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March 12, 2009

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

The No. 17/18 University of Louisville softball team continues its March homestand with the Courtyard by Marriott Airport Cardinal Tournament March 13-16. The Cards will play Loyola Friday at noon and look to avenge one of their two losses in a 4 p.m. matchup with Eastern Michigan. On Saturday, U of L will face No. 17/22 Ohio State at noon and Minnesota at 2 p.m. The Cardinals will conclude tournament play against Illinois-Chicago at noon.

The University of Louisville softball moved to No. 17 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and No. 18 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) coaches polls and are at No. 18 in the Ultimate College Softball rankings.

Louisville is hitting a solid .323 on the season with eight players batting over the .300 mark. Chelsea Bemis leads the team with a .379 average and has five home runs, five doubles, 18 RBI and 14 runs. Sophomore Colby Wherry follows closely at .378. Kristi Cunningham has a team-leading six home runs and 22 RBI.

Junior RHP Kristen Wadwell (13-2) carries a 1.07 ERA and leads the BIG EAST in wins (13) and strikeouts (86) in 104.2 innings of work.

Cards Against the Field
Loyola (Chicago)
March 13, Noon
Series Record: Louisville leads 1-0
Last Meeting: March 5, 2000
Scouting the Ramblers: Loyola brings an 8-4 overall record in to the tournament and is coming off of a 3-2 performance at the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. Loyola defeated Evansville, Connecticut and St. Bonaventure, but suffered losses to VIllanova and NC State. Haley Ambrosch and Stevie Bradich lead the team with .367 averages. Amy Solava (4-2) holds a 2.55 ERA with 23 Ks in 42.1 innings.

Eastern Michigan
Mrach 13, 4 p.m.
Series Record: EMU leads 3-1
Last Meeting: Feb. 22, 2009 - The Eagles handed the Cards their first loss of the season, defeating them 3-2 in the final game of the USF The Game Tournament.
Scouting the Eagles: Eastern Michigan is back in action after two weeks off. Their last game was on March 1 and resulted in a 6-1 win over Stony Brook. Stacie Skodinski sits atop the offensive leaders with a .472 batting average and two home runs, including one in the 3-2 win over Louisville earlier in the season. Michelle Hletko (2-3) has a 2.85 ERA and got the win against the Cards.

#22/17Ohio State
March 14, Noon
Series Record: First meeting
<Scouting the Buckeyes: OSU is No. 22 in the NFCA rankings and No. 22 in the USA Softball poll. The Buckeyes (15-3) are currently on a four-game winning streak in which three of their past four wins have been shutouts. Tory Haddad is batting .395 to lead the Buckeyes. Sam Marder follows with a .389 average and leads the team with nine home runs, 21 RBI and 14 runs. Kim Reeder (8-2) has a stingy 0.90 ERA with 7 strikeouts in 62.0 innings of work. lindsay Bodeker (5-1) carries a 0.94 ERA with 50 Ks in 37.1 innings of work.

Minnesota
March 14, 2 p.m.
Series Record: Minnesota leads 5-4
Last Meeting: March 17, 2008 - Louisville swept a doubleheader winning the first game 5-4 in eight innings and taking the second 9-3 at Ulmer Stadium
Scouting the Gophers: Minnesota (13-13) are coming off of a 3-2 showing in Arizona's Hilllenbrand Invitationa. The Gophers suffered two losses to host 11th ranked Arizona, but rebounded to beat St. Joseph's twice and Creighton. Malisa Barnes leads the team, batting .293 with 15 runs and 11 RBI. Briana Hassett (13-7) has a 2.30 ERA with 190 Ks in 130 innings.

Illinois-Chicago
March 15, Noon
Series Record: UIC leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Mach 21, 2008 - The Flames defeated Louisville 8-4 at Indiana Scouting the Flames: Ilinois-Chicago enters the weekend with a 4-14 overall record. The Flames are coming off of a 5-0 win over St. Bonaventure on Sunday, March 8 at the USF Invitational. Melissa Marinacci leads the team with a .320 batting average with 10 RBI and three doubles. Ashley Hewett (2-7) has a 3.45 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 65.0 innings of work.

Softball Moves Up in Rankings
The University of Louisville softball moved to No. 17 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and No. 18 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) coaches polls released on Tuesday, March 10. The Cards also step in at No. 18 in the Ultimate College Softball rankings.

The rankings mark the highest in program history in each of the polls. Louisville reached No. 18 in the USA Softball poll on May 9, 2006 and No. 17 in the NFCA in the final release of the 2006 season. This season is their first appearance in the UCS poll.

After picking up four wins, including a 3-2 decision over then-No. 8/9 Michigan last weekend, the Cardinals moved up five spots in the NFCA poll and two in the USA Softball. Louisville has wins over two top 20 teams (No. 10/10 Michigan and No. 15/15 North Carolina) and will face No. 17/22 Ohio State this weekend.

U of L is off to an 18-2 start, the best since 2006, when the Cards went 19-2 before taking their third loss of the season.

