Cards Power Past Northern Kentucky 9-1 in Knoxville Regional

Saturday, May 20

Knoxville, Tenn.

9:05 PM

University of Louisville

36-19

Northern Kentucky

23-32

Northern Kentucky

Louisville

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

Cards Power Past Northern Kentucky 9-1 in Knoxville Regional

May 21, 2023 | Softball

Box Score

Louisville sets season home run record, Holly Aprile earns 400th career win as the Cards beat Northern Kentucky in the Knoxville Regional

By: Lori Harmon

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Louisville softball team belted out three home runs en route to a 9-1 five-inning win over Northern Kentucky in an elimination game at the Knoxville Regional Saturday evening at Tennessee's Sherry Parker Lee Stadium. With the three homers, the Cardinals set a new school record with 64 on the season. The win also marked the 400^th career victory for head coach Holly Aprile.

Louisville (36-19) will face Indiana (43-17) in an elimination game Sunday at 2:05 p.m. The winner will advance to the regional final against Tennessee at 4:35 p.m.

Vanessa Miller went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and three RBIs while Sarah Gordon went 2-for-3 with her 11^th homer and two runs and Hannah File tallied her 12^th home run of the season. Korbe Otis and Easton Lotus each had a pair of hits to help pace the Cardinals at the plate.

Sam Booe (5-0) earned the complete game win, allowing one earned run and scattering three hits while striking out five in five innings to register her first career postseason victory.

Saturday's Knoxville regional action included multiple rain delays totaling over five hours in the first game of the day as host Tennessee prevailed over Indiana 9-1. The Cards and the Norse finally took the field for a 9:05 p.m. start.

The teams played through three scoreless innings before the Cardinals erupted for six runs in the fourth highlighted by Miller's three-run homer. Taylor Roby got the offense started with a one-out double. Pinch runner Madison "Pickle" Winkler took third on a bunt single by Sarah Gordon and came home on a hit by Daisy Hess. Miller followed with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in left center field. The junior's second long ball of the regional extended Louisville's lead to 4-0. A walk to Ally Alexander and single by Geraghty put two on to set up back-to-back RBI hits by Otis and Lotus.

Northern Kentucky (23-32) got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth courtesy of a solo shot by Brielle DiMemmo to make the score 6-1.

The Cards countered with three more runs in the home half of the fifth starting with back-to-back solo shots by Gordon and File. Miller delivered her second hit of the game and walks to Alexander and Makayla Hurst loaded the bases for Otis whose RBI hit plated Miller, give Louisville the 9-1 win.

Alicia Flores (7-15) took the loss, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and striking out one in 3.2 innings.

NOTES:

Saturday's win against Northern Kentucky marks the 400^th career victory for UofL head coach Holly Aprile.
The Cardinals' three homers in Saturday's game move their season total to a school record 64 breaking the previous mark of 63 set in 2013.
Louisville improves its record to 36-19, the most wins since finishing the 2014 campaign with a 36-22 record.
Easton Lotus extends her hitting streak to 12 games and has reached safely via a hit or walk in 15 straight games.
In 54 games, the Cards have produced 14 wins via the eight-run rule.