Kentucky Softball Closes Out John Cropp Classic With Win Over Michigan

On Sunday afternoon, Kentucky softball faced off against Michigan in the Wildcats’ second of two games at the 2023 John Cropp Classic in Lexington, KY. After taking down DePaul on Saturday with ease in game one, Kentucky squeezed out a 2-1 win over the Wolverines a day later.

The John Cropp Classic was initially scheduled as a four-game weekend event for UK, but cold weather conditions trimmed the slate down to just two games across Saturday and Sunday.

Starting on the mound for the ‘Cats against Michigan was junior star pitcher Stephanie Schoonover, who got off to a rough start early on. The Alabama native picked up two outs to begin the first inning, but allowed the Wolverines to belt one out of the park to put Kentucky in a quick 1-0 hole.

After finally getting the third out to end the top of the first, the ‘Cats were held to no runs heading into the second.

Although Kentucky had no luck on offense in the first two innings, junior star Erin Coffel changed the momentum in the bottom of the third.

Coffel rallies the ‘Cats

Coffel, who was a Second Team All-American in 2022, hit a homer to tie the score up at 1-1, tallying the 48th homer of her career, which already places her at second all-time in program history.

ERIN COFFEL!!!

She's tied the game, and tied Brittany Cervantes for second all-time on the UK home run career record list with 48!

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— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) March 19, 2023

After the tough first inning, Schoonover made it hard on Michigan to find any offense. She put an end to the top of the fourth inning with multiple strikeouts. Once the teams changed sides, junior Grace Lorsung hit a game-deciding RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the ‘Cats a pivotal 2-1 lead.

Schoonover shines again

Schoonover continued to make up for her early pitching woes in the fifth and sixth innings. She, along with the entire Kentucky defense, held Michigan to no runs. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the score remained 2-1 in favor of the ‘Cats.

Graduate student Kayla Kowalik hit a double with two outs, but unfortunately, nothing else came from the ‘Cats as they went into the seventh clinging to a one-run lead.

Following a quick strikeout courtesy of Schoonover, UK was only two outs away from the win. Kentucky’s defense did what they needed to as they got the last two outs from pop-ups. In the end, the ‘Cats came away with the 2-1 win over Michigan in the final game of the John Cropp Classic, pushing the team’s record to 19-5-1 on the season.

Coming up next for UK, they’ll face Texas A&M in a three-game series back at home starting on Friday, March 24th at 6:30 pm.