Kentucky Softball Drops Series at Texas A&M Despite Winning Series Final

Kentucky Softball traveled to the Lone State State over the weekend. The Wildcats took on the No. 13 Texas A&M Aggies in College Station for their fourth Southeastern Conference series of the season.

The ‘Cats have struggled in conference games so far, now holding a 3-9 mark in the SEC after this weekend. Following a solid start in Friday’s contest and a big comeback on Saturday, Kentucky’s chances at finding a big conference win looked promising, but they just could not stay strong enough in the end.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, they were able to find a late-game win on Sunday after a solo bomb gave them the 1-0 win. Unfortunately, Kentucky (24-14) has still won just one SEC series (Alabama) this season.

Game 1: Aggies 5, ‘Cats 4

On Friday, the Wildcats started strong but faced challenges late in the game.

Senior Grace Lorsung knocked one out of the park at the top of the first to bring in two runs and make it 2-0. At the top of the second, sophomore up-and-comer Lauryn Borzilleri hit a two-run bomb to make it 4-0. Kentucky’s ace in the circle, Stephanie Schoonover, held the Aggies in the first two innings but the bottom of the third is where the senior pitcher struggled. Texas A&M was able to load the bases with no outs and bring in three runs going into the fourth.

Kentucky’s offense slowed down in the fourth and was held scoreless. Unfortunately for the Wildcats the Aggies found gaps in Kentucky’s defense and were able to bring in another run to tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning. Ten ‘Cats were sat down by the Aggie’s pitching in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Kentucky’s defense held the Aggies at the bottom of the fifth after a double play and caught line drive courtesy of Erin Coffel. At the bottom of the sixth Schoonover left the tying run stranded after getting the final out of the inning. A single from the Texas A&M secured them the walk-off scoring run at the bottom of the seventh and the ‘Cats dropped the first game of the series 5-4.

Game 2: Aggies 10, ‘Cats 9

Starting on Saturday things were not going the Wildcat’s way early on.

Although Kentucky got on the board at the top of the first thanks to an RBI single from freshman and Lexington native Peyton Plotts, pitching struggles gave the Aggies room to take a large lead going into the second. At the start of the second, it was a 5-1 deficit for the ‘Cats. Lauryn Borzilleri came up big once again from the plate at the top of the second. The sophomore first baseman hit a two-run homer to get her team within two scores at 5-3.

Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, the Aggies’ bats were like ball magnets as they were able to find five hits and bring in five runs in the second inning alone to take a large 10-3 lead. Senior superstar Erin Coffel tried to get her team back on track at the top of the fourth with an RBI single to make it 10-4. Junior Italy national pitcher Alexia Lacatena took to the mound for Kentucky later in the game and shut Texas A&M down for the remainder of the contest. The bats finally got hot for the ‘Cats in the seventh after Lorsung and Plotts hit back-to-back bombs and fifth-year Rylea Smith knocked a two-run RBI to cut the Aggies’ lead down to 10-9.

However, Smith was tagged out at second and Texas A&M secured the series.

Game 3: ‘Cats 1, Aggies 0

At the start of Sunday’s final game of the weekend, neither team was able to get on the board in the first inning. Schoonover stepped onto the mound for the second time in the series to try and hold Texas A&M. Both teams remained scoreless through four due to stellar pitching and defense on each side.

The scoring drought continued through the sixth for both teams. At the top of the seventh sophomore Karissa Hamilton stepped up big for the ‘Cats as she nailed a homer over the fence to give Kentucky the 1-0 late-game lead. Schoonover walked the first Aggie batter at the bottom of the seventh to place one on with no outs. The star senior pitcher held Texas A&M scoreless at the bottom of the seventh to take the final game of the weekend 1-0.

Following the series loss, the Wildcats sit in last place in the SEC at 3-9. Coming up next for the ‘Cats will be a midweek road showdown against rival Louisville on Wednesday. After that, No. 3 Georgia will come to John Cropp Stadium for an SEC series beginning on Friday, April 12.