By Jesse Welte

The Cardinals will look to dispatch their second instate rival, when the University of Louisville softball team will be playing host to the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University tonight at 5 p.m. at Ulmer Stadium. The game comes after taking care of business last week against the University of Kentucky in a 7-6 extra innings win.

U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall said, “We haven’t been doing that well early in this season, but we are finally starting to come together.”

EKU is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. They have hovered around a .500 overall record throughout the season, but sit comfortably in second place in the conference behind last year’s regular season and tournament champions Tennessee Tech University.

The Colonels are led in batting by freshman third baseman Shyenne Hussey who is batting .457 on the season, and leads the team with eight home runs and 38 RBI. Second on the team is junior second baseman Chanze Patterson who owns a .357 average and leads the team with 31 runs scored and 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts.

Senior pitcher Kelsey Anderson who is 9-10 with a 3.42 ERA and 121 strikeouts over 116.2 innings pitched leads the Colonels pitching staff.

She is also third on the team with a .294 batting average and second on the team with 23 RBI. The other pitchers on the staff are sophomores Kayln Fox and Jenn Bledsoe. Fox is 5-5 with a 4.78 ERA. Bledsoe is 5-2 with a 4.91 ERA.

The Cardinals will then return to action tomorrow against Middle Tennessee State University, at Ulmer Stadium. The Blue Raiders sit in the top half of the Sun Belt Conference.

Junior utility player Whitney Darlington leads Middle Tennessee in batting with a .336 average, five round trippers and 27 RBI. Sophomore outfielder Martha Davis is second on the team with a .322 average and four home runs, and third on the team with 21 RBI. Senior Shelby Stine is third, batting .290 with 11 stolen bases, and is one of 20 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award in the softball division.

Freshman pitcher Lindsey Vander Lugt leads the pitching staff with a 14-14 record and a 3.22 ERA, collecting 107 strikeouts over 185 innings. Sophomore Samantha Floyd is 5-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 71.1 innings.

The pitching staff is coming back together with the return of its senior ace Catherine Bishop, who is back from a rib injury.

So far this season, she is 6-6 with a 2.04 ERA. Without her, sophomore Kassie Stanfill and freshman Kristen Wadwell have held their own.

Stanfill is 10-5 with a 2.39 ERA in 93.2 innings, while Wadwell is 7-5 with a 1.99 ERA in 91.2 innings.