By: Lori Korte, Assistant Sports Information Director – University of Louisville Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. –The University of Louisville softball team defeated Bellarmine 8-0, Tennessee State 5-0 and Eastern Kentucky 8-1 in the first scrimmages of the fall season.
Louisville 5 – Bellarmine 3
Senior Katie Keller went 2 for 2 with a run and junior Brittany Duncan delivered a two-run double to key the Cards to a 5-3 win over the host Knights.
Bellarmine jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Ally Foster led off with a double and two outs later, Tabby Shewmaker drilled a home run over right centerfield.
The Cards got a run back in the top of the second when senior Taner Fowler delivered a leadoff double and came around to score on freshman Kristina Dillard’s RBI hit.
Louisville evened the score in the third when freshman Jordan McNary tripled and Hannah Kiyohara’s grounder to second brought her home to make it a 2-2 game.
Bellarmine pulled back ahead in the home half of the third behind Shewmaker’s RBI double. Maddie Phillips connected on a one-out single and Shewmaker sent a hit to right center field to give the Knights a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals answered in the top of the fourth when freshman Maryssa Becker reached on an error and took second Katie Keller’s hit an error allowed Morgan Meyer to reach and loaded the bases for pinch-hitter junior Brittany Duncan who delivered a blooper into right field to bring Becker and McDuffie home and put Louisville on top 4-3.
UofL tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when senior Maggie Ruckenbrod reached on an error and moved to third on Tiarra Sanabria’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Maryssa Becker for the 5-3 final.
All four Cardinal pitchers combined in the effort. Sanabria started the game and allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out three in 2.0 innings. Freshman Maryssa Becker gave up one earned run on three hits and fanned two in 2.0 innings. Senior Rachel LeCoq held the Knights scoreless and surrendered only one hit while striking out one in 2.0 innings and senior Caralisa Connell closed the game, giving up one hit and delivering a strikeout in the final inning of play.
Louisville 5 –Tennessee State 0
Brittany Duncan went 2 or 3 with a double and two RBI and Katie Keller hit a two-run homer to help lead the Cards to a 5-0 win over Tennessee State.
Louisville took a 2-0 lead in the third when junior Whitney Arion and freshman Jordan McNary reached on back-to-back bunt singles and came around to score on Duncan’s two-run double.
The Cards added another run in the sixth. Duncan drew a leadoff walk. After entering the game as a pinch runner, McNary stole second, took third on a wild pitch and came home on Brittany Sims’ sacrifice fly.
Keller’s two-run homer in the seventh capped the scoring. Freshman Kelsi Jones delivered a one-out doubles and Keller smashed a shot over the left field fence for the 5-0 final.
All four Cardinal pitchers combined on the shutout. Connell started the game and gave up two hits while striking out two in 2.0 innings. Becker entered delivered four Ks in 2.0 innings. LeCoq allowed one hit and struck out one in 2.0 innings of work and Sanabria did not allow a hit in the seventh.
Louisville 8 – Eastern Kentucky 1
In Louisville’s second game of the day, Keller was 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs while Duncan went 2 for 4 with five RBIs and two runs to lead the Cards to an 8-1 win over the Colonels.
The Cardinals jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. McNary led off the team with a walk and beat the throw to second when Kiyohara reached on a fielder’s choice. Keller stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI double to put Louisville on the scoreboard. Duncan’s two-run double increased the lead to 3-0 and Fowler’s single plated Duncan to make the score 4-0.
The second inning brought four more runs for the Cards. Junior Whitney Arion (Delphi, Ind.) drew a leadoff walk and took second on McNary’s sacrifice bunt. Kiyohara’s base hit placed runners on first and third for Keller’s RBI single. Duncan powered a shot over the centerfield fence to give Louisville an 8-0 lead.
EKU got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Katie Tackett delivered a one-out single and took second on an error. Pinch runner Haley Schenasi moved to third on Christina Ciolek’s groundout and crossed the plate on a single by Shannon McQueen to make the score 8-1.
The Colonels threatened to push another run across in the sixth when Tackett reached on a one-out error. Schenasi entered the game as a pinch runner and moved to third on Ciolek’s single. A double steal attempt resulted senior catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod combining with shortstop Whitney Arion and first baseman Tiarra Sanabria to tag Schenasi out at the plate and hold EKU to one run in the game.
Senior Rachel LeCoq (Gonzales, La.) surrendered one unearned run and scattered three hits in 4.0 innings. Freshman Maryssa Becker (Medford, Ore.) allowed one hit and struck out three in 3.0 innings of relief.
