It is always a good thing when any team from the University of Louisville beats the Kentucky Wildcats or Cincinnati Bearcats. On Tuesday, both happened as the 3rd ranked baseball team beat Cincinnati 6-2 and the softball team beat 17th ranked Kentucky 8-0. Both games were on the road.
In Cincinnati, freshman pitcher Sean Leland picked up the win for the Cards as he pitched 5.2 innings and gave up just one run and five hits. He is now 3-0 on the season. Once Leland was done, Robert Strader and Kade McClure combined for 3.1 innings without giving up a run to close out the Bearcats.
“It was a good win on the road in a rivalry game. We’ve struggled at times in these midweek games, especially offensively, so it was nice to see 13 hits and six runs with some good at-bats,” said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. “Nick Solak got things going early and he’s locked in and comfortable at the plate right now. Sean Leland gave us a strong start and that’s the second time he’s done that this year. I was pleased with how Robert Strader pitched and I thought Kade McClure showed some electric stuff at the end.”
The baseball team plays five games this week and obviously started off the way they wanted to. They improved to 31-9 on the season and return home to face Western Kentucky on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. ET. As always, admission is free. The game can also be heard on 93.9 The Ville.
Oh, by the way, Cardinal Sports Zone got a radio show on 93.9!
Moving down the road to Lexington, it was the softball team taking on the rival Wildcats. Maryssa Becker led the Cards with both pitching and hitting. On the mound, the sophomore pitched a one-hit shutout. She struck out eight batters in six innings and the one hit she gave up was to the very first batter she faced. Probably safe to say she buckled down after that.
From the plate, Becker was 2-2 with a two-run homerun and three RBI. Kelsi Jones added three RBI of her own, all coming on a double in the 5th inning to push the lead out to 7-0.
“I thought we had a great all-around game tonight,” said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. “Maryssa had a great game in the circle and we were able to get our offense going. We also had some tremendous defensive plays in the game.”
Louisville’s next games are Saturday and Sunday at home against Boston College. Saturday they play at 12 and 2:30. Sunday they play at 12:00. All games can be seen on ESPN3.
As always, it is a great day to be a Louisville Cardinal!
