Kentucky Softball Moves Up in Rankings, Schoonover Wins SEC Pitcher of the Week

Kentucky Softball has moved up in the national rankings.

After having a stellar start to the season in San Diego last weekend, the Wildcats are moving on up. Kentucky came into the season ranked at No. 25. Now, after taking down No. 3 Stanford twice on opening weekend, UK is now ranked No. 14 in the new D1 Softball poll while three other recognizable polls slot the ‘Cats at No. 18.

Although Kentucky moved up 11 spots in the rankings, they still trail Stanford by one spot as the Cardinal sit at No. 13. The ‘Cats will have to continue to show the polls that they are the real deal if they want to break into the top-10. They’ll have that chance this week with another five-game, three-day stretch down in Florida.

#LevelUp 📈 pic.twitter.com/M2UtHmseyF

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) February 13, 2024

One area where the Wildcats showed their strong ability was on the mound. Old and new faces made huge impacts in the victories that Kentucky came away with in San Diego.

One of those major players was senior Stephanie Schoonover. Following a stellar weekend out west, the Alabama native was awarded SEC Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time in her career (2023).

Schoonover was the ace of the team last season but fell with injuries. A forearm issue took her out for almost the whole month of March last year, making a comeback hard. But she returned strong to start the first stretch of the 2024 season.

Going against UC Santa Barbara in her season debut on Friday, Schoonover allowed just three hits and finished the 1-0 victory with nine strikeouts. She ultimately went 3-0 on opening weekend. One of her wins came against No. 3 Stanford. In that game, she went into extras and threw eight innings without allowing Stanford to earn a run. She capped off her weekend by saving Kentucky in a tie game against Minnesota.

If the veteran pitcher can keep her play at a high level, she could carry her team to a deep postseason run. Kentucky plays its next game on Thursday, February 15, in Clearwater, Florida. They will kick off play in the ESPN Shriners Children’s Invitational against North Carolina on Thursday.