Kentucky softball defeats USC Upstate, will take on Northwestern in second elimination game

Kentucky softball hadn’t scored a single run in two straight postseason games, losing 8-0 to Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament, followed by a 4-0 loss to No. 3 seed Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That set up an elimination matchup on Saturday between the No. 2 seed Wildcats and USC Upstate — win-or-go-home in the Clemson Regional.

Their scoring drought would come to a beautiful end against the Spartans, putting up 11 runs in an 11-0 shutout to survive and advance.

✅ Survive
✅ Advance

🆚 Northwestern 🔜#WeAreUK x @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/GjRMjEqjVm

— Kentucky Softball (@UKsoftball) May 17, 2025

Kentucky racked up 16 hits with two home runs, one hit by Allie Blum and another by Peyton Plotts while Maddy Clark also added a triple. Julie Kelley earned the win on the mound with three allowed hits and no runs with just one walk in 6.0 innings pitched.

The celebration will be short-lived, however, as the Wildcats will take on Northwestern later tonight after No. 11 national seed Clemson earned the 1-0 victory in the winners’ bracket earlier in the day. Should Kentucky earn a second consecutive win on Saturday, it will advance to the regional championship on Sunday, which is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET. With a win, UK would then need to take down the Tigers once again in an immediate rematch at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Rachel Lawson’s Wildcats did not do themselves any favors to open the postseason, but a feel-good win over USC Upstate keeps them alive — for now.

They’ll need to quickly regroup and get ready to survive and advance once again tonight.