The University of Kentucky softball team completed the three-game sweep of Kent State today, Feb. 17, with a 10-3 victory over the Golden Flashes at the UK Softball Complex. The Wildcats have won three straight to improve to 6-2 on the year.
Senior Meghan Cooper broke former teammate and current graduate assistant Jessica Nance?s single-game record with three triples on the day. Cooper?s three triples tied the national record, which is held by seven players. The most recent player to collect that many three-base hits in a single game was San Diego?s Jennifer Milo on April 20, 1995.
Nance and former Cat Tiffany Kruse shared the UK record with two triples in a single game. Cooper went 3-for-4 with three triples, three runs scored and tied a career-high with four RBIs in the win.
The Wildcats continued their hot hitting and plated seven runs in the bottom of the first. The Cats batted around in the first for the second straight day and the first 12 batters reached base.
The scoring started when Megan Miller, Alli Eckman and Ashley Fertic scored on Cooper?s first triple of the game. Cooper would come across to score on a single through the right side by Katie Campbell. Pinch runner Jenny Sibert stole second and moved to third on a single to center by Lori Melchi. Megan Glenn walked to load the bases and Gina Florence was hit by a pitch to score the sixth run of the frame. Eckman added an RBI single in her second at-bat of the inning to account for the 7-0 lead after one inning of play.
The Cats added a single run in the second after back-to-back extra base hits by Cooper and Campbell. Cooper tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a double to left field to give UK the 8-0 advantage.
Amy Kendall was flawless in the circle for the Cats. The senior had a perfect game until the fourth when she gave up a one-out walk after the home plate umpire called a pair of illegal pitches. After giving up a single to the next batter, Jamie Fitzpatrick homered over the left field wall to make it a 10-3 Wildcat lead. Kendall quickly recovered and retired the next two batters to end the inning.
UK added a pair in the sixth to push the lead back to seven runs. Eckman reached on an error and scored on Cooper?s record-setting third triple of the day. Cooper would score on a shot up the middle by Glenn.
The Wildcat defense did not commit an error for the third straight game and scored a season-high 10 runs. The twelve UK hits were also a season-high.
Kendall improved to 2-0 on the year after giving up three runs on four hits over 6.0 innings of work. She recorded five strikeouts, giving her a team-high 22 for the season. Lindsay Brogdon tossed a perfect seventh inning and struck out two of the three batters she faced.
Campbell went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while Melchi was 2-for-4 on the day. Eckman added an RBI and scored a pair of runs.
?It?s hard to get a sweep against a team that swings the bats like Kent State, but we played well today and got it done,? said head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?We got great performances from Amy Kendall, Meghan Cooper and Katie Campbell today. Campbell called a great game and it was another great team effort today.?
The Wildcats return to action next week, Feb. 24-26, when they travel to San Diego for the San Diego State Tournament. UK will face Long Beach State in its opening game of the three-day tournament.
