Kentucky Softball takes opener against No. 20 LSU in 5-3 comeback win

Behind a game-shifting three-run sixth inning, Kentucky Softball came away with a huge opening series win against a ranked foe on the road.

The No. 8 Wildcats took down the No. 20 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night. Kentucky trailed 3-1 entering the sixth before the bats came alive to save the day, moving UK to a 22-9 record on the season and a 4-3 mark in the SEC. Game two of the series is set for a 6:00 p.m. EST first pitch on Saturday afternoon on ESPN.

The win comes at an important time for Kentucky, which dropped a single-game series against Ohio State earlier in the week and had dropped six of its previous nine outings, albeit against mostly ranked opponents, including No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 Alabama.

SERIES 💥 OPENING 💥 WIN@tatum_spangler x #BeTheStandard pic.twitter.com/f41Ee18B17

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) April 2, 2022

In a fresh change to the starting lineup, All-SEC sophomore Erin Coffel took the plate as the leadoff hitter in place of All-American Kayla Kowalik, as the former quickly knocked her ninth home run of the season out of the park to give the ‘Cats an immediate 1-0 lead. However, that would be the end of UK’s scoring over the next four frames.

LSU got going in the bottom of the second, starting with a home run courtesy of Shelbi Sunseri. The Tigers scored another run a couple of batters later after McKenzie Redoutey trotted across home plate to make it 2-1. Kentucky went through three pitchers during this stretch before happily settling on veteran Tatum Spangler, who would allow just one more run the rest of the way.

That score would come in the bottom of the fourth inning after a Taylor Pleasants double scored Danieca Coffey to make it 3-1 in favor of LSU. A scoreless fifth inning would take the contest to the top of the sixth where the Kentucky offense finally woke up.

A single from Lauren Johnson hit toward second base scored Kowalik and advanced Renee Abernathy to second, making it 3-2 with the Tigers just barely hanging on. Taylor Ebbs would later score Abnernathy before a fielder’s choice error allowed Spangler to score Johnson, putting UK in front 4-3.

Kentucky would tack on an insurance run in the top of the seventh thanks to a wild LSU pitch that scored Rylea Smith, producing the final score of 5-3. Spangler finished her night with seven strikeouts, giving up just one run on four hits in 5.1 innings pitched. LSU batters left eight runners on base in the loss.