Former Wildcat Brittany Cervantes Helps Make History at the 2020 Olympics

(Photo by Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)

Kentucky softball legend and current director of operations, Brittany Cervantes, still has it. Cervantes blasted a home run in Mexico’s 5-0 victory over Italy. It was Team Mexico’s first-ever softball victory at the Olympics.

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Brittany Cervantes hit a home run in Mexico’s 5-0 win over Italy this morning!!#WeAreUK | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/3ko3tVeLdX

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) July 25, 2021

Cervantes went 1-for-3 in the game with the homer and RBI. The homer came in the bottom of the fifth inning with a full count and one out and she drove it out to left-center. She now has two hits in the Olympics, as she doubled to lead off the top of the second inning vs. Japan. The Chatsworth, California native started at catcher vs. Japan and was in left field Sunday vs. Italy.

Mexico is now 1-3 in pool play.

For UK significance, Cervantes was Rachel Lawson’s first-ever recruit at Kentucky before a stellar career at Kentucky that saw her become the school’s career home run leader until Abbey Cheek broke that record in 2019. She was a First Team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 2012 as well as All-SEC Defensive Team honoree. She was All-Region in 2011, her junior season, and is one of only two UK players to hit 10+ home runs all four years of her career.

After her days at UK, she went on to win the 2019 Cowles Cup with the USSSA Pride, her fourth-career NPF championship. The California native hit a pair of home runs in the championship series and was again one of the most explosive offensive players in the 2019 NPF season before moving into her current role as director of softball operations.

Mexico will have a shot Mexico at the medal round with a win over Australia (1-3) on Monday morning. The game will be shown at 7 a.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com. The winner will face Canada in Tuesday’s bronze medal game. The United States (4-0) and Japan (4-0) will play for the gold medal regardless of the results of the final pool play games.