By Glypie Grider
The University of Louisville softball team finished 3-2 in the Clearwater Invitation over the weekend. Ten teams competed in the three-day tournament which marked the start of the 2005 Louisville season.
U of L opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to host school University of Florida Friday. The Gators jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Sara Bausher’s two run homer tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth. Florida regained the lead in the fifth. Louisville threatened in the top of the seventh when Audrey Rendon nailed a two-out triple to deep right field. She was thrown out at home to end the game.
In the second game, Florida Atlantic took an early lead against the Cards, but Louisville’s Candi Hicks hit a solo home run to tie the game in the second inning. The Cards added two more runs in the second when Courtney Moore and Jenn Skaggs scored off Michelle Vasquez’s two-run double. Louisville rounded out the scoring in the sixth and seventh innings. Catherine Bishop picked up the win, allowing one unearned run on six hits. Louisville had 10 hits on the night.
Bishop only allowed one hit as Louisville defeated fourth-ranked Oklahoma Saturday. Aja Sherman also posted a one-hitter in the Cards’ 9-0 win over Appalachian State University the same day.
The Cards closed their first tournament of the season with a 4-0 loss to #13 Tennessee Sunday. The Lady Vols scored in the top of the second off a two-run double. By the fourth inning, Tennessee had added two more runs.
Sherman (1-2) started on the mound and took the loss for the Cards, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits. Bishop (2-0) came on in relief and allowed three runs and struck out four in three innings.
U of L will travel to Las Vegas on Feb. 11-13 to compete in the UNLV Desert Classic. They will face BYU and Washington on Feb. 11.
The 2005 squad was picked by league coaches to win the 2005 C-USA title. Sherman, Bausher, Lacy Wood and Rendon were also 2005 preseason All-C-USA picks. Louisville closed the 2004 season with a 41-19, 19-5 (C-USA) record and their first NCAA at-large bid. Louisville is coached by Sandy Pearsall.
