Cardinals Hit the Road for Georgia Tech

GAME INFORMATION
Louisville at Georgia Tech
Date: April 9-11 2021
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Venue: Mewborn Field
Schedule
Friday, 4 p.m. - Live Scoring | ACCNX
Saturday, 2 p.m. - Live Scoring | ACCNX
Saturday, 5 p.m. - Live Scoring | ACCNX
Sunday, 12 p.m. - Live Scoring | ACCNX
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball
Game Notes: Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. After their midweek matchup with in-state rival, No. 10/11 Kentucky was postponed due to inclement weather in the Louisville area, the Cardinals will resume ACC play with a road trip to Atlanta where they will take on Georgia Tech in a four-game ACC series this weekend.

The teams will open play with a single game Friday at 4 p.m. followed by a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale is slated for Sunday at 12 p.m. All games will be televised on the ACC Network Extra.

CARD NOTE
• The Cardinals (13-15, 7-10 ACC) are currrently ninth in the ACC standings while the Yellow Jackets (10-18, 4-14) are 12th.
• Louisville has won three of their last four games after taking a four-game ACC road series at Pittsburgh.
• Carmyn Greenwood leads the team and stands second in the ACC with a .437 batting average. She also leads the way with eight doubles, 17 runs, seven stolen bases and 13 multi-hit games.
               ^ She recently registered a career-high and tied a school record with four hits in the 7-4 win at Pittsburgh on April 3.
• Taylor Roby leads the team with 29 RBI and has belted out a team-high nine home runs, standing second in the conference in that category.
• Roby has also produced a team-best nine multi-RBI games.
• Makayla Hurst is currently on a seven game hitting streak.
• Roby (7-8) leads the team with a 2.86 ERA in 83.1 innings of work.
   ^ Roby was named ACC Player of the Week on February 23.
• Jennifer Leonhardt, a graduate transfer from the University of Southern Indiana leads the Cardinals' pitching rotation with 56 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.
• Leonhardt is tied for the ACC lead and third in the nation with four saves.
• Leonhardt has been named a top 30 candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.
• Celene Funke currently ranks second on Louisville's all-time list for triples with 20 and needs six more to tie for the lead.
• Funke is also third on Louisville's career list for stolen bases with 67 and needs one more to move into a tie for second.
• Louisville was picked to finish seventh in the preseason ACC Coaches poll.

THE APRILE ERA
• Holly Aprile is in her third season as UofL's head coach. With the 2020 campaign suspended prior to its midway point due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Aprile has compiled a 58-47 record and guided the Cardinals to an NCAA regional final appearance in 2019.
• 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 ACC tournament.

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH
Series Record: Louisville leads 9-1
Last Meeting: April 19-21, 2019 - Louisville swept a three game series 11-7, 7-2, 11-9 at Ulmer Stadium.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets: Georgia Tech (10-18, 4-14 ACC) has been idle since March 26 when they beat Middle Tennessee 10-1. The Jackets' ACC series with North Carolina was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the UNC program and then weather conditions cause the postponement of the series at Syracuse.
• Georgia Tech is led offensively by Tricia Awald who is hitting .402 with seven home runs. Cameron Stanford has belted out five home runs and a team-best 25 RBIs.
• Madison McPherson (2-5) carries a 3.77 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 65.0 innings of work. Blake Neleman has registered a team-high 48 Ks in 33.0 innings.

RECAPPING THE PITTSBURGH SERIES
The Cardinals are coming off of a four-game ACC series at Pittsburgh. After the series was pushed back two days due to weather in the Pittsburgh area, Louisville opened the set with a doubleheader sweep winning 6-4 and 7-4 on Saturday. Pittsburgh used a walk-off home run to take Sunday's game 9-7, but the Cardinals responded by clinching the series with a 9-5 win on Monday.
• In the four-game set, the Cardinals scored 29 runs and belted out nine home runs - four from Taylor Roby.
• Carmyn Greenwood batted .733 (11-for-15) with six doubles and scored five runs with five RBI while posting a 1.133 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage.

UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's contest, the Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium for a four-game ACC series with No. 16/20 Duke next weekend.

GREENWOOD NAMED ACC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Carmyn Greenwood was named the ACC Softball Player of the Week on April 7.
Greenwood led the Cardinals at the plate as Louisville took three of four games at Pittsburgh. The left fielder batted .733 (11-for-15) with six doubles and scored five runs with five RBI while posting a 1.133 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage. She had at least two hits in each game, registering a career-best 4-for-4 performance in Saturday's 7-4 win. She also belted out at least one double in each of the Cardinals' four games with two in each game of Saturday's doubleheader. Additionally, Greenwood produced at least one RBI in each game, driving in a pair of runs in Monday's series finale.
• She now leads the team with a .437 batting average, eight doubles, 17 runs and seven stolen bases.

