Kentucky Softball Splits Two Games on Friday in Texas
Kentucky softball (3-1-1) suffered a 4-2 loss to UT Arlington to start the 2023 Tracey Beard Softball Classic in Celina, Texas on Friday afternoon, but the ‘Cats won its second game 4-0 against McNeese shortly after.
Senior pitcher Sloan Gayan started on the mound for UK in the day’s opener against UT Arlington, but after giving up a two-run homer at the top of the first, Kentucky went down 2-0.
At the end of the first inning, the ‘Cats had no luck with the bat and remained down. Gayan gave up another run at the top of the second, putting UT Arlington in front 3-0.
With an out still needed, head coach Rachel Lawson pulled Gayan and put in sophomore pitcher Alexia Lacatena, who was able to slow the bleeding. UT Arlington was able to bring in one more score in the top of the third and increased its lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the third, junior All-American Erin Coffel gave the ‘Cats a spark after hitting a two-run homer. Her bomb cut the Kentucky deficit 4-2, but both sides went on a scoring drought over the next few innings.
One last chance for UK
In the bottom of the seventh, Kentucky had one last chance to find a comeback win.
However, with the bases loaded, freshman Karissa Hamilton came up to the plate and hit a fly ball that ended any hope for the ‘Cats and made the final score 4-2 in favor of UT Arlington.
Although the day started with a loss, Kentucky had to bounce back as they played McNeese immediately after.
Coach Lawson started the game with junior pitcher Stephanie Schoonover on the mound. By the bottom of the first Schoonover had already recorded two strikeouts.
Graduate student and one of the nation’s top overall catchers, Kayla Kowalik, was first up for the ‘Cats and was able to get on base to start the bottom of the opening inning.
‘Cats go up fast in game two
Next up to the plate was junior Vanessa Nesby, who brought in the first score for Kentucky after a RBI single that sent Kowalik in put the ‘Cats up 1-0.
UK continued to thrive on offense as senior Rylea Smith hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the second to take an early lead of 3-0 over McNeese. Schoonover found her seventh strikeout to round out the third inning.
Both teams hit a scoreless streak up until the bottom of the sixth when Smith brought in another run, giving the ‘Cats a strong lead of 4-0 heading into the seventh inning.
McNeese was unable to find any luck in the final inning and Kentucky pulled out the 4-0 win in its second game of the day. Schoonover threw a career-high 11 strikeouts in UK’s shutout win over McNeese.
Going into Saturday, the ‘Cats will continue play at the 2023 Tracey Beard Softball Classic. Kentucky will face South Dakota at 5:00 pm on Saturday in Celina, Texas. They will then go on to play North Texas right after at 8:30 pm.
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