Kentucky Softball Dominates DePaul in First Game of John Cropp Classic
Kentucky softball drilled DePaul on Saturday afternoon at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington as the Wildcats cruised to an 11-3 victory.
Kentucky is hosting the 2023 John Cropp Classic that will continue throughout the weekend. Along with DePaul, Michigan and Longwood join the ‘Cats in this event. UK will play two more games on Sunday to close out the annual classic.
To kick off Saturday’s opener against DePaul, sophomore Izzy Harrison started on the mound for the ‘Cats. She came out strong, recording three straight strikeouts to start the game.
It didn’t take long for the ‘Cats to get on the board. In the bottom of the first, graduate student Kayla Kowalik landed on base out of the gate. Then junior Vanessa Nesby laid down a bunt to get to first while Kowalik was able to score off a DePaul error, giving Kentucky an early 1-0 lead.
Next up for UK was senior Rylea Smith, who sent one to the outfield which allowed Nesby to score, immediately putting the ‘Cats up 2-0 after just one inning of action.
Harrison continued to shine in the top of the second as she held DePaul to no runs scored heading into the bottom of the inning.
Kowalik remains consistent
Kowalik remained steady for Kentucky as she hit one into left field which brought in another run to it 3-0 in favor of the ‘Cats with two outs.
Nesby was then able to knock one to the outfield and allow Kowalik to slide into home to give Kentucky a commanding 4-0 lead going into the third. Sophomore Alexia Lacatena came in to replace Harrison on the mound in the top of the third, but not without a hiccup along the way.
Pitching struggles gave DePaul an opportunity to bring in a run off a RBI single, cutting its deficit to 4-1 going into the bottom of the inning. Although Lacatena gave up a run in the third, she was able to hold DePaul scoreless in the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Margaret Tobias made her way to third off a single and some groundouts by fellow Wildcat teammates. Nesby once again excelled from the plate with a single down the middle that gave Tobias room to get home.
Hitting strengths continued in the bottom of the fourth as Smith sent a RBI single up the middle to bring in Nesby and put the ‘Cats up 6-1.
With two on and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, junior Grace Lorsung was able to keep Kentucky’s scoring run going as she brought in three more, increasing the lead to 9-1.
Unfortunately, Lacatena would give up a two-run homer at the top of the fifth making it 9-3 in favor of the ‘cats. She worked out of the jam though, picking up a strikeout to send it to the bottom of the fifth, where Kentucky would add another run to make it 10-1.
Mercy rule ends game early
A DePaul error landed another Wildcat on home plate late in the bottom of the fifth to five them an 11-3 lead. With Kentucky up by eight runs in the fifth, the mercy rule applied, which gave the ‘Cats the win.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Kentucky will play Longwood at 12:00 pm and then Michigan at 5:00 pm in Lexington to round out play at the 2023 John Cropp Classic.
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