OXFORD, Miss. ? The University of Kentucky softball team dropped a ten-inning affair at Ole Miss today, Apr. 30, to fall to 21-33 on the year and 4-23 in the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels are now 21-33 overall and 8-19 in the league after taking the final game of the series by a score of 2-1.
The Rebels scored their first run of the game with a leadoff home run over the right field wall by Mary Jane Callahan. UK starter Sam Allen got a ground ball and a pair of strikeouts to end the inning trailing by a score of 1-0.
The Wildcats had a chance to score in the top of the second after one-out infield singles by Brooke Marnitz and Gina Florence but stranded both as Dana Brill struck out the side to end the inning.
Kentucky tied the game at a run apiece in the top of the fourth. Meghan Cooper reached on an error by the UM second baseman and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Marnitz. An infield single to second by Gina Florence put runners at the corners for Megan Glenn who drove in her career-high 12th run of the year with a groundout to the UM first baseman.
Allen allowed just two batters to reach base over her four innings of work. Amy Kendall relieved Allen in the fifth inning and retired the first seven batters she faced. Kendall didn?t allow a Rebel baserunner until a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh by Michelle May. A ground ball by Mandy Ott moved pinch runner Jessica Plemons to second with two outs, but designated player Jill Bandhauer hit a sharp ground ball to Cooper at third and was thrown out to send the game to extra innings.
Ashley Fertic doubled to left field to lead off the eighth inning and went to third on a ground ball off the bat of Cooper, but was stranded there to end the Wildcat threat.
The Rebels had an even better chance to win it in the home half of the eight. A leadoff single by McCommon and an error by Gina Florence put runners at second and third with nobody out. Kendall never flinched on the mound and the Wildcats continued to play solid defense behind her.
Kendall fielded a ground ball back to the mound and looked the runner back at third before throwing to Glenn at first for the first out of the inning. Rebecca McIntire hit what looked to be the game-winning fly ball to left but Fertic threw a strike to the plate and keep the runner at third. The Rebels? best hitter came to the plate with the winning run 60 feet away, but Lisa Conchos lined out to Cooper at third and sent the game to the ninth.
Neither team scored in the ninth which sent the game to the international tie-breaker rule in the top of the 10th. With Ali Ray at second base, Melchi laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Ray to third with one away. Megan Miller popped out to the first baseman and Fertic hit a slicing foul ball to right that Vanessa Gibbs tracked down to end the inning.
The Rebels quickly got runners at second and third after a leadoff single to right field by McCommon. Pinch hitter Erin Faircloth who delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center field to give Ole Miss the 2-1 win.
With the loss, the Wildcats move to 0-3 in extra inning games this year. The Cats lost at Auburn in eight innings on March 12 and fell to Indiana in nine innings on April 12 in their two prior extra-inning contests.
Florence and Marnitz led the Wildcats with two hits each. Florence was 2-for-4, while Marnitz finished 2-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.
Kendall (8-11) got the loss despite giving up just one unearned run on four hits in 5.1 innings. She struck out one and did not walk a batter. Allen gave up one run on two hits and struck out four in her 4.0 innings of work.
Callahan got the win to see her record move to 10-16 on the year. She did not allow a run on three hits and struck out three in six innings of relief.
The Wildcats return to action next weekend when they host Mississippi State in their regular season finale. The three-game series is set for May 6-7 at the UK Softball Complex.