TOUGH SLATE
Louisville's 2021 slate is highlighted by seven teams in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches' Top 25 polls including: No. 4/3 Alabama, No. 5/5 Florida, No. 10/11 Kentucky, No. 9/10 Florida State, No. 16/20 Duke, No. 15/13 Virginia Tech and No. 18/18 Clemson
• Four of Louisville's 15 losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10 (Alabama and Florida) and 11 have come against teams in the top 25.
• In response to the ongoing pandemic, the annual ACC/Big Ten challenge has been cancelled and the ACC has implemented four-game series to limit travel between conference opponents.
• Ulmer Stadium is set to host 28 games throughout the season, including two tournaments in March: the Cardinal Classic and the Red & Black Challenge.
• UofL will host the ACC Tournament from May 12-15, where the top 10 conference teams will be eligible to participate this year.

DUAL THREATS
All three of Louisville's starting pitchers can also help their cause at the plate.
Taylor Roby leads the team with a career-high nine home runs and 29 RBI.
• Additionally, the redshirt junior has logged a team-high 83.1 innings and issued 41 strikeouts.
Jennifer Leonhardt leads the team 56 Ks and is tied for first in the ACC with four saves. The graduate senior transfer from the University of Southern Indiana is batting .300 on the season and recently connected on her first home run as a Cardinal. She finished her undergrad career with a .327 batting average.
Gabby Holloway (3-3) has logged 46.2 innings, standing second behind Roby in innings pitched. The freshman has issued 17 strikeouts on the season and has driven in a pair of runs.

HURST COMING ON STRONG
Junior Makayla Hurst is in her first season at Louisville after transferring from Utah. The first baseman has been on a tear recently, having reached safely in the last seven games dating back to the March 27 game against Virginia Tech. During that stretch, she has posted a .476 batting average (10-for-21) with four home runs and 10 RBIs.

TRIPLE TREAT
Celene Funke connected her second triple of the season in the 9-0 win over Bradley, extending career total to 20. She currently stands second on Louisville's all-time list and needs six more more to tie Audrey Rendon (2004-07) for first.
• Funke led the nation in triples with 13 in 2019, setting the school single season record along the way.

FUNKE FAST (STOLEN BASE EDITION)
Celene Funke recently registered two stolen bases in Monday's 9-5 win at Pitt. She extends her career total to 67 and stands third on Louisville's all-time stolen base list - she needs one more to tie Sidney Melton (2015-19) for second. Audrey Rendon (2004-07) holds the record with 82.

SISTER ACT
• Louisville's roster features two sets of sisters: the Schindlers and the Greenwoods.
• Senior outfielder Carmyn Greenwood transferred to Louisville from Auburn in the 2020 season, joining her sister, Cassady who is a junior catcher for the Cardinals.
• Senior pitcher Paige Schindler and outfielder Riley Schindler are among 21 sets of twins in NCAA Division I softball who play for the same team. Paige Schindler is sidelined this season due to injury.
• All four sisters saw action in the Feb. 8, 2020 game against Texas State. Carmyn Greenwood was in left field while sister Cassady was catching and Riley Schindler was playing right field while Paige was pitching.

SUPER SENIORS CELENE FUNKE AND JENNIFER LEONHARDT
UofL has two "super seniors" on its roster in the form of graduate students Celene Funke and Jennifer Leonhardt, both of whom are utilizing an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA following the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign.
               Funke (Carmel, Ind.) was leading the team in stolen bases (13-for-13) and triples (3) when her senior season came to an abrupt halt after 23 games. In 2019, she led the nation in triples and set a school record with 13 while registering a team-best 48 runs and standing second with a .324 batting average and 29 stolen bases. The speedy centerfielder currently stands second on Louisville's career list for triples (18) and third on the all-time stolen base list with 62.
               Funke is also the program's first three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (2018, 2019) and is pursuing her MBA after earning her undergraduate degree in finance in May 2019.
               Leonhardt returns to her hometown after completing her career at the University of Southern Indiana where she was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American. The right-handed pitcher will play for the Cardinals while attending UofL's School of Dentistry.
               Leonhardt led the USI to the 2018 NCAA Division II national title and earned Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Series honors.
               As her senior campaign was cut short, Leonhardt carried a 7-3 record with a 1.63 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work. She also led the team with a .386 batting average.
               Leonhardt finished her career at USI as the program's all-time leader in wins (83), strikeouts (787) and complete game shutouts (35) while standing second in saves (8) and innings pitched (730.2). At the plate, she registered a .327 career batting average with 87 RBIs and 74 runs.

CARDS ON TV
All of Louisville's home contests will be televised on the ACC Network or ACC Network Extra.
• Additionally, the Cardinals' April 21 road game at Kentucky will be aired on ESPNU.

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Players Mentioned

Celene Funke

Carmyn Greenwood

Gabby Holloway

Makayla Hurst

Jennifer Leonhardt

Taylor Roby

Paige Schindler

Riley Schindler

University of Louisville Athletics