Wadwell Tabbed BIG EAST Player of the Week; Bemis on Honor Roll
Kristen Wadwell was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Monday, March 9. The junior from Sydney, Australia went 4-0 on the week and posted a 0.81 ERA, allowing only three earned runs and striking out 24 in 26.0 innings of work. In the 1-0 win over Bradley, she registered nine strikeouts and surrendered only one earned run. She also got the complete game win over No. 8/9 Michigan while allowing two unearned runs ands striking out five in eight innings. In the 12-1 win over Tennessee Tech, she tossed four innings of relief and held the Golden Eagles scoreless and gave up two hits while striking out six. She also helped her cause offensively, batting .333 (3 for 9) with a triple and three RBI. Wadwell improved to 13-2 on the season and now has a 1.07 ERA while holding opponents to a .180 batting average.

Sophomore third baseman Chelsea Bemis helped lead the Cards to a 4-0 record in the Louisville Softball Tournament. She batted .545 (6 for 11) with two doubles, a home run, four runs and six RBI. She also registered a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .545 on-base percentage. Bemis went 3 for 4 with three runs and two RBI in the 12-1 won over Tennessee Tech and went 2 for 3 with a home run and four RBI in the 7-2 decision over the Golden Eagles. She also had a hit in the 3-2 win over No. 8/9 Michigan.

Up Last
The Cardinals coming off of a 4-0 performance at the Louisville Softball Tournament. Louisville opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over Bradley, beat No. 8/9 Michigan 3-2 in eight innings, and defeated Tennessee Tech 12-1 and 7-2.

Next Up
The Cardinals will open BIG EAST Conference play when they play host to South Florida in a double header on March 20 at 2 p.m.

Card Notes
• Louisville leads the BIG EAST in team batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.493), home runs (16), fielding percentage (.980) and wins (18)
• Kristi Cunningham leads the conference in RBI (22) and home runs (6). Kristen Wadwell stands atop the league in wins (13), strikeouts (86) and inning pitched (104.2). She is also tied for second with two saves.
• Junior Vanessa James tied a school record with two triples against Albany (2/21). She has seen time at second base, in the outfield and at designated player.
• Kristen Wadwell (13-2) has shouldered the majority of the pitching duties, logging 104.2 innings and posting a 1.07 ERA with 86 strikeouts. Freshman Tori Collins (5-0) has a 2.22 ERA with eight starts in 28.1 innings of work.
• Collins is the first left-handed pitcher in the history of Louisville softball.
• Senior centerfielder Kristi Cunningham is now tied for third on the school's all-time home runs list with 25. She needs two more to tie former all-American Lacy Wood. Courtney Moore holds the record with 41. • Melissa Roth holds the career record for most times hit by a pitch with 49.

Cunningham Named to Lowe's Senior CLASS 30 Candidates
Kristi Cunningham has been selected as one of 30 Division I candidates for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Softball Award.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition.

The four-year starting centerfielder and two-year captain, is currently tied for third on the career home runs list with 23. The two-time All-BIG EAST selection received the 2008 University of Louisville Women 4 Women/Anthem Leadership Award. She was also tabbed U of L Sophomore Athlete of the Year and U of L Freshman of the Year.

The Exercise Science/pre-Nursing major maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.833 and is expected to graduate this May. She is a two-time ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Second team member and earned the 2007-08 BIG EAST Scholar Athlete Sport Excellence Award for Softball. She is also a three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star selection.

A member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council since her freshman year, Kristi is also on the Executive Board where she is the Community Outreach Director. In that capacity, she has worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana, St. Joseph's Children's Home, participated in the Fit4Me program and has visited local elementary schools.

From the list of 30 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award at the end of March. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote beginning March 30 and concluding May 7. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award. Winners will be announced during the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, scheduled for May 28-June 3.

Roth Sets New Home Run Record
Junior catcher Melissa Roth set a school record with three home runs in Louisville's 12-3 win over Albany. She also tied a school record with four runs. Her six RBI fell one short of tying a school record.

Bruggeman Gets 500th Career Win
On Feb. 14, the Cards defeated No. 18/21 Nevada 3-2 in the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. With the victory, Associate head coach Carol Bruggeman reached her 500th career win. She has been Louisville's Associate Head coach since 2006 and spent 12 years as the head coach at Purdue, where she started the program and amassed 380 wins.

A New Look
Although the Cards only lost one starter from last season's team, the lineup as a different look to it. Senior Kassie Stanfill has played pitcher and outfield for the past three seasons is now taking a turn at first base. The Cardinal infield is overwhelmingly young with junior catcher Melissa and junior pitcher Kristen Wadwell as the upperclassmen. The rest of the infield is comprised of sophomores: third base (Chelsea Bemis), shortstop (Colby Wherry) and second base (Christina Roesel) and LHP freshman Tori Collins.

Cards in Tenth Season Louisville softball is in its tenth season since beginning the program in 2000. Over the past nine years, with Pearsall at the helm, the Cards have amassed 338 wins, earned five consecutive NCAA tournament bids, earned their first top 20 ranking and won three conference championships.

2009 BIG EAST Softball Championship Returns to Ulmer Stadium
For the second season in a row, Louisville's Ulmer Stadium will be the host site for the BIG EAST Softball Championship. The league's top eight teams will compete for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The tournament will take place May 7-9.