By Matthew Keck —
The University of Louisville softball team had a tough weekend in Clearwater, Fla. at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
The Cards went 1-4 to kick off their season, beating Ole Miss 4-2 Feb. 7. On the same day, they lost to Baylor 4-7, and suffered three more losses between Feb. 8 and 9 to Texas State University, Mississippi State University and University of Missouri.
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Roby served it up on the mound for the Cards in their win against Ole Miss. She pitched 6 innings, finishing with three strikeouts and only allowing one earned run.
Getting things done on the offensive side for the Cards were senior Caitlin Ferguson, redshirt junior Carmyn Greenwood and Roby. Each player contributed RBIs to help the Cards beat the Rebels.
While the Card’s bats stayed hot in their second game of the day against Baylor, it wasn’t enough. This was their first loss on the season getting beat out 4-7.
Baylor had two big innings against junior Chardonnay Harris and Roby, scoring three runs on each pitcher in the third and sixth innings.
It wasn’t all bad news for the Cards against Baylor. Senior Celene Funke, junior Maddy Newman, redshirt freshman Eden Mayo and Ferguson all finished the game with RBIs. Newman made an effort for the Cards on the base path, tallying their only stolen base in this game.
Starting off their day of games on Saturday against Texas State, U of L fell short 7-3.
Harris got the start for the Cards again giving up seven hits and three earned runs to the Bobcats. She also managed 4 strikeouts in the two and one-thirds innings she pitched.
Ferguson had a big game against the Bobcats, going 2-4 at the plate with two RBIs, one of which was a home run. Funke was the only other Cardinal to contribute an RBI.
These few runs weren’t enough for the Cards, with the Bobcats having a huge third inning and scoring four runs.
It was a closer game for the Cards later that day when they took on the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but they still couldn’t hold on, losing 3-2 in extra innings.
The Cards went up 1-0 on the Bulldogs when they scored in the third on an error. But the Bulldogs answered in the fourth inning scoring on a double.
It was a struggle to get the bats going for the Cards with only Ferguson having an RBI to finish the game. They had seven players who finished with one or more strikeouts.
Yet another slow day for the Cards on Sunday to end the tournament with a loss to Missouri 5-1.
Harris took the mound for the Cards and suffered her third loss of the weekend. She gave up 2 earned runs in the two and two-thirds innings on the mound.
Roby was the only Card whose bat had some life, putting up the only RBI for the team.
The defense had some trouble with Newman and Mayo, both posting errors on that side of the ball.
File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal
