The University of Louisville softball team rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie No. 2/3 Florida State, but Zoe Casa’s one-out RBI single in the seventh lifted the Seminoles to a 5-4 victory. The Cardinals (26-17, 9-7) will wrap up the home season this weekend with three-game ACC series against Virginia.
“I’m proud of what we did today,” said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. “We wanted to come out with a win and I thought when we tied it up, we had a great chance to do that, but it’s very hard to hold their offense.” “Our outfielders tracked down some balls and made some great plays. Our whole defense was tested tonight, and we knew it would be… I think we did a great job outside of a few mental mistakes. Megan got off to a rough start, but then she got going and really hung in there, I was proud of what she did tonight after pitching 10 innings last night.”
Sophomore Megan Hensley (7-8) turned in her second straight complete-game effort in the circle and went 2-for-3 with a home run and scored twice while junior Jamie Soles delivered a two-run double to tie the game in the fourth inning. Senior Morgan Meyer went 2-for-4 to help the Cards belt out nine hits in the game.
The Seminoles (44-3-1, 21-0) jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first when Morgan Klaevemann and Ellie Cooper delivered back-to-back infield hits to start the game and Jessica Warren walked to load the bases. A walk to Alex Powers plated Klaevemann and Sydney Broderick followed with a two-run single.
Louisville got a run back in the second when Hensley launched her third home run of the season, one-out solo shot over the left field fence to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard.
Florida countered with another run in the fourth inning. Walks to Cassidy Davis and Warren walked to set up Powers’ RBI hit which pushed the Seminoles’ lead to 4-1.
The Cards answered once again, capitalizing on four hits to score three runs in the fourth. Junior Nicole Pufahl, Hensley and junior Alison Szydlowski each singled to load the bases with no outs in the inning. A groundout by junior Jenna Jordan plated Pufahl to cut the lead to two runs. Soles stepped up to the plate and belted out a double to centerfield to even the score at 4-4.
The teams played through two more scoreless innings before Florida State’s Cali Harrod led off the seventh with a single, stole second and took third on a wild pitch to set up Casas’ RBI hit which put the Seminoles on top 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Lillie Goetz drew a one-out walk to bring the winning run to the plate, but Florida State’s Meghan King got McNary and Meyer to hit into back-to-back fielder’s choices to end the game.
King (21-1) got the win, holding the Cardinals scoreless and did not allow a hit while walking one in 3.2 innings of relief. FSU starter Jessica Burroughs, who had held the Cardinals to one hit in game one of the series, gave up four earned runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings. Powers and Broderick each had two hits and two RBIs to help the Seminoles to nine hits in the game.
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
