Cards Travel to Northern Kentucky for Midweek Matchup

GAME INFORMATION
Date: April 2, 2024
Location: Highland Heights, Ky.
Venue: Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Stadium
Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleSB
Coverage: Live Scoring | ESPN+ Watch Link

The University of Louisville softball team will conclude a four-game road swing on Tuesday at 5 p.m. when the Cardinals travel to Highland Heights, Ky., to face Northern Kentucky in a midweek matchup.

PLAYER NOTES
•The Cards enter the contest with a 22-14 overall record after winning two out of three games to clinch a road Atlantic Coast conference series at Pitt last weekend.
• Louisville is hitting .288 as a team with five players carrying an average of .300 or better.
• The Cards have outscored opponents 187-135 with 29 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 (15-8) carries a 2.80 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 102.1 innings. Her 15 victories lead the ACC and stand tied for third in the national standings. The sophomore has earned the last five wins and 12 of the last 13 for the Cardinals.
• Daisy Hess leads the team with a .357 batting average, 24 runs, 28 walks and a .496 on-base percentage. The fifth-year senior shortstop has reached base safely via a hit or walk in the last 15 games.
• Riley Frizell has produced a team-best 39 RBIs and nine home runs, both career highs. Her RBI total also ranks fifth in the ACC and 23^rd in the NCAA standings. The senior first baseman leads the team with nine multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games.
• Kiley Goff stands second on the team with 22 runs. She has been hit by a pitch 18 times in Louisville's 36 games this season and stands second in the nation in the hit by pitch per game category (0.50). Goff has also earned 21 walks and carries a .440 on-base percentage.
• Vanessa Miller leads the team with a career-best 12 stolen bases and stands second on the team with seven homers and 25 RBIs - both are career highs for the senior right fielder.

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 NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Series Record: Louisville leads 5-0
Last Meeting: May 20, 2023
Louisville won 9-1 in an elimination game at the Knoxville Regional.
• The Cardinals also won both 2023 regular season matchups, defeating the Norse 7-0 on March 2 and 2-0 on March 5 in the Cardinal Classic at Ulmer Stadium.
Scouting the Norse: Northern Kentucky enters Tuesday's game with a 14-11 overall record and on a three-game win streak following a Horizon League sweep of Purdue-Ft. Wayne last weekend.
• Ella LeMonier leads the team offensively with a .420 batting average, 34 hits, 16 runs and nine stolen bases.
• Lauryn Hicks (6-5) has taken on the bulk of the pitching duties and carries a 2.49 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 64.2 innings of work.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will return to Ulmer Stadium to face No. 18/18 Florida State in a three-game ACC series next weekend.

LAST UP
Last weekend, Louisville won its first ACC series of the season, taking two of three games at Pitt to move to 3-6 in league play.
• After weather forced the teams to play a doubleheader on Friday, the Cardinals rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 victory in Friday's opener.
• The Panthers evened the series with a 9-4 win in the nightcap.
• In the weekend finale, Louisville used a season-high four home runs - two from Bailee Richardson and one each from Riley Frizell and Vanessa Miller en route to a 9-0 win.
• Alyssa Zabala picked up both wins on the weekend.

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Players Mentioned

Riley Frizell

Kiley Goff

Daisy Hess

Vanessa Miller

Bailee Richardson

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics