|
No. 12 Softball Tops Longwood 1-0 Behind Collins' Second Straight No-Hitter
April 15, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - Senior Tori Collins registered her second straight no-hitter and freshman Whitney Arion's RBI single scored sophomore Jordan Trimble as the No.12 University of Louisville softball team defeated Longwood 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Ulmer Stadium. The Cardinals improve to 38-2 on the season while the Lancers drop to 26-21. "I'm so happy for Tori to get her second no-hitter of her career and in back-to-back games," said U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall. "Offensively, the team is doing a very good job. We're hitting the ball well, our pitch selection was better and we are definitely getting our confidence back." Collins became the first Louisville player to throw back-to-back no-hitters after notching her first career one in Saturday's 8-0 five inning win over Longwood. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Jordan Trimble connected on a leadoff double, moved to third on a groundout by sophomore Maggie Ruckenbrod and came home on Arion's two-out single. The game featured a pitcher's duel through three innings with Collins and Longwood's Libby Morris allowing only one walk apiece until the fourth when junior Jennifer Esteban walked and senior Kristin Austin broke through with the first hit of the game. Another walk to Alicja Wolny loaded the bases, but a double play ended the Cards' first scoring threat. The Lancers had an early chance to score in the third when Brittney Latka drew a two-out walk and moved to second on a failed pick-off attempt. Leta Bressin's groundout sent her to third with two outs, but Collins got a groundout to end the inning. Longwood had another scoring opportunity in the fourth when Ashley Kramer drew a two-out walk and Courtney Long reached on an error to place a runner in scoring position, but that threat was squelched when catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod threw a strike to second baseman Katie Keller to pick Kramer off at second. The Cardinal defense stood strong to aid Collins with some diving catches for outs, including Austin's dive to catch a foul ball for the second out of the second and one by Collins to help her own cause for the first out of the sixth. The game ended on a double play when Austin caught a fly ball in right and teamed with Fowler at first to throw out Kramer who had reached on a leadoff walk. Collins (18-1) struck out six in the complete game shutout. Arion was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Trimble was 1 for 3 with a double and the game-winning run. Morris (10-11) took the loss, giving up one earned run on five hits and striking out one in 6.0 innings. Louisville (38-2, 9-2 BIG EAST) is back in action on Wednesday, April 18 when they play host to No. 16/18 USF in a BIG EAST Conference doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPNU with Adam Amin and Jennie Finch serving as announcers. NOTE:Today was Louisville softball's 'Pink' game in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer research. The Cards wore black uniform tops with pink numbers which will be auction this week on UofLSports.com. All proceeds will go to cancer research.
|
|
