USF Picked Third in American Preseason Poll

Softball USF

Bulls Fall to Louisville in American Semifinals

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Louisville 0 5 0 1 0 2 X 8 7 0
USF 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 5 1

 

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HOUSTON, MAY 9, 2014 – A grand slam by Katie Keller in the second inning helped propel third-seeded Louisville to an 8-0 victory over USF in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Houston on Friday afternoon.

It was the fourth win for the Cardinals over the Bulls this season and just the fourth time all year that USF unable to score a run. Two of those four scoreless contests have now come at the hands of Louisville.

The Bulls were unable to take advantage of a great opportunity in the first inning with runners on second and third and only one out. Following a leadoff walk by Juli Weber (Hegins, Pa.) and an infield single by Ashli Goff (Tampa), Louisville pitcher Rachel Le Coq was able to record three consecutive outs to work her way out of the jam.

The Cardinals were able to take a control of the game in the second inning after Keller hit her first-career grand slam to put Louisville up 5-0. Tanner Fowler scored the game's first run earlier in the inning after Kelsi Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

That marked the end of the road for Bulls' starter Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.), who struggled with her control, hitting a batter and walking three others in just 1 2/3 innings pitched. She was relieved by sophomore Erica Nunn (Apex N.C.), who pitched the remainder of the game.

Louisville added to its lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Brittany Duncan to score Jones from second and give the Cardinals a six-run cushion.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, Duncan wasn't done there, as she took Nunn deep in the sixth inning for Louisville's second home run of the game to make it 8-0.

USF was unable to plate a run in the bottom half of the sixth to avoid the run-rule and with the loss fell to 41-15 on the year while Louisville improved to 35-20.

Weber, who was named the American Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, had another solid game at the plate and was the only player for USF to record multiple hits, going 2-for-2 . She finished the tournament with a team-high four hits after going 2-for-4 in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Memphis. Nevins was stuck with the loss, dropping her to 27-8 on the season.

Despite the loss, the Bulls' have put together a solid resume this season and will now have to wait and see if they'll receive an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Softball Selection Show airs live Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

 

Pitchers of Record
IP H R ER BB SO
W - R. Le Coq (12-8) 6.0 5 0 0 2 4
L - S. Nevins (27-8) 1.2 3 5 5 3 2
S - N/A            
USF AB H R RBI HR
J. Weber 2 2 0 0 0
Louisville
AB H R RBI HR
K. Keller 1 1 2 4 1
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Players Mentioned

Ashli Goff

#2 Ashli Goff

OF
5' 3"
Freshman
Sara Nevins

#00 Sara Nevins

P
6' 0"
Freshman
Erica Nunn

#20 Erica Nunn

P/OF
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ashli Goff

#2 Ashli Goff

5' 3"
Freshman
OF
Sara Nevins

#00 Sara Nevins

6' 0"
Freshman
P
Erica Nunn

#20 Erica Nunn

5' 10"
Freshman
P/OF