No. 8 Kentucky Softball falls 2-1 in series-opener at No. 7/6 Arkansas

The No. 8 Kentucky Softball team will need some bounce back magic in Fayetteville. Just days after crushing Louisville 9-0 in five innings and throwing a no-hitter, the Wildcats are down a game in their top-10 series with No. 7/6 Arkansas after falling 2-1 to the Razorbacks on Friday night.

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Arkansas scored first thanks to an RBI double to right-center from Danielle Gibson. Gibson, a redshirt senior from California, leads the team this season with 45 RBIs and a .483 batting average.

The Kentucky defense dug in and finished the inning with no further damage, but couldn’t even the score until the top of the third inning. Rylea Smith got the job done. Smith singled up the middle, scoring Kayla Kowalik. The score would stay there until the bottom of the fourth, when sophomore Hannah Gammill hit a solo homer to give the Razorbacks a 2-1 lead. It was Gammill’s 15th long shot of the season.

SEE YA @hannahgammill pic.twitter.com/3RpYsQSpam

— Arkansas Razorback Softball (@RazorbackSB) April 15, 2022

Kentucky had an opportunity in next few innings to tie it up, but couldn’t capitalize. Pinch runner Margaret Tobias made it to third base in the seventh with two outs, but Smith grounded out to second to end the game. The final score stayed at 2-1 in favor of the Razorbacks.

Arkansas pitcher Chenise Delce was solid on the mound. She recorded nine strikeouts and just one run in her full game pitched. Each team ended with six hits. Kentucky left seven runners on base, just one more than Arkansas.

The Wildcats and the Razorbacks both sit at the top of SEC standings. Thus, the winner of this weekend’s series will leave with at least a share of the top spot with Alabama. Arkansas is now 31-7 on the season and boasts an SEC-best 10 conference wins. Kentucky is shortly behind with eight conference wins.

Coming into Friday’s game, the ‘Cats led the SEC with a team ERA of 3.24 in conference games and held the second spot in team batting average in the league.

Game two will take place under the lights on Saturday night at 8 p.m. You can watch on ESPN2 and follow along on Twitter.