Louisville Softball is now one win away from their first Super Regional appearance in program history, beating Southern Illinois on Friday and Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.
Louisville Beats SIU 9-5
On Friday, the Cardinals faced Southern Illinois in the first game of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, which included Sidney Melton’s two-run homer in the second inning. Southern Illinois answered back with five runs of their own to take back the lead.
Louisville would clinch the win with five unanswered runs to close the game. Celene Funke tied it at 5-5 in the fourth inning with an RBI single. Megan Hensley’s homer in the fifth gave U of L the go-ahead run, putting them ahead 6-5. Maddy Newman added two more runs in the fifth with a double that scored Erin Wilbur and Taylor Roby. Rebecca Chung’s RBI single in the sixth added an insurance run for Louisville, giving them the 9-5 lead.
Taylor Roby earned the win for Louisville, throwing five innings and allowing two runs on six hits. Sidney Melton and Maddy Newman both finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs each.
Louisville Beats Northwestern 2-1
Louisville followed it up with a 2-1 victory against Northwestern on Saturday. The Cardinals avenged their three losses to the Wildcats earlier in the season, getting solo home runs from Taylor Roby (1st inning) and Sidney Melton (7th inning) to hold a 2-0 lead.
Northwestern had a chance to tie and/or walk it off in the bottom of the seventh inning. Maeve Nelson had an RBI double that cut Louisville’s lead to 2-1, and set up the winning run at the plate. But Louisville pitcher Danielle Watson was able to get the final out on a groundout, finishing a complete game that saw her allow one run and throw six strikeouts.
All that separates Louisville from a spot in the Super Regionals is beating Northwestern one more time. The Cardinals and Wildcats face-off at 2 p.m.
Southern Illinois ✔️#GoCards pic.twitter.com/TMGOgjOUXa
— Louisville Softball (@UofLSoftball) May 17, 2019
