Cards Welcome Pitt for Weekend Series

Friday, April 17

LOUISVILLE, KY

5:00 PM

University of Louisville

University of Pittsburgh

Photo by: Paige Kuwata | Louisville Athletics

April 16, 2026 | Softball

Louisville Game Notes

Sunday's matchup slated for 4 p.m. on ACC Netwek

By: Erin Hughes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville softball team (35-9, 10-5 ACC) will continue its eight-game homestand with a weekend series with Pittsburgh (21-21, 7-11 ACC) at Ulmer Stadium. The Cards and the Panthers will face off from April 17-19 at 6 p.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., with games one and two streaming on ACCNX and Sunday's game airing on ACC Network.

UofL is coming off a 10-inning walk-off win over Indiana on April 15 after coming back in three different innings to pull off the 8-7 win. Easton Lotus finished the night 2-for-6 and drove in the final two runs of the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th. Taylor Monroe led the offense with three RBIs and two runs scored, with Jordan Williams and Ava Venturelli knocking in the other two runs.

QUICK HITS

Chelsea Mack leads the team with a .461 batting average, tallying 70 hits in 152 at-bats, 49 runs scored, 35 stolen bases, and 17 RBIs. Her 35 stolen bases rank first in the NCAA.
Madison Pickens is second on the team with a .413 average, collecting 57 hits, 45 runs, 13 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, and 52 RBIs.
Camryn Lookadoo is third on the team with a .400 average and leads the team with 16 doubles. Bri Despines is fourth with a .392 average, posting 49 hits, 14 doubles, and 45 RBIs, with a .656 slugging percentage.
Louisville leads the ACC in stolen bases (100) and triples (21), and is fourth in the conference in on-base percentage (.443). The Cards rank fourth in the ACC with a .352 batting average on the season.
Through 44 games, five Cardinals have at least 30 RBIs and six have recorded at least 40 hits.
Sophomore Anna Wise leads the Louisville pitching staff with a 2.85 ERA and eight wins in 59 innings pitched, giving up just 24 earned runs and striking out 38 so far.
Senior Alyssa Zabala leads the team with 81 strikeouts and ten wins in 95.2 innings. She has made a team-high 31 appearances in 15 starts, limiting opponents to a .247 batting average.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Series Record: Louisville leads 29-7
At Louisville: Louisville leads 15-1
At Pittsburgh: Louisville leads 14-6
Last Meeting: May 1-2, 2025 – Louisville won the first and last games of the series in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Scouting the Panthers: Pittsburgh comes into the series with a 21-21 record and a 7-11 record in conference play. The Panthers travel to Louisville after dropping a series against Clemson at home and a midweek loss at Ohio State. Pitt is 6-5 at home, 5-11 on the road and 10-5 in neutral site games.

From the circle, the trio of Kyra Pittman, Gwen Sparks and Bekah Duck lead the way for the Panthers. All three come into the series boasting a sub-five ERA with 155 combined strikeouts. Pittman has a 7-6 record, with 14 starts and holds batters to a .264 batting average. Sparks and Duck have combined for five complete games across 122.1 innings, including three shutout wins.
KK Esparza and Tieley Vaughn bring big bats to the Panther offense. Esparza leads the team in batting average with a .340 clip on the year, featuring 11 extra base hits, eight of them being home runs, 35 RBIs and 23 walks. Vaughn is batting .336 with four homers, 18 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and 12 walks.
Jenny Allard is in her third year with the squad after spending 28 years as the head coach at Harvard. Last season, she led the Panthers to a 20-32 record with a 7-17 bid in the ACC. Pitt's season ended with a loss against the No. 17 ranked Stanford Cardinal in the ACC Tournament.