Kentucky Softball remains perfect with win over Iowa
Go ahead and add another to the ‘W’ column for the Kentucky Softball team. The ‘Cats are still perfect after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 11-3 on Saturday morning at the 2022 Northern Lights Southern Nights tournament as UK moves to 4-0 on the season.
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The ‘Cats scored first on an RBI single into centerfield from sophomore shortstop Erin Coffel. A monster two-out triple in the second inning from Lauren Johnson sent three more Wildcats across home plate, extending the lead to 5-0. The senior was a perfect 3-3 at the plate, ending with five RBIs and two triples.
Iowa managed to load the bases in the bottom of the second, but the Kentucky defense would not be shaken. Miranda Stoddard and Kayla Kowalik connected on a beautiful double play to get the first two outs. Iowa loaded the bases again after Sloan Gayan hit the Hawkeye batter, leading to a pitching change.
Tatum Spangler entered the game with bases loaded in the bottom of the second. She was ready, too. Spangler struck out Brylee Klosterman to end the inning, stranding all three Hawkeyes on base.
Shortly after, the Hawkeyes would load the bases again in the bottom of the third. WKU transfer Kennedy Sullivan replaced Vanessa Nesby on the mound to look for UK’s final out — and she did not disappoint. Sullivan cooly struck out the Iowa batter, once again stranding three Hawkeyes on base.
The ‘Cats pushed two more across in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Iowa finally found home plate in the bottom of the inning, though. The Hawkeyes put three runs on the board and forced Lawson to pull Sullivan. She was replaced by Alexia Lacatena who finished the inning.
Kentucky pushed through four more runs in the bottom of the final inning thanks to a pair of triples from Kowalik and Johnson. Sullivan and Smith added a pair of doubles to finish the game.
Kentucky will play their last game of the tournament tomorrow, when they’ll face their toughest opponent yet: No. 13 Virginia Tech. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m.
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