By Catherinw Laroche
The U of L softball team couldn’t ask for a better way to open a busy weekend. On Friday, the Cards won their first two games of the Courtyard Marriot Classic with a 14-0 win over Middle Tennessee and a 1-0 eight-inning no-hitter over Western Kentucky. But the party ended early for Louisville as the team fell to No. 1 Michigan on the final day of the classic, bringing its record to 16-12.
“Overall, we’ve played our toughest schedule ever. We’ve played well. I’m happy that the team hasn’t thrown in the towel and keeps playing hard,” said head coach Sandy Pearsall.
A 25-minute rain delay didn’t stop the Cards against Middle Tennessee: Louisville trounced the Blue Raiders 14-0. The team slugged 13, hits including a school record six home runs during the game, four of them in the third inning. Senior Lisa Estes, sophomore Jenn Skaggs, and junior Lacy Wood all hit solo shots. Sophomore Courtney Moore added a three-run homer.
“I’ve been really pleased with Courtney Moore. She has improved on defense and come a long way. I’m also excited about her offense,” said Pearsall. “Lacy Wood has stepped up as well. Everyone else has been up and down.”
Friday’s game against WKU wasn’t as exciting offensively as the Middle Tennessee game, however. Both U of L and WKU remained scoreless through seven innings, but U of L broke the offensive drought when Sara Bausher scored on a fielder’s choice. The Cards topped the Hilltoppers 1-0 in eight innings.
Senior Aja Sherman evened her pitching record at 6-6 with the WKU win. She pitched her fifth career no-hitter and set a school record with 15 strikeouts. She only allowed one walk in eight innings.
Despite a big hit in the bottom of the seventh against the University of Michigan, the Cardinals fell 2-1 to the top-ranked Wolverines.
The Cards made a threatening effort in the fifth, but left runners stranded on the bases. Louisville scored in the seventh when Estes scored after a series of errors to make the game 2-1. The Wolverines’ reliever, Jennie Ritter, retired the next two batters to end the game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Wolverines struck early with a 2-0 lead. The team added one run in both the second and the third, and three more in the sixth, to make it 7-0.
Sophomore Catherine Bishop (10-5) took the loss for the Cards, allowing seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in 3.1 innings. Sherman came on in relief, holding Michigan scoreless and giving up two hits in 2.2 innings.
Michigan’s Jennie Ritter (14-0) posted her eighth shutout of the season. Michigan (31-1) extends its win streak to 31 games.
“I was very pleased with the first game,” Pearsall said. “Michigan is an excellent hitting team, which is evident in their No. 1 ranking. We need to start swinging the bats with more confidence when in position to score runs. That was the difference between the two teams today.”
Although Pearsall was impressed with the weekend performance, she said the team still needs to work on defense, consistent pitching and eliminating errors for their upcoming schedule.
“We’ve played well, but not our best yet,” Moore added. “Maybe that’s a good thing we haven’t met our peak yet.”
U of L will host C-USA opponent UAB in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 2 p.m. “UAB and Southern Miss are huge match-ups for us,” Pearsall said. “We have to get every part of our game in line.”
