Cards Set to Open Knoxville Regional Friday Against Indiana

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Louisville softball team will open the NCAA postseason Friday at 3 p.m. when the Cardinals take on Indiana in the first game of the Knoxville Regional at Tennessee's Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Mike Couzens handling play-by-play duties and Kayla Braud providing analysis.

KNOXVILLE REGIONAL INFORMATION
Date: May 19-21 2023
Location: Knoxville, Tenn.
Venue: Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
Coverage: ESPN2 (Friday): Mike Couzens (PXP); Kayla Braud (Analysis)
Live Scoring | Watch vs. Indiana (Friday) | Louisville Game Notes
Social Media: Fans can follow Louisville Softball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at LouisvilleSB

Knoxville Regional Schedule
Friday
Game 1: Louisville vs. Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Northern Kentucky, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 1:00 p.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game, 3:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 2:00 p.m.
Game 7: If necessary, 4:30 p.m.

UP NEXT:
The winner of the double-elimination Knoxville Regional will advance to face the winner of the Austin Regional which features the overall No. 13 seed Texas, Texas State, Texas A&M and Seton Hall.

LOUISVILLE TEAM NOTES:
• UofL (35-18) is making the program's 15^th overall NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2019 when the Cards reached the Evanston Regional Final.
• The Cardinals are coming off of a quarterfinal loss to No. 23/22 Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship. The game set a tournament record for most combined runs.
• UofL stands at No. 24 in the D1Softball poll released on May 8 and is receiving votes in the most recent ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches poll (May 16).
• In 53 games, the Cards have produced 12 shutouts and 13 wins via the eight-run rule.
• Louisville is batting .319 as a team with five players hitting above .300 on the season.
• The Cardinals' 35 wins are the most since 2019 when Louisville finished the season with a 35-23 record after reaching the final game of the Northwestern Regional.
• Louisville's 16 ACC wins are tied for the most in program history since joining the league in 2015. That same season, the Cardinals finished the season with a 16-7 conference record.

LOUISVILLE PLAYER NOTES:
• Louisville placed three student-athletes on the NFCA Division I All-Southeast Region. Sarah Gordon and Taylor Roby have been named to the second team and Korbe Otis is a third team selection.
• Gordon was named the ACC Softball Freshman of the Year - she joins Otis and Roby on the All-ACC first team. Daisy Hess was selected to the second team while Easton Lotus and Alyssa Zabala earned third team honors. Gordon and Zabala were also named to the ACC All-Freshmen Team.
• Roby leads the team and is tied for second in the nation with a school-record 22 home runs this season and owns the school's career mark with 62. She stands tied for seventh among the active NCAA career leaders. Roby also leads the ACC with 56 RBIs.
• Otis leads the team with a .406 batting average, 69 hits and an ACC-best 62 runs. The speedy leadoff hitter is a perfect 21-for-21 in stolen base and paces the ACC and tied for fourth in the nation with seven triples. She also put together a school-record 35-game on-base streak this season and has reached base via a hit or walk in all but three of Louisville's 53 games.
• Alyssa Zabala leads the team with 14 wins and 93 strikeouts in 119 innings while Roby carries a team-best 2.56 ERA with 57 Ks in 112 innings of work.

THE HOLLY APRILE ERA
Head coach Holly Aprile is in 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 128 wins and an NCAA regional final appearance in 2019. She is one win away from her 400th career victory as a head coach.
• 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.

KNOXVILLE REGIONAL NOTES
• The Knoxville Regional features three of the nation's top home run hitters in Tennessee's Kiki Milloy, Indiana's Taryn Kern and Louisville's Taylor Roby. Milloy leads the way with 23 homers while Kern and Roby are tied for second in the nation with 22 home runs apiece.
• UofL's Roby hit her first career home run, a three-run shot to pull the Cards within 5-3 against No. 7/8 Tennessee on Feb. 25, 2019.
• The regional field features a pair of familiar opponents for Louisville. The Cards faced Indiana earlier this season with the Hoosiers prevailing 10-5 on April 11 in Bloomington. Louisville picked up a pair of wins over Northern Kentucky this season, defeating the Norse 7-0 on March 2 and 2-0 on March 5 in the Cardinal Classic at Ulmer Stadium.
• This will mark the fourth time Louisville has traveled to Knoxville for an NCAA regional. The Cardinals also competed in NCAA postseason play there in 2006, 2008 and 2010, reaching the regional final in 2006 and 2010.

CARDS AGAINST THE FIELD
Indiana
Series Record: Louisville leads 20-4
Last Meeting: April 11, 2023 – Indiana won 10-5 in Bloomington.
In the NCAA Tournament: The teams have never met in the NCAA tournament
Scouting the Hoosiers: Indiana (42-16) was the Big Ten Conference tournament runner-up after falling 2-1 to top-seeded Northwestern in the title game.
• Big Ten Freshman and Player of the Year Taryn Kern leads the Hoosiers with a .411 batting average and 22 home runs, tied for second in the NCAA with Louisville's Taylor Roby.
• In the circle, Brianna Copeland (21-2) carries a 2.81 ERA with 132 strikeouts in 149.2 innings of work.

Northern Kentucky
Series Record: Louisville leads 4-0
Last Meeting: The teams met twice this season at Ulmer Stadium in the Cardinal Classic with Louisville winning 7-0 on March 2 and defeating the Norse 2-0 on March 5
In the NCAA Tournament: The teams have never met in the NCAA tournament
Scouting the Norse: Northern Kentucky (23-30) earned the Horizon League automatic bid, claiming the tournament title with a 2-1 win over Oakland on Saturday. This will mark Northern Kentucky's first NCAA tournament appearance.
• Head coach Kathryn Gleason was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year after leading the Norse to a third-place finish in the regular season standings and Maddie Lacer was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
• Ella LeMonier leads the Norse with a .333 batting average with 29 runs and 21 stolen bases. Alicia Flores (7-14) has shouldered the bulk of the pitching duties, carrying a 3.46 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 137.2 innings.

Tennessee
Series Record: Tennessee leads 6-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 25, 2019 – Tennessee won 5-3 in Knoxville
In the NCAA Tournament: The teams have met in the NCAA tournament three times with UT winning all three in Knoxville (2006, 2008, 2010)
Scouting the Lady Vols: Tennessee earned the Southeastern Conference automatic bid with a 3-1 win over South Carolina in the championship game.
• Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly was named the SEC Coach of the Year while Karlyn Pickens was named the conference Freshman of the Year.
• Kiki Milloy leads the Lady Vols at the plate with a .421 batting average and an NCAA-leading 23 home runs. She also paces the team with 34 stolen bases.
• Ashley Rogers (16-1) carries a 0.70 ERA with 160 strikeouts in 119.1 innings of work.
• The Lady Vols will make their 20th overall and 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend. Tennessee has advanced to the postseason every year since 2004 and has hosted 18 straight regional rounds in Knoxville.

Cards Set to Open Knoxville Regional Friday Against Indiana

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Gordon

Daisy Hess

Easton Lotus

Korbe Otis

Taylor Roby

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics