Kentucky Softball Sweeps Missouri In SEC Opener
The Kentucky softball team was victorious against their first SEC opponent, winning all three games in their series versus Missouri. With their wins this weekend, Kentucky is undefeated in SEC play and currently on a seven game win streak.
“We’ve had a lot of people come up in big moments, so it’s not just one person or two people, we’ve had a lot of people. So, very hopeful coming in (to SEC play) and it doesn’t matter who’s coming up to bat or who’s on the mound, we have a lot of confidence they can get it done because they did it in the entire preseason,” said head coach Rachel Lawson after the series win.
Home Sweet Home
After 20 games on the road to start the season, Kentucky finally had their home opener on Friday. It was well worth the wait as almost 900 fans filled John Cropp Stadium to watch their Wildcats beat the Missouri Tigers 6-4 to open up SEC play.
Alexia Lacatena was the Friday night starting pitcher for Kentucky, earning that position with an impressive resume of a 2.31 ERA and five wins on the season. She proved herself once again only allowing two earned runs on 4.1 innings of work against the Tigers.
Kentucky fell behind 2-1 only briefly after the top of the third. Cassie Reasner responded, sending one over the fence for her fourth home run of the year. The 3-run bomb gave the ‘Cats the cushion they needed to coast this one out.
Other players that contributed heavily on Friday were McKenzie Bump and Lauren Borzilleri. The upperclassmen had almost identical stat lines, both getting three hits and a RBI on the night.
More Home Games, More Home Runs
Kentucky won their second game against Missouri on Saturday 5-4 to clinch the series win. The Wildcats narrowly escaped a loss thanks to three home runs on the day.
Down by one early, Cassie Reasner got her second home run of the weekend to put Kentucky in the lead. She now leads the team with five home runs on the season. Ally Hutchins was next to get involved for the Wildcats, hitting a solo home run, her third of the year.
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The last home run for Kentucky was from Allie Blum, who unloaded on a ball going over the scoreboard in left field. The 2-run shot put Kentucky up 5-1 after four innings.
Missouri had a 3-run HR of their own in the fifth inning to bring the lead down to one run. Sarah Haendiges came in for relief to try and hold on for the win.
In the seventh inning, Missouri had two runners on with two outs. Haendiges was able to strikeout the last batter to give Kentucky the win.
Cats Get The Sweep
Kentucky got the series sweep with a 9-6 win on Sunday against Missouri. The Wildcats are looking much improved, getting their first SEC sweep since 2023.
It was Cassie Reasner, again, coming up clutch for Kentucky. Down by one run in the 3rd, Reasner hit her third home run of the series to put the ‘Cats up. For the entire weekend, Reasner had 10 RBIs and six hits.
The Wildcats used a huge 4th inning to extend their lead. Karissa Hamilton, who had a solo home run earlier in the game, put up a 2-RBI double. Cassie Reasner continued her efforts with a 2-RBI single, putting Kentucky up 9-3.
Missouri attempted a comeback scoring three runs in the sixth inning, but it was not enough.
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