Cards Hit the Road for Pitt

SERIES INFORMATION
Date: March 29-31, 2024
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Venue: Vartabadian Field
Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleSB
Coverage: ACCNX | Announcers: Jeff Hathhorn (PXP), Olivia Gray (Analyst)
Friday, 3 p.m.(DH) Game 1: | Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch Link | Game 2 | Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch Link
Sunday, 1 p.m. | Live Scoring | ACCNX Watch Link

Following a four-game home stand, the University of Louisville softball team embark on its first Atlantic Coast Conference road trip of the season this weekend when the Cards travel to Pittsburgh for a three-game series. Inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday has altered the schedule. The teams will now open the series with a Friday doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The finale will remain slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• The Cards enter the weekend with a 20-13 overall record after an 11-6 midweek loss to Indiana. Louisville also brings a 1-5 mark in ACC play with its first two series coming against Virginia Tech and Duke.
• Louisville is hitting .287 as a team with four players carrying an average of .300 or better.
• The Cards have outscored opponents 171-124 with 23 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 (13-7) carries a 2.81 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 87.1 innings. Her 13 victories lead the ACC and stand tied for ninth in the national standings. The sophomore has earned 10 of the last 11 wins for the Cardinals.
• Daisy Hess leads the team with a .360 batting average, 22 runs, 25 walks and a .500 on-base percentage. The fifth-year senior shortstop carries a six-game hitting streak and has reached base safely via a hit or walk in the last 12 games.
• Riley Frizell has produced a team-best 36 RBIs and eight home runs, both career highs. The senior first baseman leads the team with nine multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games.
• Kiley Goff is tied for the team lead with 22 runs. She has been hit by a pitch 16 times in Louisville's 32 games this season and stands second in the nation in the hit by pitch per game category (0.50). Goff has also earned 19 walks and carries a .439 on-base percentage.
• Vanessa Miller leads the team with a career-best 12 stolen bases and five multi-RBI games. The right fielder stands second on the team with five homers and 21 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
Series Record: Louisville leads 24-5
Last Meeting: UofL swept a three-game series at Ulmer Stadium winning 5-4 and 12-2 in a doubleheader won game three 9-5.
NOTE: The bulk of the series history dates back to when both teams were members of the BIG EAST Conference (2006-13).
Scouting the Panthers: Pitt enters the weekend with an 8-22 overall record following a 10-6 loss to Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday. The Panthers also carry an 0-9 mark in ACC play after matchups with Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Florida State.
• Kat Rodriguez leads the team with a .345 batting average and 15 runs. Kylie Griggs and Cami Compson are tied for the team lead with six home runs apiece.
• Kyra Pittman (4-7) has shouldered most of the pitching duties and carries a 5.89 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 55.0 innings of work while Olivia Stefanoni (2-5) holds a 7.54 ERA with 39 Ks in 51.1 innings.
CARDINAL CONNECTIONS:
• Louisville head coach Holly Aprile was the head coach at Pitt from 2009-18 and Griffin Joiner was an assistant thee in 2019
• Pitt assistant coach Lacy (Wood) Schurr was an All-American catcher at UofL from 2003-06. She is a 2019 inductee into UofL's Athletic Hall of Fame
• Pitt assistant coach Giorgiana Zeremenko was also a volunteer assistant at UofL in 2019.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will wrap up their four-game road trip with a midweek matchup at Northern Kentucky on Tuesday before returning to Ulmer Stadium to face No. 18/18 Florida State in a three-game ACC series next weekend.

LAST UP
The Cards scored six late-inning runs, but could not overcome Indiana's early lead as the Cardinals fell 11-6 Tuesday evening at Ulmer Stadium Tuesday evening.
• In the game, Indiana tallied 16 hits - the most Louisville has allowed this season - and built a 9-0 run entering the bottom of the fourth.
• Kiley Goff went 2-for-2 with a walk, two RIBs and a scored a run to lead the Cardinals at the plate. Frizell finished the game with three RBIs.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Riley Frizell

Kiley Goff

Daisy Hess

Vanessa Miller

Alyssa Zabala

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