Coffel’s Grand Slam Sends No. 14 Kentucky Past UIC, 14-0 in Five
NORMAN, Okla. – Junior shortstop Erin Coffel delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning as part of a six-run frame which aided an 11-run effort from the No. 14 Kentucky offense as UK downed UIC 11-0 in five games Sunday to conclude the 2023 Oklahoma Tournament in Norman.
Alexia Lacatena pitched four shutout innings on Sunday, allowing just three hits to the 16 batters she faced, while walking two and surrendering no runs. Stephanie Schoonover pitched a perfect fifth inning in relief of Lacatena to nail down the run-rule win, throwing just 11 pitches with nine of them recorded as strikes and two K’s in the frame.
Offensively, UK scored 11 runs on eight hits and were aided by six Flame errors in the contest. Margaret Tobias and center fielder Kayla Kowalik were the only UK players with multiple hits Sunday afternoon, as the Wildcat offense was balanced throughout the day.
Kentucky with Sunday’s win improves to 12-5-1 on the 2023 season as UIC falls to 0-17 through four weekends of action. The Wildcats will head home to Lexington and John Cropp Stadium for the first time this season as it opens the 2023 home slate of games on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. ET against Dayton. The game will be broadcasted live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Tickets for UK’s home opener are available at UKathletics.com.
Key Play
The key play in the game was Erin Coffel’s grand slam in the bottom of the third inning to put the Wildcats up 10-0. Coffel led all players in the game with four RBI.
Key Player
The key player was Grace Lorsung, who hit a solo home run out to left field in the bottom of the second inning, which was UK’s first hit in the game and got the Kentucky offense out of the gates to begin a four-run second inning.
Key Stat
The key stat from Sunday’s 11-0 win was eight. This was Kentucky’s eighth shutout win of the season, surpassing last season’s total of seven shutouts on the 2022 year.
Run Recap
Grace Lorsung hit a one-out solo home run to left in the bottom of the second inning to give Kentucky a 1-0 lead. Kayla Kowalik scored another run on an RBI single up the middle with Vanessa Nesby playing Kowalik on a Flame throwing error as four runs crossed in the bottom of the second. UK 4, OU 0
In the bottom of the third, Lauryn Borzilleri came to the plate with runners on the corners and one out, and bunted to attempt to squeeze in a run. After an out was recorded at the plate, the UIC catcher threw behind a runner and the ball went all the way to the wall, allowing Borzilleri to score on the play, a four-base error. Erin Coffel then hit a grand slam after Kowalik and Nesby reached to make it a 10-0 lead for the Wildcats. UK 10, UIC 0
In the bottom of the fourth, Rylea Smith reached on an error and Meeko Harrison’s pinch hit RBI single through the right side scored Smith. FINAL – Kentucky 11, UIC 0
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