April 29, 2003
Game Notes in PDF Format
The University of Kentucky softball team (14-39) has won four of their last five games and will look to keep that momentum going when they play host to Western Kentucky (26-26) in a doubleheader Wednesday at the UK Softball Complex. Admission is free. The twin-bill will represent the last home games of the 2003 season.
The Cats are coming off one of their best weeks of the year. After shutting out Louisville in a doubleheader, Kentucky played its last SEC series of the season in Fayetteville against Arkansas. After getting edged by the Lady ‘Backs 2-1 in the opening game, junior Crystalie Wolfe pitched a one-hit 4-0 shutout to break UK’s 23-game conference losing streak. The Wildcats then survived a 10-inning thriller on Sunday, taking the rubber game 7-6 and winning their first SEC series. Senior Lyndsey Angus went 6-11 against Arkansas and extended her hitting streak to 12 games.
Western Kentucky is coming off a two-game Sun Belt Conference series with Florida International where they fell by two runs in each game.
The Hilltoppers have two players batting at least .400 on the year. Sophomore Renita Pennington leads the team with a .404 average and 63 hits, all of them singles. Providing the power is sophomore Shelly Floyd, who has pounded 9 home runs and driven in 45 runs. In the pitcher’s circle, Western is led by junior Allison Silver and freshman Adrienne Lathrop. Silver is 14-12 on the year with a 1.65 ERA while Lathrop has gone 12-9 with a 3.07 ERA.
The Hilltoppers are coached by Leslie Phelan, who has been at the helm of the program since its inception in 2000. At Western she has amassed a 118-110-1 overall record.
Western Kentucky holds a 3-1 series advantage on the Cats. The most recent meeting was last year at the Sonic Challenge in Chattanooga, Tenn., where the Hilltoppers scored three runs in the top of the seventh to win 6-5. The lone Kentucky win against Western came in 2000 when UK came away with the 11-3 victory.
Jared Lorenzen was one of the participants of last year’s home run derby. |
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The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET. The first 50 students will receive UK beach towels and one lucky student will win an airline ticket to anywhere in the continental U.S. Plus, between games, two members of the men’s basketball team will compete against two members of the football team in a home-run derby. An autograph session will follow the competition.
Kentucky will close out the 2003 season this weekend when they travel to take on Iowa, the alma mater of UK coaches Beth Pruitt and Lynda Cook. The Hawkeyes are currently ranked 23rd in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA top 25 polls.
