Kentucky Softball Season Progress Update After 4-1 Stretch in John Crop Classic

No. 23 Kentucky Softball had a long, but exciting, weekend at home.

The Wildcats hosted the John Cropp Classic — a five-day event featuring teams from across the country — which began on Thursday afternoon in Lexington and ran through Sunday. Tournament play was a round-robin format where the ‘Cats saw the likes of Ohio State, South Dakota State, and Columbia University. Weather on Friday pushed a few games back to the end of the weekend.

Kentucky held its own, winning its first four games of the Classic, but tuckered out by the final match-up on Sunday against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here’s how it all went down for Rachel Lawson’s group.

John Cropp Classic Results

The ‘Cats faced the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on Thursday. Kentucky took full advantage of the sunny weather on the first day and took down the Jackrabbits in run-rule fashion.

Wildcat standouts for Thursday’s game were freshman pitcher and Georgia native Sydney Langdon and sophomore catcher Karissa Hamilton. Langdon threw a complete-game shutout in Kentucky’s 8-0 (5) victory on Thursday afternoon. Hamilton’s walk-off, three-run bomb at the bottom of the fifth secured the dub and allowed her team to end the night early.

Due to the threat of severe weather, Kentucky did not play on Friday. However, they came out strong and well-rested on Saturday against the Columbia Lions in the first of two games that day. After getting a taste of run-ruling the Jackrabbits a couple of days before, the Wildcats did it again. The ‘Cats rocketed their way past the Lions and got the 12-3 dub with the help of their bats.

Stellar seniors and Indiana natives Erin Coffel and Grace Lorsung both had big days from the plate. Following a hammer by freshman Ally Hutchins in the first, Coffel hit another dinger right off the bat to give the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead.

Lorsung wanted in on the homer fest and nailed two of her own over the fence in the victory against the Ivy League school. The bats just kept rolling into the next game for UK as they took on the Buckeyes later on Saturday, the first of two showdowns with OSU.

The Buckeyes got on the board early but Coffel changed that quickly at the bottom of the first. The star shortstop rocketed a two-run homer out of the park to give Kentucky the lead. Hamilton added another bomb to her stellar weekend to make it 4-1 after one.

Peyton Plotts, a Lexington native, stepped up big for the Wildcats late as she hit a two-run RBI in the fifth. Buckeye errors led to runs for the ‘Cats, which allowed them to come out of the battle with a 9-4 win in game three of the tournament.

On the final day of the John Cropp Classic, Kentucky looked strong to start St. Patrick’s Day but seemed to slow down later. They faced off against Columbia one more time and had the same result after more home runs sent the Lions packing early.

Lorsung and graduate transfer, lefty-pitcher Jaden Vickers shined for the Wildcats. Another out-of-the-park shot by Lorsung brought in two scores for the ‘Cats to make it 4-0 after the first inning. The bats continued to roll later in the game to secure Kentucky the 10-0 run-rule victory.

Vickers shut down the Lions in the circle as she threw a complete game shutout. The former Rutgers pitcher only allowed one hit and struck out four batters as the win put her team at 4-0 on the weekend.

The last match-up of the weekend for Kentucky came against the Buckeyes once again later on Sunday. After having such a stellar performance from the plate throughout the weekend, the Wildcats’ luck seemed to wear off and fell in favor of Ohio State.

After several lead changes going into the sixth inning, it could have been anyone’s ballgame until Kentucky pitching gave up a grand slam. The hard-hit ball allowed the Buckeyes to sit comfortably going into the final inning and eventually picking up the 12-6 dub.

Season Progress So Far?

Pitching was the main concern for the Wildcats in their final game of the John Cropp Classic. It has been one of the key pieces in dictating whether the team will walk away with a victory or not in all of their games thus far.

Whenever the ‘Cats have played a strong-hitting opponent, they tend to struggle. In their series against LSU, Kentucky’s ace Stephanie Schoonover went up against multiple left-handed batters and could not seem to hit the inside corner that she was aiming for.

Another issue for the Wildcats has come from the plate. Although Kentucky can knock balls out of the park at any point, they fall short when there are players in scoring position.

Kentucky is less than .100 percent successful in bringing in a runner who could score so far on the season. A lot of the results from previous games might be different if the offense had been able to knock players who were stranded on base home. All that being said, UK is still nationally ranked with a 19-8 record.

Looking Ahead

Coming up for the Wildcats is the Thundering Herd from Marshall University on Wednesday, March 20, at 6 p.m. EST in Lexington. Anyone who is interested in watching the game will be able to find it on ESPN+. Kentucky will follow that up with a road series against Florida this weekend.