Cards Complete Series Sweep of Georgia Tech

Sunday, April 21

LOUISVILLE, KY

10:30 a.m.

University of Louisville

30-15, 0

GEORGIA TECH

27-22, 0

Georgia Tech

Louisville

Photo by: Jermaine Bibb | Louisville Athletics

April 21, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Coach Holly Aprile Interview Sidney Melton Interview Photo Gallery Highlights from 7-2 Win

Cards win 7-2 and 11-10 in Sunday's doubleheader

By: Lori Korte

The University of Louisville softball team completed an ACC series sweep of Georgia Tech with a 7-2 win in game one of a doubleheader and an an 11-10 victory in game two Sunday on Don Dobina Field at Ulmer Stadium. The final game of the day on Sunday was called in the sixth inning due to Georgia Tech's travel arrangements.

This marks the first ACC sweep of the season for the Cardinals (31-15, 11-7 ACC). The Yellow Jackets drop to 27-23, (8-10).

Prior to the doubleheader, the Cardinals picked up an 11-7 win in the completion of the series opener which was suspended in the fifth inning on Friday.

Louisville 7 – Georgia Tech 2
Redshirt senior Sidney Melton went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and a stolen base and freshman Charley Butler drove in a pair of runs to back sophomore RHP Danielle Watson who tied a career high with 11 strikeouts as the Cardinals clinched the series.

The Cardinals jumped to a 5-0 lead using two hits, three walks and an error in the first. Junior Celene Funke earned a leadoff walk, stole second and moved to third when redshirt senior Sidney Melton reached on an error. Redshirt freshman Taylor Roby's RBI groundout. Walks to junior Caitlin Ferguson and sophomore Kyra Snyder loaded the bases for senior Madison Cousineau's RBI hit. Freshman Charley Butler followed with a two-run single and came home on sophomore Maddy Newman's double to cap the first inning scoring.

Georgia Tech got on the scoreboard in the top of the second on Bailee Zeitler's RBI double to make it a 5-1 game.

Louisville extended its lead in the fourth. Newman walked and Funke beat the throw for a bunt single to put two on for Melton's RBI hit. Funke would eventually come home on an error, making the score 7-1.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on another run in the sixth when Zeitler walked and scored on Drew Puckett's double.

Watson (10-11) picked up the complete game win after surrendering two earned runs on three hits and striking out 11.

Morgan Bruce (10-11) took the loss, giving up five unearned runs on two hits.

Louisville 11 – Georgia Tech 10
In the second half of Sunday's doubleheader, the Cardinals overcame deficits of 5-0 and 10-6 to prevail 11-10 in a game that was called at 4:25 p.m. due to Georgia Tech's travel arrangements.

In a game which featured three lead changes, a tie and 21 combined runs, the Cards collected 15 hits with nine of them falling in for extra bases including three home runs and six doubles.

Louisville used a late-inning rally to take the lead for good, entering the bottom of the fifth trailing 10-8 with 15 minutes remaining before the game was called, Hensley delivered a two-out single and scored on Roby's double to pull the Cards within a run. A wild pitch second Roby to third and Ferguson walked to put runners on the corners for Chung's two-run double which made the score 11-10.

In the game, Roby went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run, four RBIs, freshman Rebecca Chung went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and two runs. Senior Megan Hensley went 2-for-3 with a home run and scored three runs.

Roby (12-1) picked up the win, allowing six earned runs on five hits and striking out two in 3.1 innings. Hensley gave up four earned runs on one hit and struck out four in 1.2 innings.

Brooke Barfield (6-3) took the loss after giving up three earned runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. Crosby Huckabay went 2-for-3 with a home run and six RBIs in the game to pace the Jackets at the plate.

"I think that top to bottom, we really did a good job of matching them offensively," said UofL Holly Aprile. "They're a really, really strong offensive team. We do different things, but we did a good job of matching them and answering back when they scored. I think that was huge. We put a lot of nice offensive innings together, both with our running and with our hitting the gaps and to score the runs with two outs in that inning. Playing with a time limit like that because of their flight is a weird situation, it's not something either one of us wanted to do, but it's the circumstances. I think overall, we pitched well. We struggled in some areas at some times, but the idea was could we battle through it, could we figure out what we're doing, and we found a way to survive it."

Georgia Tech struck early with five runs in the first. Walks to Bailee Zeitler, Cameron Stanford and Tricia Awald loaded the bases for Skye Webb's two-run double. Crosby Huckabay's two-run single and an RBI hit by Drew Puckett brought the score to 5-0.

The Cardinals used five hits, two walks and an error to put up a four-spot in the home half of the first. Back-to-back doubled by Funke and Melton started the Louisville scoring. Senior Megan Hensley walked to set the table for Roby's two-run single which pulled the Cardinals within a run.

In the third inning, Roby's third home run of the season tied the game at 5-5.

Freshman Cassady Greenwood's pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the third put Louisville on top 6-5. Freshman Rebecca Chung connected on a leadoff double and took third on sophomore Kyra Snyder's sacrifice bunt to set up the score.

Georgia Tech countered with five runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Crosby Huckabay's grand slam which gave the Jackets a 10-6 lead.

The Cardinals began to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Hensley led off with her team-best ninth homer of the season and, two outs later, Chung delivered a solo shot over centerfield for her fourth home run of the season to make the score 10-8.

Georgia Tech Series Notes:

Louisville now leads the series 9-1
The Cardinals have now won five straight and seven of their last eight.
Louisville has produced at least seven runs in the last five games and seven of its last eight.
UofL won its third straight ACC series
With the win in the opening game, head coach Holly Aprile collected her 300^th career victory.
The Cardinals' 7-2 win in game two marked their 30^th victory of the season, extending the program's streak to 16 straight seasons with 30 or more wins.
Louisville has a 15-3 record at Ulmer Stadium in 2019.
As a team, Louisville has registered a program-record 87 stolen bases with 101 attempts on the season. The previous record was 68 (95 attempts), set in the 2010 season

Player Notes

Freshman Charley Butler has reached safely in the last 12 games.
Redshirt senior Sidney Melton has reached safely in the last 10 games.
Melton leads the team with a .349 batting average and stands third with a career-high 31 RBIs.
Junior Celene Funke is on a six-game hitting streak.
Funke leads the team with 43 runs and stands second with 23 stolen bases.
Senior Megan Hensley leads the team with 36 RBIs and nine home runs.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Roby tallied career highs in hits and RBIs in the 11-10 series finale.

Record Watch

Sidney Melton has a career-high 24 stolen bases this season and stands third on UofL 's single-season list, needing three more to tie Audrey Rendon (2005)
Melton moves her career stolen base tally to 57 and stands third on Louisville's all-time list. She needs three more to tie Jennifer Esteban (2010-13).
Celene Funke stands fourth on Louisville's single-season list with 23 stolen bases.
Funke pushes her career stolen base total to 43, good for seven on Louisville's all-time list. She needs three more to move into a three-way tie for fifth with Candi Hicks (2004-07), and Kristin Austin (2009-12).
Melton improved her career run tally to 145 and stands fifth on Louisville's all-time list. She needs 13 more to tie Audrey Rendon (2004-07) for fourth.
Hensley stands fourth on Louisville all-time list with 34 home runs. She needs two more to tie Melissa Roth (2007-10) for third.
Hensley extends her career RBI total to 165, moving into a tie for fourth with Alicja Wolny (2010-13) on the Cards' all-time list. She needs one more to ti Katie Keller (2011-14) for third.