Breaking News: Louisville Softball Opens NCAA Tournament vs. Southern Illinois -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper

CARDS "WAIT OUT" SELECTION SHOW, GET REWARDED

The Louisville Softball squad is going to the NCAA Softball Tournament for the first time since 2016, being placed in the Evanston Region (hosted by Northwestern) and drawing the Southern Illinois Salukis for their first game. The Salukis and Cards will play at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday on the Northwestern home field and the contest will be available on ESPN 3.



Louisville (33-21) was the second-to-last team to have their name announced on the Selection Show. The selection show format started with the #1 seed in the tournament (Oklahoma), who would be playing in their regional, and worked down the seedings until they reached the #16 seed, which was Northwestern. As the pairings were announced, and no Louisville popped up...I began to wonder if the Cards were going to get the call.

Apprehension started to develop when I saw the #12 seed Tennessee's regional participants and no Cards. I didn't figure UofL would be sent to Oklahoma State and that proved true when they revealed the #13 seeded Cowboys bracket. 


When #14 seed Kentucky's regional popped up, I thought maybe, just maybe, the committee had seen fit to put the Cards in Lexington...but it was fellow ACC member Virginia Tech placed there, along with the Cats, Toledo and Illinois.

Perhaps the Cards would land in the #15 seed Michigan bracket? Nope...Louisville wasn't headed to Ann Arbor. Then, Northwestern was announced. They'll take on Detroit Mercy. And, finally,  Louisville appeared on the screen. 

Drama?  Well, yeah...but what else can Cardinal fans expect out of the NCAA when it comes to anything Louisville related, right? I think I heard the loud exhales of relief from wherever the Cardinal softball team was watching all the way out here in southeastern Jefferson County. 


It was announced that Southern Illinois (33-13) was one of the last "at-large" teams to get in, so we can correctly assume that the Cards were the #2 seed in the #16th regional bracket. Louisville's late losing streak must have not concerned the committee too much, then, I'm assuming and the #35 RPI did influence their thinking. 



The NCAA just has a funny, cliff-hanging, buzzer-beating way of showing it, I guess. 

The Cards did not face S.I.U. in the regular season. They are 0-1 against the Salukis lifetime. Northwestern? Yes, Louisville saw them three times in the early portion of the 2019 softball schedule. In the Titan Classic Feb. 9th in Fullerton, CA...the Cards took a 1-0 loss. Six days later, the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge had Louisville see the Wildcats twice in three days. An 9-8, nine-inning loss and 4-2 defeat befell Louisville in those contests. The Cards have improved dramatically since those early days of the season, however. 

Unfortunately, Northwestern has, too

All told, five ACC schools will participate in the double elimination field of 64. Besides the Cards, Notre Dame heads to #1 seed Oklahoma's stadium -- where they'll face Wisconsin in the first round. North Carolina got placed in #12 seed Tennessee's region and the Tar Heels will battle "the" Ohio State University to begin. #4 seed Florida State is the only ACC school to host a regional and they'll see Bethune-Cookman in their first outing. As we mentioned earlier, Virginia Tech heads to Lexington and will Illinois in the opener.

Out of the other 63 teams in the 2019 Tournament, Louisville has faced 11 of them. The Cards overall record against these 11 is 9-12. Cal State Fullerton, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Lipscomb, Auburn, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Florida State and North Carolina those foes...

Being in the #16th seeded team's bracket means that, if you advance, you're headed to the #1 seed's home (Oklahoma). More on that later, down the road, though. the Cards need eliminate the competition in Evanston before they can think about that. 

We'll break down the Salukis and their season as the game draws nearer.  Louisville has called for a pre-NCAA press conference tournament for Tuesday noon at Ulmer Stadium and we'll have that coverage for you.  

Have a marvelous Monday! 


paulie
xxxxx








from Cardinal Couple http://bit.ly/2JhKJK0
Breaking News: Louisville Softball Opens NCAA Tournament vs. Southern Illinois -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - News Paper