.