Louisville Travels to No. 16/16 Kentucky for Midweek Matchup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville softball team will travel to Lexington, Ky., to face in-state rival No. 16/16 Kentucky on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in an ESPNU-televised matchup.
.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Louisville at Kentucky
Date: March 29, 2023
Time: 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Place: Lexington, Ky.
Venue: John Cropp Stadium
Coverage: Live Scoring | ESPNU – Announcers: Pam Ward (Play-by-Play); Jenny Dalton-Hill (Analyst) | Louisville Game Notes
Social Media: Fans can follow Louisville Softball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Louisville SB

GAME DAY INFORMATION
• UofL brings a 22-9 overall record and a seven-game win streak into Wednesday's game following an ACC series sweep of NC State last weekend. The Cards are receiving votes in the most recent USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association and ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches polls released on March 28.
• In 31 games, the Cardinals have produced nine shutouts and seven eight-run rule victories.
• Louisville is batting .323 as a team with five players hitting above .300 and two players batting over .400.
• The Cardinals stand second in the ACC and 11h in the nation with a .420 team on-base percentage.
• Korbe Otis has reached base safely via a hit or walk in the last 24 games. Overall, Otis has reached base via a hit or walk in 29 of Louisville's 31 games. She leads the ACC and is tied for fifth in the nation with five triples.
• Taylor Roby leads the team with 11 home runs and owns the school's career mark with 51. She stands tied for first in the ACC and tied for 12th in the NCAA in home runs.
• Alyssa Zabala (10-3) carries a 2.53 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 63.2 innings of work.
• Sarah Gordon was named the ACC and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week on March 21. She became Louisville's second conference player of the week this season and the first national player of the week since 2018 when Megan Hensley earned the honor.

THE HOLLY APRILE ERA
Head coach Holly Aprile is entering her fifth season as UofL's head coach. During her time at the helm – which includes the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season, Aprile guided the Cardinals to 112 wins and an NCAA regional final appearance in 2019.
• Prior to her arrival at Louisville, Aprile, the 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.

CARDS AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
KENTUCKY
Series Record: UK leads 23-20
Last Meeting: Feb. 10, 2023 - Kentucky defeated Louisville 8-0 in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla.
Scouting the Wildcats: Kentucky enters the weekend with a 20-7-1 overall record following a weekend series against No. 24 Texas A&M in which the Wildcats lost the first two games 14-13 and 10-0 before winning the series finale 10-2.
• The Wildcats are led offensively by Vanessa Nesby who carries a .470 batting average. Erin Coffel has belted out a team-high 12 home runs and 35 RBIs. Kayla Kowalik stands second on the team with a .443 batting average and leads the way with 31 runs and 10 stolen bases.
• Stephanie Schoonover (12-1) has carried the bulk of the pitching duties and carries a 1.45 ERA with 146 strikeouts and eight shutouts in 96.1 innings.
Cardinal Connections:
• UofL head coach Holly Aprile and UK head coach Rachel Lawson were teammates at UMass and helped lead the Minutewomen to a Women's Col-
lege World Series appearance in 1992.
• UofL assistant coach Griffin Joiner is a UK alum and played for Lawson from 2012-15. She also served as a grad manager for her alma mater from
2016-17

UP NEXT
Louisville will resume ACC play when the Cardinals travel to Syracuse for a three-game series this weekend.

LAST UP
Louisville swept NC State 7-4, 13-0 and 3-2 (9 inn.) in a three-game ACC series at Ulmer Stadium last weekend. It marks the second straight ACC series sweep for Louisville.
Notes from NC State
• Korbe Otis has now reached safely in 24 straight games and is on a five-game hitting streak. She also remained perfect in stolen bases, improving her season tally to 13-for-13
• Otis scored a career-high four runs and tied a school record in Saturday's 13-0 win
• Taylor Roby improved her school-record career home run total to 51 in Saturday's 7-4 win.
• Sarah Gordon produced a career-high five RBIs in Saturday's 13-0 win.
• Sunday's game halted Daisy Hess' season-best hit streak at 10 straight games
• With Sunday's win, the Cards improved to 2-1 in extra-inning games.
• Louisville has now won seven straight ACC games dating back to the March 11, 13-9 victory at then-No. 15/15 Duke.

Louisville Travels to No. 16/16 Kentucky for Midweek Matchup

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Gordon

Daisy Hess

Korbe Otis

Taylor Roby

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics