Cards Finish 5-0 at Gulf Coast Classic

Sunday, February 22

Fort Myers, Florida

9:00 AM

University of Louisville

12-3

University at Buffalo

4-11

Buffalo

Louisville

February 22, 2026 | Softball

Box Score

Louisville moves to 12-3 on the season with a conference opening series against Stanford on deck.

By: Erin Hughes

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The University of Louisville softball team finished 5-0 at the Hampton Inn Gulf Coast Classic after defeating Buffalo 4-1 in the final day of the tournament.

Louisville leaves Florida with a 12-3 record going into its opening weekend of ACC play. Brooke Gray (3-1) took the win in the circle after retiring 15 of 16 batters faced through 5.0 innings, logging three strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Alyssa Zabala grabbed her second save in as many weeks, tossing 2.0 innings in relief of Gray.

Chelsea Mack and Bri Despines led the offense with two hits apiece, with Mack also adding two stolen bases and two runs. Despines logged one RBI and caught a runner stealing in the sixth. Madison Pickens and Riley Janda were the other two Cards to cross home, with Pickens adding an RBI to her stats.

Pickens ripped a two-out single to get on base in the bottom of the first and moved to second on a single from Despines. Camryn Lookadoo added a single of her own to plate Pickens and give Louisville an early 1-0 lead.

After three straight innings of no-hit softball from Gray, UofL's second run came in the bottom of the third. Mack led off the inning with a single and subsequently stole second, then moved to third on a groundout by Pickens. A single from Despines brought her home to put the Cards up by two.

Mack scored the second run of the day in the bottom of the fifth after singling and stealing her second base of the day. She moved to third on an error, and a groundout from Pickens allowed her to score.

The Bulls added their lone run in the top of the sixth, but Janda scored UofL's final run in the bottom of the inning to secure the 4-1 victory.

Louisville will be back in action next weekend, welcoming Stanford to Ulmer Stadium for a three-game series to open conference play. The games will take place Feb. 28-March 1 with Friday and Saturday's contests streaming on ACCNX and Sunday's game featured on ACCN.