No. 17 Kentucky Softball Wins Out on Opening Day
University of Kentucky softball ranked No. 17 in the country, started the season strong on Friday afternoon after defeating their first two opponents at the 2023 NFCA Lead-Off Classic in Clearwater, Florida. To start off the tournament, the ‘Cats took on the St. John’s Red Storm.
Sophomore pitcher, Alexia Lacatena, took to the mound for Kentucky against St. John’s after UK went down early 3-0 after the first inning. The New Jersey native came in for relief and pitched a total of 3.2 innings where she only allowed two hits and no runs scored.
Although Lacatena made the defense shine, the team’s offense set a new school record, bringing home 14 runs in Kentucky’s first game.
Sophomore Taylor Ebbs and graduate student Kennedy Sullivan were huge contributors in breaking the previous record of runs scored in a season-opener for the ‘Cats
Ebbs hit a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to put the ‘Cats up 4-3 after getting down early.
Sullivan also had a solo homer in Kentucky’s rout over St. John’s. With the help of stellar pitching and clutch home runs, Kentucky took the first game of the 2023 season, 14-4, in just five innings.
Louisville next on deck
Following game one, Kentucky went up against in-state rival Louisville in game two shortly after.
Junior pitcher Stephanie Schoonover threw a shutout for UK as she allowed just two hits the whole game while giving up no walks and striking out two of her opponents.
The strong offensive game continued throughout the afternoon for the ‘Cats.
Junior Grace Lorsung rang in two scores at the bottom of the first off of a double. One more run was brought in during the same inning by a RBI double courtesy of freshman Karissa Hamilton, which put the ‘Cats up 3-0 early.
After a two-out Louisville error, Kentucky was able to score two more runs to make the lead 5-0.
Hamilton then made a name for herself after hitting a three-run walk-off dinger in the bottom of the fifth.
This was the final nail in the coffin for the ‘Cards. The ‘Cats earned a five-inning shutout win in their second game of the season, moving to 2-0 on the young season.
‘Cats get out the brooms
The weekend is off to a great start for Kentucky after sweeping both opponents on the first day of play.
Going forward, Kentucky is set to play Pittsburgh (4:00 p.m. EST) and Southern University (6:30 p.m. EST) on Saturday during the second day of the 2023 NFCA Lead-Off Classic. The ‘Cats will return to the diamond on Sunday for one more game a Top 10 ranked Texas program to close out the weekend in the Sunshine State.
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