By Dalton Ray–

Softball traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina and swept NC State in their final three regular season games. Louisville ends the year with a 31-18 record and won four of their last five.

Junior Alison Szydlowski went 5-for-10 with six RBIs and a pair of home runs in the sweep. Senior Maryssa Becker pitched 12 innings and had 15 strikeouts. She also added seven hits with five RBIs.

Coach Sandy Pearsall has led the Cardinals to at least 30 wins every year since 2004.

May 5, 7-5 win

Sophomore Megan Hensley earned the win, pitching all seven innings. Louisville jumped up to a 4-0 lead with the help of a two-run homer from Szydlowski.

Senior Tiarra Sanabria’s home run in the fifth inning extended the Louisville lead to 7-3. The Wolfpack recorded a home run of their own in the bottom of seventh inning. With a runner on second base and two outs, a foul-out to Szydlowski at third base ended the comeback.

May 6, 4-3 win

Game-two went into extra innings and Becker went to distance for her 21st win.

A RBI from freshman Caitlin Ferguson gave Louisville a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but State answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.

Both teams failed to score runners in the next four innings, but a RBI double gave NC State a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Szydlowski tallied another two-run homer to tie the game in the top of the seventh.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, Szydlowski singled to drive home Sanabria, breaking the tie. The Cardinals ended the game with a strikeout and two ground-outs.

May 7, 7-0 win

The Cardinals ended the weekend with a blowout victory and Becker notched her 22nd win. Becker replaced Hensley on the mound in the third inning and ended the game with nine strikeouts.

Becker got the job done at the plate as well, driving in the first three RBIs. In the fourth inning, junior Nicole Pufahl’s single shot pushed the lead to 4-0.

Pufahl recorded another RBI in the sixth inning on a single. Junior Jenna Jordan put the finished touches on the game one batter later with a home run.

Photo by Dalton Ray / The Louisville Cardinal