Cards Head to FAU for Joan Joyce Classic

The University of Louisville softball team will continue its season-opening road trip in Boca Raton, Fla. for the FAU Joan Joyce Classic. The Cards (6-0) will open the tournament on Thursday when they take on host FAU (4-2) in a 6 p.m. matchup.

FAU Joan Joyce Classic Information
Date: Feb. 15-17, 2024
Location: Boca Raton, Fla.
Venue: FAU Softball Stadium | Tournament Central
Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleSB

Weekend Schedule All Times Eastern
Thursday, February 15
6 p.m. - Louisville at FAU | Live Scoring | Live Stream
Friday, February 10
11:30 a.m. - Louisville vs. Seton Hall | Live Scoring | Live Stream
4:30 p.m. - Louisville at FAU | Live Scoring | Live Stream
Saturday, Feb. 17
9 a.m. - Louisville vs. Maine | Live Scoring | Live Stream
11:15 a.m. - Louisville vs. Michigan| Live Scoring | Live Stream

CARDINAL QUICK HITS
• Louisville is receiving votes (No. 35) in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches Poll.
• At 6-0 on the season, Louisville is off to its best start since 2012. The Cardinals opened the season at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, posting wins over LIU, Georgetown and Florida Gulf Coast and followed with a midweek win at FIU.
• Louisville has outscored opponents 37-3 and carries a 0.52 ERA through its first six games.
• The Cardinals return 11 letterwinners from last year's squad led by all-ACC selections Daisy Hess, Easton Lotus and Alyssa Zabala. Louisville also welcomes 11 newcomers including six freshmen and five transfers to the 2024 roster.
• UofL was picked to finish sixth in the 2024 ACC preseason coaches' poll.
• In 2023, the Cardinals posted a 36-20 overall record and a 16-7 ACC mark in the 2023 season - the 16 ACC wins were also tied for the most in since the Cardinals joined the league in 2015. UofL also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament (Knoxville Regional), marking the 15th NCAA appearance in program history.
• The 2024 campaign marks the 25th season in program history. The program started in 2000 and boasts 837 wins, 15 NCAA tournament appearances and five conference championships.

PLAYER NOTES
• Sophomore Alyssa Zabala (3-0) carries a 0.93 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 15.0 innings.
• Junior Sam Booe has not allowed a run in seven innings while registering two saves and 10 strikeouts.
• Paige Geraghty leads the way with a .412 batting average, three doubles and four runs scored. The senior outfielder is on a four-game hitting streak.
• Daisy Hess, Kiley Goff and Chelsea Mack have reached base safely via a hit or walk in each of Louisville's six games this season.
• Riley Frizell has produced a team-best eight RBIs.

THE APRILE ERA
• Holly Aprile is in her sixth season as UofL's head coach. During her time at Louisville, which includes the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, the Cardinals have amassed 135 wins and earned a pair of NCAA regional appearances with the 2023 Knoxville Regional and the 2019 NCAA Evanston Regional finals. She was named the Leadership Playbook 2022-23 Collegiate Coach of the Year.
• 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 FIELD
FAU
Series Record: Louisville leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 10, 2022 - Louisville swept a doubleheader at FAU winning 2-0 and 11-7.
Scouting the Owls: Host FAU enters the Joan Joyce Classic with a 4-2 record and on a three-game win streak. Most recently, the Owls defeated North Florida 7-2 in a Tuesday matchup. Prior to that, they went 3-2 while hosting the Paradise Classic with wins over Marshall, Michigan State and Ohio and a pair of losses to Arkansas and Penn State.
• Presley Leebrick leads the Owls at the plate with a .471 batting average and is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases. Zoey Jones has belted out a team-high two home runs while Trinity Schlotterbeck paces the team with six RBIs.
• Jaden Martinez (0-1) carries a 1.68 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work. Ainsley Lambert (2-0) holds a 2.55 ERA with nine Ks in 11 innings and is holding opponents to a .132 batting average.
• Jordan Clark is in her second season at the helm.

Seton Hall
Series Record: Louisville leads 13-1 - the bulk of the series dates back to when both teams were members of the BIG EAST (2006-12)
Last Meeting: April 21-22, 2012 - The Cards swept a three-game series at Seton Hall, sweeping a Saturday doubleheader 6-1 and 6-3 and taking the Sunday game by a score of 6-2.
Scouting the Pirates: This marks Seton Hall's opening weekend. The Pirates are coming off of 42-18 campaign and won the BIG EAST regular season title in 2023.
• Seton Hall was picked to finish third in the 2024 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Eighteen players return from season's team including BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Kelsey Carr.
• Angie Churchill enters her third season at the helm.

Maine
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting the Black Bears: Maine (0-4) opened the season last weekend Arizona State's Kajikawa Classic and fell to Weber State, Grand Canyon, Wisconsin and Arizona State.
• The Black Bears are led by Krista Francia, who carries a .364 batting average, and Katie Jo Moery who is hitting .333 on the early season.
• Jordan Fitzpatrick is entering her third season at the helm.

Michigan
Series Record: Michigan leads 21-4
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2020- Michigan won 8-4 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge played at North Carolina.
Scouting the Wolverines: Michigan brings a 4-1 record into the weekend after opening the season at the USF Rawlings Tournament. The Wolverine began the tournament with a 5-3 win over Illinois State before dropping a 1-0 contest against USF. Michigan rebounded to beat Bethune-Cookman 3-2 followed by a 2-1 victory over No. 17 Florida and rounded the weekend by beating Oregon State 2-1.
• Indiana Langford leads the team with a .333 batting average. Lauren Derkowski (2-0) carries a 1.31 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 16 innings. Jessica LeBeau (1-1) holds a 1.08 ERA with 18 Ks in 13 innings of work.
• Bonnie Tholl is in her second season at the helm.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will head to Conway, S.C. for Coastal Carolina's Battle at the Beach.

LAST UP
UofL extended its season-opening win streak to six games with an 11-2, five inning win over FIU Tuesday evening at Felsberg Field.
• Riley Frizell belted out a three-run homer and Kiley Goff connected on a three-run double to help lead the Cardinals at the plate. Alyssa Zabala (3-0) allowed two earned runs on three hits and struck out five in four innings while Sam Booe delivered a pair of strikeouts in an inning of relief to help the Cardinals improve to 6-0 on the season.

STINGY PITCHING
Louisville's pitching staff has allowed only three runs through their first six games of the season for a 0.52 ERA.
• All six pitchers on the Cardinals' staff have combined for at least one shutout, totaling four on the season.
• Alyssa Zabala (3-0) carries a 0.93 ERA and leads the team with 14 strikeouts in 15 innings and is holding opponents to a .151 batting average.
• Sam Booe has earned a pair of saves in her three appearances this season and has not allowed a run while issuing 10 strikeouts in seven innings of relief.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Booe

Riley Frizell

Paige Geraghty

Kiley Goff

Daisy Hess

Easton Lotus

Chelsea Mack

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics