March 22, 1999
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The University of Kentucky softball team split in itstwo games Saturday at the Ringor Winthrop Invitational Tournament.
UK lost to Illinois-Chicago, 11-3 in the first game, but closed out thetournament with a 9-0 win against Samford.
Against Illinois-Chicago, the Wildcats took an early 2-0 lead headinginto the bottom of the third inning. Shanna Martini doubled to start thesecond inning for UK and two outs later, catcher Sarah Snider doubled toscore Martini.
In the top of the third, Leslie Kwiatkowski singled, scoring JenniferHowland from from second base.
It was in the bottom of the third, when the Flames bats caught fire.Illinois-Chicago’s Samantha Iuli hit the first of her two home runs in thegame, a three homer over the leftfield fence. The Flames led 4-2 afterthree innings.
The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning on the eight-runrule as Illinois-Chicago scored six runs in the sixth inning for a finalscore of 11-3.
Martini and Howland led the Wildcats with two hits apiece in the game.
In UK’s second game of the day, the Wildcats got back on track with asteady pitching performance by Keary Camunas, solid hitting, and eightstolen bases.
Kwiatkowski got UK on the board in the top of the second when she stolehome on a double steal attempt.
In the top of the third inning, UK added four more runs, bumping thelead to 5-0.
Beth Fogle, who had three stolen bases on the day, stole second and thenthird base. Angie Dal Pozzo walked and stole second. Tiffany Kruse singledto score Fogle and advance Dal Pozzo to third. Kruse stole second andKwiatkowski hit into a fielder’s choice which scored Dal Pozzo. Krusescored on a wild pitch and Martini grounded out to the shortstop to scoreKwiatkowski
UK’s fourth inning put the game out of reach led by Kruse.With two outs and the bases loaded, Kruse hit her first collegiate homerun, a grand slam to right center giving the Wildcats a 9-0 lead.
Kruse said afterwards that she was unaware that she had hit the ballover the fence.
“I didn’t even know it was a home run until I got to second base,” Krusesaid. “That’s when I started smiling really big.”
Camunas picked up the win, moving her record to 7-8. The game was calledafter five innings because of the eight-run rule.
For the tournament, UK went 1-3 after losing to Lafayette (2-1) andWinthrop (10-6) on Friday.
UK returns to action on Wednesday, March 24, against Eastern Kentucky ina doubleheader scheduled for 4/6 p.m. at the UK Soccer-Softball Complex.
