Cards Head to Eastern Kentucky for Tuesday Matchup

GAME INFORMATION
Date: April 16, 2024
Location: Richmond, Ky.
Venue: Gertrude Hood Field
Twitter Updates: @LouisvilleSB
Coverage: ESPN+ | Live Scoring

The University of Louisville softball team continue its seven-game road swing with a midweek contest at Eastern Kentucky Tuesday at 6 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• Alyssa Zabala (17-11) carries a 2.84 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 128 innings. Her 17 victories lead the ACC and stand 12th in the national standings. The sophomore has earned the last seven wins and 14 of the last 15 for the Cardinals.
• Riley Frizell are tied for the team lead with a .346 batting average, 11 home runs, 43 RBIs and a .684 slugging percentage.
• Daisy Hess leads the team with 28 runs, 30 walks and a .477 on-base percentage. The fifth-year senior shortstop has reached base safely via a hit or walk in the last 21 games.
• Kiley Goff stands tied for second on the team with 24 runs. She has been hit by a pitch 20 times in Louisville's 42 games and leads the nation in that category. Goff has also earned 27 walks and carries a .477 on-base percentage.
• Vanessa Miller leads the team with a career-best 12 stolen bases and stands second on the team with nine homers and 29 RBIs - both are career highs for the senior right fielder.
• The Cards enter the weekend series with a 24-18 overall record and a 5-10 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play following Sunday's nine-inning loss at Georgia Tech.
• 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.

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 152 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 EASTERN KENTUCKY
Series Record: Louisville leads 8-4
Last Meeting: March 21, 2023 - Louisville won 10-1 in Richmond.
Scouting the Colonels: EKU enters Tuesday's contest with a 32-5 overall record and riding an eight-game win streak following last weekend's ASUN series sweep of Austin Peay.
• Jeanay Riley leads the team with 34 RBIs, 49 hits including 11 doubles and carries a .398 batting average. Maddi Rugan has belted out a team-high six homers and has driven in 30 runs.
• Maddi Rutan (18-2) has shouldered the bulk of the pitching duties and carries a 1.12 ERA with 112 strikeouts in 124.2 innings of work.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will conclude their seven-game road swing with a three-game ACC series at North Carolina this weekend.

LAST UP
The Cardinals went 1-2 in an ACC series at Georgia Tech last weekend.
• The Yellow Jackets took the opening game 8-0, but the Cards bounced back for a 4-1 win in game two. Sunday's finale saw Louisville erase a 3-0 deficit and eventually tie the game with Riley Frizell's two-out home run in the seventh to force extra innings. Both teams had opportunities to score, but Georgia Tech prevailed behind Mallorie Black's two-out walk-out homer in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the series with a 5-3 win.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
• Daisy Hess singled to extend her team-best on-base streak to 21 games
• Riley Frizell and Vanessa Miller connected on timely home runs in the final two games of the Georgia Tech series. In Saturday's win, Frizell tied the score at 1-1 and Miller's two-run shot put the Cards on top in the eventual 4-1 win
• On Sunday, Miller's solo home run in the sixth pulled the Cardinals within a run and Frizell's two-out homer in the seventh tied the game.
• Alyssa Zabala made appearances in all three games on the weekend.
• In Saturday's contest, the sophomore RHP notched her ACC-leading 17th win of the season, surrendering one earned run while scattering four hits and striking out five in a complete game effort

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Players Mentioned

Riley Frizell

Kiley Goff

Daisy Hess

Vanessa Miller

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics