Kentucky softball set to face Northwestern on Saturday for spot in Regional final

It’ll be a Wildcats vs. Wildcats matchup for a shot at the Evanston Regional final on Saturday afternoon.

Not long after Kentucky softball took down the Miami (OH) Redhawks in six innings 9-1 on Friday behind a late offensive explosion, No. 12 Northwestern squeaked out a 2-0 win over Eastern Illinois, setting the stage for today’s showdown. Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST in Evanston, IL, and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The winner of Kentucky vs. Northwestern will advance to the Evanston Regional final of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, which is set for Sunday. This is a double-elimination bracket. The loser will play again on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. EST against the winner of Miami vs. Eastern Illinois.

A full NCAA Tournament bracket can be found here.

It'll be Kentucky and Northwestern for a spot in the Evanston Regional final tomorrow at 1pm ET/Noon CT.

NW beat EIU, 2-0. #WeAreUK x @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/f4oSPlEXdz

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) May 19, 2023

Kentucky trailed early against Miami (OH) on Friday, going down into a quick 1-0 in the top of the first inning. The Wildcats struggled to find any offense for most of the afternoon, but that all changed in the fifth inning.

Taylor Ebbs drilled a three-run homer to the opposite field that put UK ahead by two. Ebbs added another two-run shot in the sixth as the ‘Cats brought in six more runs. Erin Coffel blasted a moonball over the roof of Welsh-Ryan Arena, becoming just the seventh player of all time to do so, per Northwestern’s website. Grace Lorsung put the Redhawks away for good with a solo walk-off homer that gave us our final score of 9-1 after just six innings of action.

In case your work didn’t let you off for Regionals Friday, ⁦⁦@UKSportsVideo⁩ has you covered 🫡🥎 pic.twitter.com/oKy6DY7Tr1

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) May 19, 2023