University of Connecticut Athletics
Softball Closes Regular Season with Doubleheaders Against Louisville and USF
5/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
STORRS, Conn. (May 2, 2008) - The University of Connecticut softball team closes its regular season over the weekend with doubleheaders against Louisville on Saturday and USF on Sunday. Both doubleheaders start at 12:00 p.m. at the Connecticut Softball Field.
It will be senior day on Sunday, and prior to the games against USF, the team's three seniors Allie Gendron (Belchertown, Mass.), Kristina Tolles (Southington, Conn.) and Liz Gallinaro (Amherst, Mass.) will be honored in a pregame ceremony that will start at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Saturday is Stamp Out Breast Cancer Day, and the team will be holding the UConn Softball Strike Out Cancer Silent Auction in the parking lot behind the outfield walls. There will be lots of great donated items, including autographs, tickets, gift certificates, clothes and more. The event will take place during the first game against Louisville with the auction closing at the conclusion of game one of the doubleheader. All proceeds will benefit the V Foundation for cancer research.
UConn is 25-21 overall and 11-7 in the BIG EAST. They are currently in a tie for fifth in the conference and will be looking to improve their seeding going into the BIG EAST Championship tournament in Louisville May 8-10.
Louisville is 29-18 overall, and one game ahead of the Huskies at 12-6 in the BIG EAST. The Cardinal are on a five game win streak, and got an important doubleheader sweep of first place USF last weekend. Louisville is led by sophomore Melissa Roth, who is hitting .373 with 20 RBI on the season. Their top pitcher is sophomore Kristen Wadwell. She is 17-11 with a 2.05 ERA in 38 appearances (28 starts) this season. The series, which only began two years ago when the Cardinal joined the BIG EAST, is currently tied at two wins apiece. UConn swept the two games in Kentucky last year, winning game one 6-4 and game two 4-1.
USF is 40-17 overall and currently is in first place in the BIG EAST at 14-4. They were swept by Louisville in a doubleheader last weekend, and will face Providence on Saturday before facing the Huskies. The Bulls are led by senior Kit Dunbar, who is hitting .392 on the season. Their pitching staff, which leads the BIG EAST with an 1.48 ERA, is led by freshman Capri Catalano, who has a 14-1 record with an 1.01 ERA in 29 appearances (14 starts). USF has a 6-2 record against UConn all-time, and swept the Huskies in their doubleheader last year in Tampa.
Connecticut will travel to Louisville for the BIG EAST tournament. The quarterfinals begin on Thursday, May 8 with the game time to be determined based on the Huskies seed in the tournament. It is a single elimination tournament, so Connecticut needs to win to continue their season. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday, May 9 and the championship is on Saturday, May 10. Both of those games will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Television.
