By Cris Majors
For the third time this season, a pair of Louisville Cardinals earned both Conference USA weekly softball awards. After leading their team to a perfect 6-0 record in league play for the week ending April 3, senior Aja Sherman earned her third Pitcher of the Week honor for the season, and junior Michelle Vasquez picked up her first honor for Hitter of the Week.
The award was Sherman’s second in a row after posting a 4-0 record with 0.30 ERA in conference play last week. The senior from Las Vegas defeated UAB and Southern Miss, allowing just one earned run in 23 innings of work. Sherman fanned 31 batters and recorded her sixth career no-hitter in game one of the UAB series. Three of Sherman’s four victories were shutouts, giving her 15 for her career. But, Sherman thinks there is room for improvement.
“I should be going right at batters more, making the first pitch a strike because I know if I hold them, we will score,” Sherman said.
Vasquez, a junior second baseman from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., batted .588 (10-for-17) during a pair of C-USA series sweeps over UAB and Southern Miss for the Cardinals. She blasted three home runs, including her first career grand slam, while driving in 10 runs and scoring six times. Vasquez had six extra-base hits on the week and posted a 1.353 batting percentage. Vasquez said she has dedicated this season to her father, who passed away in September 2004.
“They had a tremendous week,” said U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall of Sherman’s and Vasquez’s honors. “Aja did a very good job, especially against Southern Miss. I kept telling Michelle to be more aggressive and she did a great job. I think it was her best performance in her career.
“I think any time individuals earn awards, it brings credibility to the program and attention from coaches and recruits,” Pearsall said.
To capitalize on Louisville’s week of electrifying performances, another Card stepped into the spotlight: sophomore shortstop Courtney Moore. Moore, the number three batter in the Cards’ lineup, slammed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the University of Louisville softball team a 1-0 win over Indiana on April 6 at Ulmer Stadium.
“I was not surprised, but I was not trying to hit a home run, either,” Moore said. “I felt better that time at bat than any other time during the game.”
Neither team had a runner in scoring position for the first three innings, but the Hoosiers threatened to score in the top of the fourth when first baseman Tory Yamaguchi singled and stole second. IU right fielder Lauren Hines was hit by a pitch, placing runners at first and second with one out. Sherman retired the next two batters to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Lisa Estes was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a two-out single by Vasquez. A passed ball moved the runners to second and third, but IU starter Megan Roark retired the next batter to end the inning. With the score still tied, the game moved into extra innings.
Moore led off the ninth and delivered a solo shot over the left field fence for her team-leading eighth home run of the season. The game marked the first extra-inning contest of the season for the Hoosiers and the most frames the Cardinals have played in a game all season.
Louisville reliever Catherine Bishop picked up the win, holding the Hoosiers scoreless and hitless. Sherman combined with Bishop for the shutout, allowing two hits and striking out 14 in eight innings. Offensively, the Cards had six hits in the contest. Pearsall said, “We were not as focused and didn’t hit the ball as well as I thought we would. We needed to show respect to IU’s pitching. I have to credit their pitching, because it is the best we have seen in a couple of weeks.”
