Cardinals Bow Out of Knoxville Regional

Sunday, May 21

Knoxville, Tenn.

2:05 p.m.

University of Louisville

36-20

Indiana University

44-17

Indiana

Louisville

May 21, 2023 | Softball

Box Score

Louisville falls 4-2 to Indiana in Knoxville Regional elimination game

By: Lori Harmon

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Louisville softball team fell 4-2 to Indiana in an elimination game at the Knoxville Regional Sunday afternoon at Tennessee's Sherry Parker Lee Stadium.

The Cardinals close the season with a 36-20 record, the most wins since 2014.

Korbe Otis went 2-for-3 with an RBI to help Louisville build a 2-0 lead, but Indiana plated four runs in the final two innings to prevail. The Hoosiers (44-17) advance to the regional final to face host Tennessee Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Louisville got on the scoreboard early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Daisy Hess got the offense started with a leadoff single and Vanessa Miller followed with a walk. Both runners advanced on an errant pick off attempt that sailed that allowed Hess to cross the plate. A two-out double by Otis sent Miller home to give the Cards a 2-0 lead.

Taylor Roby carried a no-hitter until the fifth inning before Kinsey Mitchell delivered a base hit. The Hoosiers tallied two more hits and broke through with a run in the sixth inning to cut the lead in half. The seventh inning brought three more runs for Indiana after capitalizing on three hits and an error to pull ahead 4-2.

Roby (10-7) surrendered three runs, two earned, on five hits and struck out one in six innings. She finishes her storied career ranked in the top 10 among Louisville's career pitching leaders in appearances, starts, strikeouts, wins, innings pitched and saves.

"It was a hard-fought game," said UofL head coach Holly Aprile. "I'm really proud of our team – we showed a lot of heart and fight throughout the season and we got so much better from the beginning to the end. There's only one team that wins a national championship, so there are a lot of teams that lose along the way, but I think that we battled today. I thought Taylor Roby was really brilliant on the mound… I was really proud of her and all of our seniors – it was a tough loss, but I am really proud of our team."

NOTES:
• Louisville 36-20, the most wins since finishing the 2014 campaign with a 36-22 record.
• In addition to her pitching accomplishments, Roby also holds the school record for home runs both career (63) and single season (23). She also stands second with 184 career RBIs and 116 walks and third in career total bases (425).
• Otis finished the season with 63 runs scored, one away from tying Melissa Roth's school record set in 2009.
• Easton Lotus ended the season on a 13-game hitting streak and an on-base streak of 16.