Softball Falls Short in 9-8 Slugfest at Pitt

Friday, May 4

Pittsburgh, PA

3:00 PM

University of Louisville

32-18, 10-11

Pittsburgh

30-17-1, 15-6

Louisville

Pitt

May 04, 2018 | Softball

Box Score Pitt 9 - Louisville 8

Cards tie school record with six home runs, but fall 9-8 in series opener at Pitt

By: Lori Korte

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The University of Louisville matched a school record with six home runs to overcome a 7-1 deficit, but ultimately fell 9-8 to host Pittsburgh in the ACC series opener Friday afternoon at Pitt's Vartabedian Field. The teams will meet in game two Saturday at 1 p.m.

Sophomore Caitlin Ferguson belted out two home runs and drove in three to lead the Cardinals as they totaled 11 hits, six of which went over the fence tying a school record set on March 25, 2015 against Middle Tennessee. Junior Sidney Melton and Madison Cousineau and seniors Alison Szydlowski and Jenna Jordan also connected on home runs in the game.

The Panthers (30-17-1, 15-6) connected on three home runs of their own to build a 7-1 lead before the Cards rallied to even the score in the fifth. Pitt went on to tally two more runs in the sixth to prevail 9-8 and take the first game of the series.

The Cardinals (32-18, 10-11 ACC) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Jenna delivered a double and moved to third on senior Nicole Pufahl's sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Celene Funke beat the throw on an infield single and proceeded to steal second and Jordan crossed the plate on an error on the play.

Pitt quickly responded when Alexis Solak led off the home half of the inning with a home run to even the score at 1-1. Hunter Levesque singled and scored on an RBI double by Gabrielle Fredericks. McKayla Taylor followed with a two run homer to increase the lead to 4-1.

The Panthers added three more runs courtesy of Levesque's three-run homer in the third. Walks to Olivia Gray and Kaitlyn Kruger set up the one-out shot which made the score 7-1.

Louisville began to chip away at the lead with three runs in the fourth with home runs from Ferguson and Szydlowski. Pufahl opened the frame with a single and, one out later, Ferguson crushed shot over right centerfield. Senior Alison Szydlowski's two-out solo shot brought the score to 7-4.

The Cardinals' rally continued in the sixth inning. Ferguson led off with a home run that bounced off of the scoreboard in left center field for her second homer of the game and fourth of the season. Cousineau followed with a pinch hit home run to pull the Cards within a run. Melton slapped a shot over straight centerfield to tie the game at 7-7.

The Panthers regained the lead with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning. Zeremenko drew a one-out walk and scored on Olivia Gray's triple. A wild pitch sent Gray home to push the lead to 9-7.

Louisville made one last push when Jordan led off the seventh with her third homer of the season to cut the lead to one run.

Danielle Watson ((14-9) took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits and striking out four runs in 4.0 innings of relief. Jordan finished the game with a double and a home run and scored a pair of run. Melton, and Szydlowski also had two hits on the day.

Kayla Harris ((14-2) picked up the win after giving up three runs on three hits in one inning of relief. Levesque paced the Panthers offensively with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in three.

"I was pleased with the fight we showed offensively after falling behind," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "I thought Danielle did a nice job once she settled in. We just made some costly mistakes late in the game."