Louisville Travels to Miami (Ohio) for Midweek Game

GAME INFORMATION
Date: March 19, 2024
Location: Oxford, Ohio
Venue: Miami Softball Stadium
Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleSB

Fresh off of an eight-game home stand, the University of Louisville softball team will hit the road for a midweek contest at Miami (Ohio). First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• The Cards bring a 19-9 overall record into Tuesday's matchup following a 3-1 showing in the Cardinal Classic with wins over South Dakota, Michigan and Illinois.
• Louisville is hitting .296 as a team with five players carrying an average of .300 or better.
• The Cards have outscored opponents 151-96 with 19 home runs on the season.
• UofL was picked to finish sixth in the 2024 ACC preseason coaches' poll.
• The 2024 campaign marks the 25th season in program history. The program started in 2000 and boasts 15 NCAA tournament appearances and five conference championships.

PLAYER NOTES
• Alyssa Zabala (12-3) carries a 2.33 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 75.0 innings. Her 12 victories lead the ACC and stand tied for fourth in the national standings. The sophomore has earned eight of the last nine wins for the Cardinals.
• Chelsea Mack carries a six-game hitting streak and a .386 batting average.
• Riley Frizell has produced a team-best 29 RBIs and seven homers, both career highs.
• Kiley Goff has been hit by a pitch 15 times in Louisville's 26 games this season and stands third in the nation in the hit by pitch per game category (0.54). She has also earned 17 walks and carries a .446 on-base percentage.
• Paige Geraghty leads the team with eight multi-hit games
• Vanessa Miller leads the team with a career-best 11 stolen bases and five multi-RBI games. The right fielder is tied for the team lead with five homers, and stands second with 19 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 145 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
Miami (Ohio)
Series Record: Louisville leads 5-4
Last Meeting: April 14, 2024 - Louisville won 12-4 at Ulmer Stadium.
Scouting the RedHawks: Miami brings an 18-6 record and a five-game winning streak into Tuesday's matchup. The RedHawks opened Mid-American Conference play with a three-game sweep of Western Michigan last weekend with two of those victories coming via the eight-run rule.
• As a team, Miami leads the nation in home runs per game (2.92 - 70 HR/24G) and carries a .351 team batting average which currently ranks sixth in the nation.
• The RedHawks boast a pair of impressive power hitters in Jenna Golembiewski and Karli Spaid who have tallied an NCAA-best 18 home runs apiece.
• Golembiewski leads the team with a hefty .506 batting average, also standing fifth in the nation.
• Addy Jarvis (8-1) has shouldered the bulk of the pitching duties, with 39 strikeouts in 62.2 innings and a 4.02 ERA.

UP NEXT
Following Tuesday's game, the Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium for a four-game home stand starting with an Atlantic Coast Conference series matchup against No. 6/4 Duke this weekend.

LAST UP
Louisville went 3-1 in the Cardinal Classic. After opening the tournament with an 8-5 win over South Dakota on Thursday, the Cards suffered their first shutout loss of the season in a 6-0 setback to Illinois on Friday. Saturday's contest saw an impressive bounce back win 12-4 win over Michigan and Louisville avenged their previous loss with a 5-4 victory over Illinois in the weekend finale.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Riley Frizell

Paige Geraghty

Kiley Goff

Chelsea Mack

Vanessa Miller

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics