Cardinals Hit the Road to Face No. 24/19 Virginia Tech

The University of Louisville softball team will resume ACC play this weekend when the Cardinals travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on No. 24/19 Virginia Tech.

Series Information
March 29-31, 2019: Louisville at Virginia Tech
Location: Blacksburg, Va.
Venue: Tech Softball Park
Time: Friday, 6 p.m. | Saturday, 2 p.m. | Sunday 1 p.m.
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring: Hokiesports.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball

CARDINAL QUICK HITS
• Louisville enters the weekend with a 21-10 overall record and a 3-3 mark in ACC play.
• The Cardinals are coming off of a 5-2 win over Indiana on Tuesday.
•UofL is led at the plate by freshman Rebecca Chung who is batting .375 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.
• Junior Celene Funke leads the nation with eight triples on the season.
• Sidney Melton leads the team with 16 stolen bases and recently set a school record with four stolen bases in the 8-0 win over Morehead State on March 12.
• Senior Megan Hensley is tied for the team lead with three home runs and stands third on the team with 20 RBIs.
• Hensley also leads the pitching staff with a 9-1 record.
• Sophomore Danielle Watson (6-8) paces the pitching staff with 82 strikeouts in 79.0 innings and a .213 opponent batting average.
• Hensley and senior Sidney Melton were selected to the 2019 Preseason All-ACC Team.
• The 2019 campaign marks Louisville's 20th season as a program and first under new head coach Holly Aprile's tutelage.
• The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the Atlantic Division and fifth overall as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches.

The Aprile Era

2019 marks the first season under new head coach Holly Aprile following the retirement of Sandy Pearsall, who began the program in 2000. Aprile becomes only the second head coach in Louisville softball history.
• Prior to her arrival at Louisville, Aprile, 2018 ACC Coach of the Year spent 10 seasons (2009-18) as Pittsburgh's head coach and five years (2004-08) as an assistant. In 2018, she earned ACC Coach of the Year honors after leading the Panthers to the 2018 ACC Coastal Division title and a runner-up finish in the conference tournament.

Cards against the field

Virginia Tech
Series Record: Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: April 14-17, 2017 - Louisville swept a three-game series in Blacksburg. The Cardinals won 13-6 and 6-0 in the opening doubleheader and took the final game 10-8.
Scouting the Hokies: Virginia Tech (28-4, 8-1 ACC) brings an 11-game win streak into the weekend after an 8-0 win over Radford in a midweek contest. The win streak dates back to March 10 when the Hokeis fell 10-7 to Georgia Tech, marking their only conference loss this season.
•Virginia Tech is ranked No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 19 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
• The Hokies carry a hefty .358 team batting average with five starters hitting above. 300 and four of those batting over. 400 on the season.
• Virginia Tech had connected on 56 home runs leading the ACC and standing fourth in the nation in home runs per game.
• Carrie Eberle leads the Hokies in the circle with a 17-1 record and a 1.59 ERA. Keely Richard (11-3) carries a 2.06 ERA and leads the ACC with seven shutouts on the season.

Up next

The Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium on Tuesday to face Lipscomb in a make up game after the originally scheduled date was postponed due to weather. Following that, Louisville will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to take on Western Kentucky.

Last up

Redshirt freshman Taylor Roby connected on a three-run homer and picked up the save in the circle to help the University of Louisville softball team beat Indiana 5-2 Tuesday evening at Ulmer Stadium.
• Senior Megan Hensley got the win after giving up two earned runs on five hits and striking out three in five innings. Roby struck out one and scattered two hits in 2.0 innings of relief. The Cards used eight hits, including home runs from Roby and junior Celene Funke to power past the Hoosiers (25-10).

Notre Dame series recap

• The Cards went 1-2 in a three-game ACC series at Notre Dame over the weekend. The Irish picked up a doubleheader sweep to start the weekend, winning both games by scores of 9-1 and Louisville picked up a 5-3 win in the series finale.
• Megan Hensley led the Cardinals at the plate with a .667 batting average (2-for-3). The senior pitcher/right fielder was walked six times in three games and produced a .900 on-base percentage.
• She also picked up Louisville's lone win in the circle.

Funke - a triple force

Junior Celene Funke leads the nation with eight triples on the season. The centerfielder has 10 in her career and is tied for fourth on Louisville's all-time list. She needs three more to move into a tie for third with Courtney Moore (2004-07).
• She recently connected on her first career home run - a solo shot in the 8-0 win over Morehead State on March 12.

Marching on

Louisville has posted a 16-4 record in the month of March. During that span, the Cardinals have outscored opponents 110-41 while batting .317 as a team and posted seven shutouts with a 1.84 team ERA.

Hitting for average

Louisville's starting lineup features five players who are batting over .300 on the season. Rebecca Chung leads the way at .375 while Celene Funke follows at .352. Taylor Roby stands third on the team at a .351 clip. Megan Hensley (.315) and Sidney Melton (.310) round out the list.

Balanced pitching

All three of Louisville's starting pitchers have evenly contributed to the team's success in the circle.
• Megan Hensley (9-1) leads the team in wins and with four shutouts. She stands second among UofL's starting pitchers with 68 strikeouts in 65.1 innings.
• Taylor Roby (6-1) carries a team-best 1.76 ERA and three saves. She stands third on the team with 41 Ks in 47.2 innings.
• Danielle Watson (6-8) is holding opponents to a .223 average and stands sixth in the ACC in that category. She leads the Cardinals with 82 strikeouts in 79.0 innings.

Hensley is a dual threat

For the fourth straight season, Megan Hensley leads the Cards both in the circle and at the plate. The senior carries a team-best 9-1 record is tied for the team lead with three home runs and stands third with 20 RBIs.
• She ranked among UofL's top 10 in several pitching and hitting categories.

Hensley record watch

Megan Hensley has entered Louisville's top career list in several categories.
• Tied for first for grand slams with four, along with Lacy Wood (2003-06).
• Fifth with nine career saves and needs one more to tie for fourth with Tori Collins (2009-12).
• Sixth in career RBI (149) needs eight more to move into a tie for fifth with Maryssa Becker (2014-17).
• Seventh in career appearances (110). Tori Collins (2009-12) stands sixth at 142.
• Seventh in career games started in the circle (76). Carlisa Connell (2011-14) is sixth with 98.
• Seventh in career innings pitched (506.1). Caralisa Connell is sixth with 608.0.
• Seventh in career wins (49). Jessica Rak (2000-03) stands in sixth place with 65 victories.
• Eighth in career home runs with 28 - needs one more to move into a tie for seventh with Alicja Wolny (2010-13).
• Eighth in career strikeouts (349), Aja Sherman (2002-05) is seventh with 463.
• Tied for eighth in career complete games (32). Needs nine more to move into a tie for seventh with Aja Sherman (2002-05).
• Tied for tenth in career complete shutouts (10). Needs three more to move into a tie for seventh with Caralisa Connell (2011-14).

Young Cards

While the Cardinals have solid veteran leadership in the lineup some underclassmen are having an immediate impact early in their careers with as many as five in the starting lineup at times.
• Redshirt freshman Taylor Roby leads the team with a 1.76 ERA and three saves. She is also third among the Cardinals' hitters with a .351 batting average.
• Freshman catcher Rebecca Chung leads the team with a .375 batting average, 22 RBI, three home runs. She also carries a team-best .476 on-base percentage.
• Freshman Charley Butler has started 25 games in left field and has two home runs.
• Freshman Cassady Greenwood is batting .278 on the season and has played in 19 games with two starts.
• Sophomores Maddy Newman and Kyra Snyder have started every game at second base and first base respectively while fellow sophomore Riley Schindler has started 21 games in right field.
• Sophomore Danielle Watson leads the team in the circle with 82 strikeouts in 79.0 innings and a .213 opposing batting average.

Melton sets single game stolen base record - stands among career leaders in stolen bases.

Sidney Melton set a school record with four stolen bases in the 8-0 win over Morehead State on March 12.
•The senior infielder leads the team with 16 stolen bases on the season, and now has 49 in her career, placing her tied for third with Coleen Coughlin (2000-01) on Louisville's all-time list. She needs 11 more to move into a tie for second with Jennifer Esteban (2010-12).

