Softball tops Purdue, gets No. 9 Arizona this a.m.

Love the pace, love the game, LOVE the cheers.

University of Louisville pitcher Kristen Wadwell navigated threatening situations last night against Purdue. This morning she'll get a shot at working through a dangerous lineup.

Wadwell worked out of two bases-loaded situations to help the Cardinals emerge with a 4-1 victory over Purdue last night at Ulmer Stadium in the first round of the NCAA softball regional tournament.

The Cards will face overall No. 9 seed Arizona, which has won two of the past three national championships, at 10 a.m. today.

Wadwell will pitch against an Arizona lineup that leads the nation in home runs. The Wildcats broke their own NCAA record set in 2001 with 127 homers -- the most recent by Stacie Chambers in their 9-3 win over Tennessee-Martin yesterday.

"I'm really excited about it," Wadwell said. "I've watched Arizona play the last couple years in the World Series, and there's actually no team I'd rather face in this regional than them."

The winner will march on to tomorrow's final at 2 p.m. and will have a second chance, if needed, to advance to next weekend's super regional.

6 months ago Mike Rutherford 0 comments 0 recs |