Joan Joyce Classic on Deck for Louisville Softball

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of Louisville softball team continues its early season road swing with a trip Boca Raton, Fla. to compete in the Joan Joyce Classic at Florida Atlantic University Feb. 13-16. The games will be streamed on FloCollege.

Louisville will play five games in the tournament with their opponents being Villanova, Minnesota (twice), Purdue and Florida Atlantic.

The Cardinals will first step up to the plate on Friday when they take on Villanova at 9 a.m. and later that day play Minnesota at 11:15 a.m. They will return to action on Saturday, facing Minnesota for the second time at 9 a.m.

UofL will wrap up play at the Joan Joyce Classic on Sunday with a game against Purdue at 1:15 p.m. and the host Owls at 4 p.m.

About Louisville
Louisville enters the tournament with a record of 3-2, after opening the season at the Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla. The Cardinals' three wins came against Middle Tennessee, Rutgers and Cleveland State.
• In Sunday's 22-2 win against Cleveland State, the Cards tied for the most runs in a single game in program history, dating back to March 9, 2014 in a win over Ohio University.

Scouting the Opponents
Villanova
Series Record: Louisville leads the series 16-3
Last Meeting: March 1, 2024- Villanova won 6-4
Scouting the Wildcats: Villanova (2-3) started its 2025 campaign at the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas. The Wildcats beat Utah State and Abilene Christian to start the year and lost to Purdue, No. 19 Baylor, and No. 8 Texas A&M.
• Villanova has been picked to win the Big East this year in the Big East preseason poll.
• Last season, the Wildcats finished the season with a 33-24 record. In conference play the Wildcats went 19-5 and won the Big East Tournament Championship. They made the NCAA tournament where they ended their season in the Fayetteville Reginal losing to Arizona 9-4 in their double elimination game.
• Bridget Orchard is in her seventh season in the dugout at Villanova with a career record of 934-542-3, including 182-122 with the Wildcats.

Minnesota
Series Record: Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 7, 2015 – Minnesota won 4-2 at the UNLV Sportco Kick-Off Classic
Scouting the Golden Gophers: Minnesota began its season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe. Arizona where they went 1-3. Minnesota beat Miami (OH) and took two losses against Utah and also fell to California.
• In 2024, Minnesota finished their season with a record of 28-25. In Big Ten play they finished fifth with a 13-11 record. Minnesota beat Illinois 10-7 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament but eventually fell to Nebraska in the second round 11-2.
• The Golden Gophers are coached by Piper Ritter who is in her fifth year as head coach with a career record of 139-92-2.

Purdue
Series Record: Louisville leads the series 8-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2023 – Louisville won 4-3 at the UCF Knights Classic
Scouting the Boilermakers: Purdue started its 2025 season off playing in the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas and went 2-4. Purdue beat Abilene Christian and Villanova and lost twice to No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 19 Baylor, and lost to Utah State in extra innings.
• In 2024, Purdue posted a 25-27 overall record and went 11-12 in Big Ten play. After finishing ninth in the Big Ten, they were defeated in the first round by in-state rival Indiana who lost in the Big Ten Championship Game.
• Magali Frezzotti is in her second season in the dugout as the head coach of the Boilermakers. In her first season at the helm, she finished with a record of 25-27.

FAU
Series History: Louisville leads 4-3
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2024 – Florida Atlantic won 6-3 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Scouting the Owls: Florida Atlantic started their 2025 campaign playing in the Paradise Classic in Boca Raton, Florida where they went 6-0. They picked up wins over Ole Miss, Kansas, Clemson, Missouri State, and defeated Georgia State twice.
• Entering the second week of the season, the Owls are ranked No. 25 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, receiving votes in the NFCA/GoRout Division I Coaches poll and stand at No. 18 in the D1Softball.com rankings.
• Autumn Courtney was named AAC Pitcher of the Week, while catcher Chloe Yeatts received an honorable mention. Florida Atlantic was picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll.
• In 2024, The Owls finished their season with a record of 41-16 went 21-6 in AAC play. Florida Atlantic lost in the Semifinals of the AAC tournament to Wichita State. They made the NCAA tournament and were bounced out of the tournament after losing to South Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast in the Gainesville Regional.
• The Owls are coached by Jordan Clark who is entering her third year as head coach of Florida Atlantic. In her first two seasons with the team, she has a career record of 76-36.

Player Notes
• Redshirt freshman Char Lorenz is off to a blistering start, racking up two doubles, two home-runs for a .412 batting average and a 1.524 OPS through the first five games of the season. She also leads the team with nine RBIs.
• Redshirt junior Easton Lotus carries a .385 batting average with a team-high eight runs and three stolen bases.
• Junior Alyssa Zabala is sporting a 1-0 record, with a 2.90 ERA in 9.2 innings.
• Senior Sam Booe (1-1) leads the pitching staff with seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work.

Up Next
The Cardinals will stay in the Sunshine State, traveling to Tampa for a midweek game at USF on Wednesday and wrap up their road trip at the USF Tournament where they will take on Kent State, Wisconsin (twice), Michigan and match up again with host Bulls from Feb. 21-23.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Booe

Char Lorenz

Easton Lotus

Alyssa Zabala

University of Louisville Athletics