Softball: Pitt hopes to give Louisville first loss

The Pitt softball team begins Big East Conference play this weekend on the road against one of… The Pitt softball team begins Big East Conference play this weekend on the road against one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the nation: the Louisville Cardinals.

After splitting a doubleheader Wednesday at home against St. Francis (Pa.), the Panthers will now head south to take on the No. 13 Cardinals in a three-game series — the opening series for both teams’ Big East seasons.

Freshman pitcher Savannah King, who is the Panthers’ ace and leads the team with 11 wins, said she believes the possibility of ending Louisville’s undefeated season could provide extra motivation for Pitt this weekend.

“I’m pumped for our first Big East games, and we want to be able to say that we were the first team to beat them,” King said.

Pitt head coach Holly Aprile said the team is excited to begin conference play. “Since we’re facing a really tough team, we need to refocus and get going,” Aprile said.

Having already traveled to other states — including Texas, North Carolina, Florida, California and Virginia — over the course of the first two months of the season, the Panthers are used to facing stiff opposition away from home.

“The past five weekends have definitely prepared us,” Pitt freshman pitcher Alexa Larkin said. “We’ve faced some really good competition leading up to this weekend, so we’re excited for this challenge.”

Pitt is winless in its three previous games against ranked opponents this season, although two of the games were settled by two runs or less. Louisville’s pitchers and batters have compiled impressive statistics in guiding the team to an unblemished record.

Cardinal pitchers Tori Collins and Caralisa Connell have combined to record 18 of Louisville’s wins and are the main reason that the Cardinals’ earned run average — the amount of runs allowed per game — is a miniscule 1.06.

Louisville’s hitting has been just as dominant as its pitching. The team’s batting average is a Big East-leading .351.

“Not only do they hit the ball and have a lot of talent at the plate, but they pitch really well and play tremendous defense,” Aprile said. “They excel in all three aspects of the game.”

Aprile said that King and Larkin need to pitch well for Pitt to have a chance of upsetting the Cardinals this weekend.

“They need to keep [Louisville’s] hitters off-balance and keep us in the game so that we can battle for it,” she said. “I have a ton of faith and a ton of confidence that they can do that, and they need to have that same belief and be ready to play.”

If Pitt’s recent history against Louisville is any indication, this weekend’s series could be a struggle for the Panthers. Since the Cardinals joined the Big East in 2005, Pitt is just 1-9 in games against Louisville.

But Aprile believes that the Panthers have the ability to overcome the odds if they play their best game.

“Obviously we’re not going in there statistically looking the same as them, but if the stats determined every game we wouldn’t have to play them,” she said.