No. 15 Kentucky Softball prepares for postseason play

For the 13th-consecutive year, the Kentucky Softball team has been selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 15 in ESPN’s latest poll, will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia for the regional hosted by No. 3 overall seed Virginia Tech. It is the first time in Tech’s school history that they will host an NCAA Regional.

Kentucky to face Miami (OH) in Blacksburg Regional

The ‘Cats are slated to face the Miami (OH) RedHawks first. Miami automatically qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament after winning the Mid-American Conference Championship last weekend. They also won the conference outright, marking their third-straight year doing so. It is the sixth time that Miami will make an NCAA Tournament appearance and their second in a row.

The RedHawks are led by second-year head coach Kirin Kumar. They have nine All-Conference players on their 2022 roster, including Allie Cummins, Brianna Pratt, Karli Spaid and Courtney Viestra, who made First-Team All-MAC. Pratt, the senior pitcher from Ohio, was dubbed the MAC Tournament MVP last weekend. She is 18-4 in the circle this season. Viestra is a pitcher as well, owning a 17-9 record in 2022. She has over 1,000 career strikeouts.

Spaid and Cummins bring the offensive power. They rank No. 1 and 2 in all-time career home runs at Miami. Spaid, just a sophomore, set the single-season MAC record last Saturday with her 27th of the season. She is batting .420 this season.

For Kentucky, all eyes will be on the mound. The ‘Cats last played the Florida Gators in the SEC Semifinals, where they lost 9-3 in a poor pitching outing. The Wildcats gave up a season-high eight walks in that one.

The Hokies will start the weekend against St. Francis on Friday. Kentucky will play the RedHawks following that game. The regional round is double-elimination and will end on Sunday.

First pitch for UK’s match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., or 35 minutes following the end of the VT/SFU match. You can watch the ‘Cats on ESPN+.