Melton on a scoring run

Melton recently increased her career run tally to 131 stands tied for seventh on Louisville's all-time list in that category. She needs seven more to tie for sixth with Jennifer Esteban (2010-13).
• Last year, the speedy infielder led the team with 45 runs and moved into a five-way tie for ninth place among the all-time single season leaders.

Home sweet home

Louisville has compiled an 9-1 record at Ulmer Stadium this season. The Cards went 4-0 in their home-opening Cardinal Classic and followed with a doubleheader sweep of Morehead State. UofL continued it perfect home record by taking the first two games of the ACC series against Syracuse but fell 4-2 in eight innings to the Orange. The Cards resumed their winning ways with a 5-2 victory over Indiana on Tuesday.

Louisville picked to finish fourth in ACC

The Cardinals were picked to finish fifth overall and third in the Atlantic Division. In the team preseason poll, reigning national champion Florida State was unanimously selected to win its sixth-straight ACC regular season title. Notre Dame, North Carolina and Pitt respectively filled out the top five ahead of the Cardinals, who are coming off of a 33-20 campaign and a 10-12 mark in conference play.
• In the Atlantic Division preseason standings, Louisville was picked to finish third behind Florida State and Notre Dame. Syracuse, Boston College and NC State round out the division.

2019 Preseason ACC Coaches' Poll
1) Florida State (121 points, 11 first-place votes)
2) Notre Dame (102 points)
3) North Carolina (95 points)
4) Pitt (88 points)
5) Louisville (75 points)
6) Duke (69 points)
7) Georgia Tech (55 points)
8) Syracuse (51 points)
9) Boston College (47 points)
10) Virginia Tech (41 points, 1 first-place vote)
11) NC State (29 points)
12) Virginia (19 points)
Atlantic Division          Coastal Division
1) Florida State             1) North Carolina
2) Notre Dame             2) Pitt
3) Louisville                  3) Duke
4) Syracuse                   4) Georgia Tech
5) Boston College         5) Virginia Tech
6) NC State                   6) Virginia

Louisville celebrates 20th Season

The 2019 campaign marks the University of Louisville softball program's 20th season. Leading up to this season, UofL has compiled a 718-371 (.659) record with six conference championships, 13 NCAA regional appearances and four regional finals.

The road ahead

The Cardinals are embarking on a tough 2019 schedule which includes a total of 17 games against teams that qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament – including national champion Florida State. UofL will also face six opponents ranked among the top 25 and six receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA polls.
• Louisville's ranked opponents include No. 3/3 Florida State, No. 5/6 Tennessee, No. 18/17 Kentucky, No. 14/12 Auburn, No. 23/23 Michigan and No. 24/19 Virginia Tech. Northwestern. Notre Dame, North Carolina, Indiana and Cal State Fullerton are also receiving votes in the coaches' polls.

Cards on the air

At the start of the 2019 season, the Cardinals will have 25 games televised nationally including one contest on ESPNU. The television slate feature all of the Cardinals' 19 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 6 for the third game of its ACC matchup against 2018 national champion and preseason ACC favorite Florida State.

Looking back to 2018

• The Cardinals finished the season with a 33-20 overall record and reached the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship before falling 7-4 to eventual national champion Florida State.
• Among the returners are National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region selections junior Caitlin Ferguson and Hensley as well as all-ACC honoree Melton and sophomore Maddy Newman, who earned 2018 all-ACC freshman team honors. Junior Celene Funke also returns after leading the team with a .355 batting average along with sophomore Danielle Watson who posted 14 wins in the circle during her freshman campaign.

Cardinals Hit the Road to Face No. 24/19 Virginia Tech

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Charley Butler

Rebecca Chung

Caitlin Ferguson

Celene Funke

Cassady Greenwood

Megan Hensley

Sidney Melton

Maddy Newman

Taylor Roby

Riley Schindler

Kyra Snyder

Danielle Watson

University of Louisville Athletics

Cardinals Hit the Road to Face No. 24/19 Virginia Tech

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Charley Butler

Rebecca Chung

Caitlin Ferguson

Celene Funke

Cassady Greenwood

Megan Hensley

Sidney Melton

Maddy Newman

Taylor Roby

Riley Schindler

Kyra Snyder

Danielle Watson

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