No-Hitter Highlights Winning Weekend for Kentucky Softball in Texas
Kentucky softball started the weekend slow, but won out on Saturday and Sunday at the Tracey Beard Classic in Celina, Texas.
Cats look to bounce back
After a loss to UT Arlington on Friday, the Cats beat No. 22 North Texas and South Dakota on Saturday, followed by a victory over Sam Houston State on Sunday.
Kentucky got off to a good start when sophomore pitcher Izzy Harrison held South Dakota’s offense to no runs in the top of the first inning. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, sophomore Taylor Ebbs hit a three-run triple to give Kentucky an early 3-0 advantage.
Kentucky capitalized on another bases loaded opportunity in the bottom of the second. South Dakota walked in two more runs to make the UK lead 5-0. That lead grew to 7-0 one inning later when Kayla Kowalik hit a two-run RBI single.
Stellar offense and defense shines for UK
No runs were brought in by South Dakota in the fourth, but off of another RBI single from Kowalik and a SAC Fly for junior Erin Coffel, Kentucky was up 9-0 going into the fifth.
Due to their strong hitting and pitching, UK started out the day with a shutout victory of 9-0 over South Dakota.
Next up, the No. 16 ranked Cats headed into a top-25 match up against No. 22 North Texas late Saturday evening. Junior pitcher Stephanie Schoonover stole the show.
Schoonover came out on fire, striking out the first six first batters for North Texas. Coffel found the sweet spot of her bat in the bottom of the third and hit a three-run homer to put UK up 3-0. Schoonover got more insurance from Jenna Blanton. The redshirt freshman hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Cats in the lead at 4-0.
Schoonover sets new program record
North Texas had no luck from the plate. Schoonover pitched a no-hitter and set a new school record finishing with 18 strikeouts in Kentucky’s 4-0 victory to round out play on Saturday.
After a successful two-shutout day, UK played Sam Houston State on Sunday in Celina. Sophomore Alexia Lacatena pitched this game for the Cats.
Thanks to three quick outs and tough hitting from UK, they took an early lead of 2-0 going into the second. At the top of the third Coffel sent a ball over the fence to put Kentucky up 3-0.
Sam Houston State finally got on the board in the third after hitting an RBI single to make it 3-1.
After a Sam Houston error, Kentucky wen up 4-1 in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the sixth the Bearkats responded with a forced walk that cut the deficit to two.
Kentucky pitching remains strong
Schoonover returned to the mound in the bottom of the fifth for relief. Pitching was able to preserve the Kentuxky lead at 4-2 until Coffel added another run in the top of the seventh, which allowed senior Rylea Smith to score and bring the lead to 5-2.
With a combined 11 strikeouts from Lacatena and Schoonover, Kentucky got their third straight win and finished their time in Celina with a record of 4-1.
Looking ahead, Kentucky will travel to play Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles at 3:00 pm on Tuesday afternoon.
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