Cards Fall in Eight-Inning Battle With No. 17 Stanford

Thursday, May 7

Charlottesville, VA

1:30 PM

University of Louisville

44-12

Stanford

37-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Louisville	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	5	8	2
Stanford	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	9	1

Cards huddle up before ACC Tournament game.

Photo by: Courtesy ACC

Cards Fall in Eight-Inning Battle With No. 17 Stanford

May 07, 2026 | Softball

Box Score

By: Erin Hughes

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5-seeded University of Louisville softball team fell 6-5 in eight innings against No. 4 seed Stanford in the Allstate ACC Softball Championship quarterfinal on Thursday afternoon.

Brooke Gray (14-3) tossed 4.0 innings of two-hit ball, allowing just one run and striking out three. Bri Despines and Madison Pickens led the offense with four total RBIs, with Despines adding two home runs and Pickens knocking one of her own.

The Cards came out early with a two-run top of the first inning that saw Chelsea Mack reach on an error and Despines send her home with her first home run of the day. Stanford responded by plating four runs in the home half of the inning to quickly set the tone with a 4-2 lead.

Both teams had their bats kept quiet in the second before Despines launched her second homer, this time a solo shot to right field in the top of the third. Pickens followed her with her own solo home run to tie the game at four-all. The Cardinal retook the lead in the bottom of the inning with a bases-loaded walk to lead 5-4.

Anna Wise and Gray held it down in the circle to put up zeros in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings and give UofL another shot at the plate in the top of the seventh. Katie Thatcher, Riley Janda and Mack loaded the bases with no outs in the opening frame, and Camryn Lookadoo drew a walk to knot the score up at five.

After Gray worked a scoreless bottom of the seventh, Louisville was unable to capitalize with two runners on in the top of the eighth. Stanford scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly to end the game and move on to the semifinals.

Louisville (44-12) will now await its seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Softball Selection Show will take place on Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.