Kentucky Softball Knocked Out in First Round of SEC Tournament

Kentucky Softball is still likely to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament, but Tuesday night didn’t help the Wildcats’ case.

The Lady Bat ‘Cats (30-22; 8-16) came into the first round of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Softball Championship as the No. 12 seed, facing off against No. 13 seed Ole Miss (30-24; 7-17) in Auburn, Alabama.

Both teams have struggled in the gauntlet that was their conference regular season games. In what was the lone play-in game of the bracket, Ole Miss came out on top with a 7-2 victory, sending Kentucky back to Lexington empty-handed. The Wildcats’ postseason fate will remain up in the air until Sunday’s Selection Show.

FINAL – Ole Miss 7, Kentucky 2

The NCAA Selection Show will be Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) May 8, 2024

‘Cats Struggle Early

Ole Miss got off to a hot start at the top of the first after knocking a solo homer off of Kentucky senior Stephanie Schoonover. Schoonover continued to struggle in the circle as she gave up two more runs in the third, allowing Ole Miss to take an early 3-0 lead.

Luckily the tide seemed to turn in favor of the Wildcats at the bottom of the third. Kentucky had two on and only one out against them with senior Erin Coffel at the plate. Coffel was walked but a crazy pitch allowed two ‘Cats to make it home and cut the deficit down 3-2 heading into the fourth.

After Schoonover could not seem to get it together on the mound, graduate transfer Jaden Vickers entered the game to take over pitching for the ‘Cats. Kentucky held Ole Miss to no runs scored in the fourth but that changed at the top of the fifth.

Rebel Run

A sac-fly courtesy of the Rebels sent in another run for Ole Miss which made it 4-2 going into the bottom of the fifth. The Wildcats could not find a run themselves and headed into the sixth down two. Unfortunately, the scoring run continued for the Rebels into the sixth off an RBI triple to left field.

After another unsuccessful offensive showing for the ‘Cats in the sixth, we went into the final inning with a score of 5-2. In the seventh, Ole Miss hit yet another home run and scored off a Kentucky defensive error to take the 7-2 lead. The Wildcats could not come up with a large run in their final chance at the bottom of the seventh and ultimately fell in the first round of the conference tournament.

Following the early exit, Kentucky will have to wait until Sunday, May 12, and see what their future holds. The 2024 NCAA Softball College World Series Selection Show will be on ESPN2 at 7:00 pm EST this Sunday.