Feb. 20, 2010
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Sophomore pitcher Rachel Riley earned her second shutout in her last two starts with a 1-0 victory over Minnesota Saturday afternoon at Florida Atlantic’s Kickoff Classic. The right-hander matched a career-high with six strikeouts while allowing just two base hits in the contest.
UK (7-2) will earn the No. 1 seed and play at 1 p.m. ET against an opponent yet to be determined after earning four consecutive wins in Boca this weekend. Junior Megan Yocke notched a double and rounded home to score the lone run of the ball game to help the Blue and White claim their seventh victory of the season.
Kentucky struck for a run in the top half of the fifth. Yocke led off the inning with a double into the right-center gap. She advanced to third on a single into right field by Annie Rowlands. The heads up base running by Yocke allowed her to come all the way home when Minnesota’s right fielder missed the cut off and the ball sailed into the home team’s dugout giving UK its 1-0 advantage.
With two outs in the top of the first, freshman Kara Dill sliced a ball up the middle for UK’s first base runner of the game. Brittany Cervantes then drew a walk to place runners on first and second, but the inning would end with a groundout to second leaving two runners stranded.
UK’s defense was spectacular in the bottom of the second. Minnesota got a runner on base in the leadoff slot after she was struck by a pitch. The Gophers advanced the runner on a sacrifice bunt and then runners got on the corners with a single that sliced the left side. Riley forced a chopper back to her in the circle and she calmly threw home to Cervantes who tagged the charging runner. The final out of the inning came when Riley sat her second batter down on strikes of the game to end the threat with the scoreboard unscathed.
The Wildcats placed a runner on base when Molly Johnson was plucked by a pitch with a single out on the scoreboard. She promptly swiped second to place a runner in scoring position. Dill advanced the runner to third with a groundout back to the pitcher, but UK once again left a runner aboard when the inning ended with a groundout to second base.
Minnesota claimed a two-out single up the middle and then shifted to second on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Riley and the UK defense quickly dispersed of the threat with a lineout to Johnson at shortstop to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information regarding the Kentucky softball team.
