University of Louisville
Southern Illinois
Louisville Opens Evanston Regional with a 9-5 win Against Southern Illinois
May 17, 2019 | Softball
Cards advance in winner's bracket and will take the overall No. 16 seed host Northwestern Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET)
The University of Louisville opened NCAA Regional play with a 9-5 win over Southern Illinois at Northwestern's Drysdale Field Friday afternoon.
The Cardinals (34-21) will advance in the winner's bracket to face the overall No. 16 seed host Northwestern Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET). The Wildcats defeated Detroit Mercy 15-1 in the other first round game of the Evanston Regional.
Louisville built an early 4-0 lead, but fell behind 5-4 after Southern Illinois scored five runs in the second and third innings. The Cardinals went on to plate five unanswered runs in the final three innings.
Redshirt senior Sidney Melton scored three runs, drove in two and connected on a home run and fellow senior Megan Hensley's home run in the sixth ignited the Cardinals' offense as they earned their first NCAA regional win since 2013.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Roby (14-4) collected the win after giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits and striking out two in 5.0 innings of relief. Sophomore starting pitcher Danielle Watson got the start in the circle and surrendered two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.
Sophomore Maddy Newman helped lead the Cardinals at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance including a two-run double as Louisville tallied nine hits on the day. Â
"I think we certainly did not play perfectly, but we battled," said UofL head coach Holly Aprile. "I thought we were really good at the plate. I think our offensive game was very strong. I think there are some things we need to clean up and we're going to work on that, but I was proud of our performance. I think it's exciting for the team in general and the seniors."
The Cardinals struck early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Senior Sidney Melton walked and proceeded to steal second for her school-record 34th stolen base of the season. An error on the attempt to catch Melton stealing sent her to third and then home to put Louisville on top 1-0. After walks to Hensley, Taylor Roby and freshman Rebecca Chung loaded the bases, a passed ball plated Hensley to increase the lead to 2-0.
Louisville tallied two more runs in the second courtesy of Melton's first home run of the season. Junior Celene Funke beat the throw on an infield hit and stole second for her 28th stolen base. Melton followed with a home run over the left field fence to make the score 4-0.Â
The Salukis (33-14) cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the third. Maris Boelens and Jenny Jansen delivered back-to-back singles and Ashley Wood was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Katelyn Massa's RBI single. A groundout by Jordan Spicer plated another run to make it a 4-2 game. Â
SIU used three hits, a walk and an error to put up a three-spot in the fourth. Jansen connected on a two-run double and eventually scored on an error to put the Salukis on top 5-4.
The Cards countered with a run in the home half of the fourth when Newman legged out in infield hit and moved into scoring position on junior Caitlin Ferguson's sacrifice bunt to set up Funke's RBI single, knotting the score at 5-5.
Louisville regained the lead with three runs in the fifth. Hensley started the scoring with a solo blast over the fence in left centerfield. Her team-best 13th home run of the season put the Cards back on top 6-5. Roby followed with a single and Chung was hit by a pitch and lifted for pinch runner freshman Erin Wilber. Both runners advanced on sophomore Kyra Snyder's groundout. Newman followed with a two-run double to push the lead to 8-5.
The Cards added another insurance run in the sixth. Melton delivered a bunt single, Hensley walked and Roby reached on an error to load the bases. Chung followed with an RBI hit to make the score 9-5. Â Â
Southern Illinois threatened in the top of the seventh, using three hits to load the bases with two outs to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Ferguson made a leaping catch at shortstop for the final out of the game to preserve the win.
 "To get that first win in postseason is huge," said Aprile. "Most of our team hasn't experienced this before, so I think there were some nerves, but I thought we battled through things and that's one of the things that we talk about is how we're going to handle adversity and when things don't go our way. There were a couple of things that we could have done better, but we fought our way through it and that's the biggest thing. We've kind of done that all year, we've found a way to win." Â
LOUISVILLE TEAM NOTES
• Louisville is making its 14th NCAA appearance and first since 2016. Friday's win marked the first win in NCAA postseason play since 2013 when the Cards beat IPFW 2-1 in the Louisville Regional.
• Louisville evens the all-time record against Southern Illinois at 1-1.
• Louisville's 34 wins mark the most victories in a season since 2016 when the Cards posted a 35-17 record.
• As a team, Louisville has registered a program-record 104 stolen bases in 120 attempts on the season. The previous record was 68 (95 attempts), set in the 2010 season.
LOUISVILLE PLAYER NOTES
Sidney Melton
• Melton notched her 34th stolen base of the season, extending her hold on the Louisville single season record mark.
• Melton is second on Louisville's all-time stolen base list with 67. Audrey Rendon holds the record with 82.
• With three runs in the game, Melton now has a career-high 46 on the season and stands tied for eighth on Louisville's single-season list.
• Melton improves her career run tally to 156, good for fifth on Louisville's all-time runs list. She needs two more to move into a tie for fourth with Audrey Rendon (2004-07).
• Melton has reached safely in 19 straight games.
• Melton connected on her first home run of the season and the fifth in her career.
• Melton leads the team with a .346 batting average.
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Megan Hensley
• Hensley leads the team with 13 home runs and 44 RBIs.
• With her home run in Friday's game, Hensley tied her career high for a single season. She also had 13 homers in her freshman campaign (2016).
• Hensley now has 38 career home runs and moves into a tie for second with Chelsea Bemis (2008-11) on Louisville's all-time list. Courtney Moore owns the career mark with 42.
• Hensley improves her career RBI tally to 173. She currently stands third on Louisville's all-time list and needs to more to tie Courtney Moore (2004-07) for second. Bemis holds the career RBI record with 191.
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