Kentucky Softball Squeaks Past Dayton; Wins Series Over Alabama

Kentucky Softball dropped out of the Top 25 following a series sweep at the hand of the Florida Gators last weekend.

But this week got off to a better start for the Wildcats after they had a tight game against the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday night. Late-game luck for the Kentucky batters allowed them to secure the 4-3 victory and break their three-game losing streak.

Kentucky then hosted the No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington later in the week. To get things rolling on Thursday, the Wildcats pulled off an impressive win over the Tide but fell hard on Friday. On Saturday, the series was tied 1-1, but the Wildcats came out victorious in the end and secured their first series win of the season.

Kentucky is now 23-12 on the season with a 2-7 mark against SEC competition.

Kentucky 4, Dayton 3

It was a back-and-forth contest between the ‘Cats and Flyers starting out on Tuesday. Two Wildcat errors on defense gave Dayton the early 1-0 lead at the end of the first. Senior and Indiana native Grace Lorsung then nailed a ball over the fence in the second to tie things up at 1-1. Kentucky’s ace in the circle, Stephanie Schoonover, struggled at the top of the fourth and gave up an RBI single which gave Dayton the 2-1 lead.

At the bottom of the fourth Kentucky’s offense tied things back up at 2-2 after hitting a sac fly to bring in another run. Schoonover gave up another Flyer run at the top of the sixth following a solo homer courtesy of Dayton. Heading into the bottom of the sixth the ‘Cats were down 3-2 and were in need of some offense if they wanted a chance to win.

Luckily for Kentucky, freshman Cassie Reasner hit a RBI double right off the bat to make it 3-3. Sophomore infielder Lauryn Borzilleri put the Wildcats back on top 4-3 heading into the final inning after hitting a RBI single up the center.

Schoonover finished the Flyers off at the top of the seventh and secured the 4-3 victory.

Game 1: Kentucky 6, Alabama 3

Alabama-native Stephanie Schoonover was the star of the show on Thursday against the Tide. Schoonover threw 181 pitches in the contest and only allowed three hits. At the start of the game Alabama did get on the board first off an error by Schoonover, however, her team picked up the slack at the bottom of the second to take the 3-1 lead.

At the bottom of the fifth, junior pinch-runner Taylor Ebbs knocked a two-run RBI with bases loaded to make it 5-1. A Tide pitching error gave Kentucky room to score before the inning was over and the ‘Cats took their largest lead of the night, 6-1.

In the top of the sixth Schoonover gave up two back-to-back bombs that cut her team’s lead down 6-3. Things got tight in the seventh as the Tide were able to get two on with two outs against them but Schoonover shut her home-state team down with a strikeout to walk away with the 6-3 win.

Game 2: Alabama 9, Kentucky 4

Friday’s game between Kentucky and Alabama started on the slow side. Neither team scored in the first two innings but the Tide changed that at the top of the third. Freshman Sydney Langdon was in the circle to start for the ‘Cats but gave up two runs in the third to give Alabama the 2-0 lead. At the top of the fourth, the Tide got another hit to make it a 3-0 game going into the fifth.

After some struggles from the mound in the previous innings, Langdon was relieved by grad transfer Jaden Vickers in the circle. Vickers held ‘Bama to one run scored in the fifth. At the bottom of the inning, senior and superstar shortstop Erin Coffel hit a three-run RBI to cut the Wildcat’s deficit down to 4-3.

Unfortunately, a huge hitting performance from the Tide in the sixth spread things out and gave Alabama a late 9-3 lead. The ‘Cats could not muster up the same level of offensive performance in the final inning to mount a comeback, falling 9-4 on the second day of the conference series.

Game 3: Kentucky 4, Alabama 3

On the final day of the series, Kentucky came out aggressive on offense. Schoonover was in the circle for the second time on the weekend and did her job in the first as she held Alabama scoreless. The right-handed pitcher did the same at the top of the second while Coffel got her team on the board in the bottom of the inning off an RBI single.

Schoonover struggled on the mound in the third and fourth. At the top of the third, a solo homer tied things up 1-1. The top of the fourth was unfortunate for the Wildcats after a passed ball on defense gave the Tide room to score an unearned run and take the 2-1 lead. At the bottom of the fourth sophomore Karissa Hamilton stepped up to the plate with two runners on and two outs against her. Hamilton rocketed a ball to center field and brought in two runs to take the 3-2 lead.

By the end of the sixth, the score remained the same. All Schoonover had to do was hold the Tide scoreless at the top of the seventh, but the senior was unable to do so after an Alabama RBI single was hit into right field. The ‘Cats were unlucky at the bottom of the seventh as they loaded the bases with two outs on the board. A pop-up was caught by the Tide’s catcher to send the game into extra innings.

Schoonover then held ‘Bama scoreless at the top of the eighth. Fifth-year Rylea Smith came up huge in the bottom of the eighth after hitting a RBI double to bring in the winning run. The final run secured the 4-3 win and the series victory for the Wildcats. The win brings their conference record to 2-7.

Coming up next for the ‘Cats is Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, April 3, at John Cropp Stadium. The Wildcats and Norse will play at 5:00 p.m. EST in the midweek match-up.