The University of Louisville softball team will play host to Indiana in a midweek contest Wednesday 6 p.m. at Ulmer Stadium. Admission is at 6 p.m.
Date: March 29, 2017
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Ulmer Stadium
Television: ACC Network Extra
Live Scoring: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball
• Louisville brings a 19-8 record into the game after defeating Syracuse 7-4 in the only game of a weather-impacted ACC series which saw the cancellation of games two and three.
• UofL is currently second in the ACC standings with a 4-0 league record – behind No. 1/3 Florida State (28-1-1, 9-0).
• Prior to the weekend road trip to Syracuse, the Cards finished a 12-game home stand with a 10-2 record at Ulmer Stadium.
• Junior Nicole leads the team with a .359 average and 24 RBIs. Senior Tiarra Sanabria follows closely at .357. Senior Maryssa Becker is hitting .329 and leads the team with 18 runs and four homers – she has reached via a hit or walk in each of the last 13 games.
• Becker (14-5) also paces the Cards in the circle with a 1.77 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 115.0 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .230 batting average.
• Louisville is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Coaches poll.
• Senior Jordan McNary has reached base via a hit, a walk in 15 of the last 17 games and is a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases.
• Sandy Pearsall enters her 18th season as UofL’s head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to six conference championships. Under her watch, Louisville has made 13 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Indiana
Series Record: Louisville leads 15-3
Last Meeting: April 12, 2016 – Louisville defeated Indiana 12-2 in Bloomington in a midweek matchup. Maryssa Becker did not allow a run or a hit while striking out four in 2.2 innings of relief en route to her career-best 15th win of the season. She also helped the Cards at the plate going 2 for 3 with double, two RBIs and one run. Nicole Pufahl added three RBIs.
• Tara Trainer took the loss after giving up three earned runs on one hit and striking out two in 1.2 innings. Lehman paced the Hoosiers with a 2 for 3, one run performance at the plate.
Scouting the Hoosiers: Indiana enters the game with a 16-15 overall record and a 1-3 mark in away games. The Hoosiers are coming off of a 2-1 showing against Rutgers in their first conference series of the season. Indiana took the first two games with scores of 9-2 and 23-2, respectively. They dropped the last game of the series 7-5.
• The Hoosiers are led at the plate by Aimilia McDonough who boasts a .382 batting average with two homers and nine RBIs. Rebecca Blitz leads the team in hits with 33 and has also added nine RBIs of her own, while Taylor Uden is tops on the team in RBIs with 25 and homeruns with four. • Tara Trainer leads the team in the circle with an 8-8 record with 117 strikeouts and a 3.16 ERA in 97.1 innings of work. Emily Goodin (8-4) carries a 3.58 ERA with 56 Ks in 76.1 innings.
Up Next
Louisville will then play host to Notre Dame in a three-game ACC series April 1-3. Games two and three of that series will be televised on ESPNU with Monday’s finale featured as part of ESPN’s ACC Monday.
Up Last
Junior Jenna Jordan drove in a career-high five RBIs as Louisville scored seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take a 7-1 lead and held off a Syracuse rally in the bottom of the seventh to win 7-4. Inclement weather and field conditions forced the cancellation of the final two games of the series.
• Becker (14-5) took home the win, allowing four runs, one earned, and striking out five while scattering eight hits. Jordan finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored and a career-high five RBIs. Pufahl and Szydlowski both went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Cards in the ACC
Louisville is currently second in ACC standings with a 4-0 mark against league opponents. While in its third season in the conference, UofL has compiled a 35-15 record in ACC play and has only lost a conference series three times (vs. Virginia Tech in 2015; vs. North Carolina and Florida State in 2016).
Last Weekend
The Cardinals opened ACC play by sweeping Pittsburgh in a three-game series.
• Freshman shortstop Caitlin Ferguson and junior second baseman led the Cards at the plate on the weekend – both posted a .500 average with Ferguson going 6-for-12 with two runs and four RBIs and Soles going 5-for-10 with four runs and four RBIs.
• Maryssa Becker picked up two wins and a school-record 12th-career save while striking out 19 and scattering 11 hits in 14.2 innings of work.
Louisville 7 – Pitt 6
In Friday’s game, Louisville prevailed 7-6 behind Tiarra Sanabria’s two-out walk-off RBI single in a contest that featured five lead changes and three ties. Senior Maryssa Becker fanned nine to get the win.
Louisville 5 – Pitt 2
Junior Alison Szydlowski and sophomore Lillie Goetz drove in two runs apiece to help the Cards to a series-clinching 5-2 win over Pittsburgh.
Sophomore Megan Hensley got the win, allowing two runs, one earned on five hits and striking out two in six innings and paced the Cards offensively with two hits.
Louisville 8 – Pitt 2
Junior Jamie Soles and freshman Caitlin Ferguson recorded two RBIs to help UofL complete an ACC series sweep of Pittsburgh with an 8-2.
Becker got the win, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight while scattering four hits in six innings. Soles went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs while Ferguson finished the game with a 2-for-4, two run, two RBI showing at the plate. McNary, Becker and Hensley each had a pair of hits in the game.
Hitting for average
The Cardinals are hitting .304 as a team. In the current starting lineup, eight players are batting above .300 on the season. Junior Nicole Pufahl leads the way at .359 with senior Tiarra Sanabria following closely at .357. Freshman Caitlin Ferguson stands third at .345 while junior Jamie Soles is right behind her with a .341 average. Junior Alison Szydlowski is hitting at a .340 clip while senior Jordan McNary following at .337. Senior Maryssa Becker (.329) and junior Jenna Jordan (.300) round out the top eight.
• Before suffering a season-ending injury in the Feb. 25 game against California, junior shortstop Sidney Melton carried a .364 batting average.
Becker Ties School Record with Twelfth Career Save
On March 18, Maryssa Becker entered the game in relief in the seventh inning during game two of Louisville’s ACC series with Pitt. The Cards were leading 5-1, but the Panthers had the bases loaded with no outs in the inning with the tying run at the plate. After surrendering a run on a groundout, Becker proceeded to strike out the next two batters to pick up her school-record tying 12th career save.
• Becker is currently tied with Chelsea Leonard (2010-12) and Catherine Bishop (2004-07) and needs one more save to own the record outright.
Becker Sets Single Game RBI Mark
In the Cards’ 13-2 win over CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 10, Maryssa Becker connected on an RBI single, a three-run homer and a grand slam, producing eight RBIs and setting a school record. She surpassed the previous record (7) held by Katie Keller (twice in 2013) and Melissa Jacobo (2002).
Becker Earns 50th Career Win, Notches 500th Strikeout
On Feb. 12, senior Maryssa Becker tossed a two-hit, complete game shutout to help the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over Indiana State. The victory marked the 50th of Becker’s career and moved her to sixth on Louisville’s all-time list. She currently has 60 wins and needs five more move into a tie for fifth along with Jessica Rak (2000-03). Kristen Wadwell (2007-10) owns the record with 94 victories.
• In the Feb. 24 game against California, Becker registered her 500th career strikeout. She becomes only the sixth player in program history to earn at least 500 career Ks. Becker has 559 strikeouts and stands fifth on the all-time list, needing one more to move into a tie for fourth with Jessica Rak (2000-03). Kristien Wadwell (2007-10) holds the all-time recrod with 696.
Homegrown Talent
The Cardinals’ roster featured nine (of 19) players from the commonwealth of Kentucky. Caitlin Ferguson (Fr., INF, Versailles, Ky./Woodford County), Lillie Goetz (So., INF, Owensboro/Owensboro Catholic), Shelby Graybill (Fr., INF/C, Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands), Megan Hensley (So., P/UT, Ashland/Paul Blazer), Jordan McNary (Sr., OF, Madisonville/Hopkins County Central), Morgan Meyer (Sr., OF, Louisville/Mercy), Ashley Nikolao (Jr., UT, Flaherty/Meade County), Michala Riggle (So., C/1B, Louisville/Christian Educational Consortium), Jordan Vorbrink (So., OF, Louisville/Mercy).
Record Watch
Senior Maryssa Becker is ranked among the top 10 in several career categories at Louisville. The following is a list of milestones she will reach in the near future:
Pitching
• Needs 1 save to own the record for career saves (12)
• Fourth in career strikeouts (568) needs 22 more to tie for third.
• Currently sixth on Louisville’s career list for shutouts (16); needs five more to tie for fifth.
• Sixth on the list for career wins (61), needs four more to tie for fifth
Hitting
• Tied for fifth on Louisville’s all-time list with 145 career RBIs… needs 20 more to move into a tie for fourth.
• Sixth with 92 walks, needs nine more to tie for fifth.
• Ninth with 26 home runs – needs one more to tie for eighth
Dual Threats
Two of Louisville’s top offensive threats also double as the Cards’ Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers. Senior Maryssa Becker leads the team with four home runs and is second with 21 RBIs. Sophomore Megan Hensley has six doubles and two homers and has driven in 17.
• In the circle, Becker (14-5) carries a 1.77 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 115.0 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .230 batting average with three shutouts on the season, while Hensley (5-3) has a 2.25 ERA and 32Ks in 53.0 innings.
• The duo is picking up where it left off last season. Listed below are their accomplishments in 2016.
• Becker led the team with 16 multi-RBI games and 15 multi-hit games. Hensley was right behind her with 14 and 15 respectively.
• The two combined for 23 of Louisville’s 37 home runs and 112 of its 281 RBIs.
• Becker was a 2016 All-ACC first team selection while Hensley earned second team honors.
• Hensley earned NFCA All-Southeast Region third team honors.
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
