May 21, 1999
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After making significant improvements in its first two years, theUniversity of Kentucky softball team was poised and ready to begin the 1999campaign. The Wildcats’ youthful roster included four juniors, threesophomores and no seniors. With no upperclassmen, UK coach Beth Kirchnerturned to a talented group of 10 freshmen to continue the building processof UK’s fast-pitch program.
Those freshmen were a big reason why UK won more games in school historyagain this year, defeated a Top-10 opponent for the first time and brokenumerous team and individual records.
UK kicked off the season at the Texas-Arlington/Pepsi-ColaIntercollegiate Classic in Grand Prairie, Texas. The Wildcats dropped thefirst two games on opening day, but rebounded to earn their first win, a3-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin, as UK pitcher Keary Camunas struck outsix Lumberjack batters. After losing to Nicholls State in thetournament-opener, UK exacted revenge on the Colonels with a 4-2 victory.
Next up for the youthful squad of Wildcats was the North Carolina TriangleClassic in Raleigh, N.C. Competing in Pool C, UK went 2-2 in pool play andadvanced to the first round of single-elimination tournament play. A toughIllinois-Chicago ended the Cats’ run prematurely with 8-0 win.
The Wildcats continued early season tournament action at the Georgia StateClassic in Atlanta and started with a bang. Using an eight-run secondinning, UK pummeled Saint Louis, 14-0 in a game-shortened five innings dueto the eight-run mercy rule. Sophomore Leslie Kwiatkowski went 3-4 at theplate, scored two runs, and picked up three RBIs.
For the third straight year, the Cats played host to the KentuckyInvitational Tournament at the newly renovated UK Softball Complex. Down4-0 to Ohio State, UK rallied with four runs in the top of the sixth to tiethe score thanks to back-to-back doubles by Kwiatkowski and freshman ShannaMartini. Freshman Andy Eilertson singled to score Martini but the Buckeyesscored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth as the Cats fell, 5-4.
Following the UK Invitational, the Wildcats hit the road to embark on aneleven-day road trip which included three different tournaments acrossTennessee and the Carolinas.
First up, the Frost Cutlery Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn., whichincluded No. 1 UCLA and No. 8 Southern Mississippi. Competing in Pool B,UK faced a Mississippi State team the Cats had beaten twice in a row.Kwiatkowski led the way for UK as she hit her second home run of the seasonin the top of the second inning and finished the game going 2-3. TheBulldogs tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning and threatenedmore damage with no outs. Camunas put the clamps down on MSU by strikingout the next three batters to escape potential trouble. The Cats went onto defeat the Bulldogs for the third time in a row, 3-1.
The Wildcats kicked off the Coastal Carolina Invitational in Myrtle Beach,S.C. with a come-from-behind win over Middle Tennessee State. UK jumped onthe Blue Raiders early when Kwiatkowksi hit her third home run of theseason, a three-run shot over the right field fence to give the Cats anearly 3-0 lead. MTSU slowly crept back into the game, striking for one runin the bottom of the third and two in the bottom of the fourth to tie thegame, 3-3. Two UK errors in the fifth gave MTSU a 6-3 lead but UK foughtback, tying the game in the sixth and won it in the seventh. SophomoreTiffany Kruse lead off the inning and Kwiatkowski finished off the comebackfor the Cats’ as UK came away with a 9-6 win.
UK next lost a 7-5 heartbreaker to No. 17 Illinois-Chicago but capturedtwo straight wins from the host Coastal Carolina Chanticleers to set up arematch with UIC in the tournament championship game. The Flames handedthe Cats a 9-1 loss in six innings as UK took home the second-place trophy.
At the Ringor Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C., 40 teams fought itout in pool play to see who would advance to the single-eliminationtournament. UK lost its first three games of the tournament, but took outits frustrations on Samford to earn a 9-0 win in five innings. UK stoleeight bases as a team and Kruse hit her first career home run, a grand slamto right center for the final margin.
Upon returning home, the Wildcats swept Eastern Kentucky for the firsttime in school history with wins of 7-0 and 8-0. The Cats gave up justthree hits and no runs in the two games as Kruse went 4-4 in game two, UK’sonly four-hit performance during the season.
Southeastern Conference action began on the road for UK in Tuscaloosa,Ala. where the Alabama Crimson Tide won both games behind two solidpitching performances to cool the Cats’ hot hitting. From there, UK traveled to neighboring Auburn where Kwiatkowski’s lateinning heroics gave the Cats’ their first SEC win of the season. With UKtrailing 6-4 in the top of the seventh, the South Bend, Ind., native, hit athree-run shot over the right field wall to give UK a 7-6 win. Afterstarting the game, Camunas re-entered the game to start the seventh inningto earn the save while transfer Colleen Boddy picked up the win.
The Cats played impressive softball against Kent State, coming awaywith a two-game sweep, 9-1 and 5-0.
UK took its biggest step forward since the program’s inception in1997 by defeating 10th-ranked South Carolina on the road in Columbia, S.C.The Cats’ 4-2 triumph over the Gamecocks was UK’s first win over a teamranked in the Top 10 of the USA Today/NFCA National Poll as freshmanshortstop Angie Dal Pozzo and Camunas led the way.
With freshmen Sandi Dengler on first base and Dal Pozzo on third,the Cats executed a double-steal as Dal Pozzo scored to give UK a 2-1advantage in the top of the fifth. After Kruse and Kwiatkowski hitconsecutive singles, Dal Pozzo doubled to clear the bases and give UK a 4-1lead. Despite giving up a solo home run to 1999 SEC Player of the Year KimPietro with two outs in the seventh, Camunas shut down USC for the victory.
The following day, UK nearly pulled off another huge upset over theGamecocks. With a 2-1 lead going into the final inning, USC loaded thebases with two out. Catcher Adrienne Genovese hit a full-count pitch inthe gap and the Gamecocks scored the two winning runs.
The Wildcats played host to the Georgia Bulldogs in their SEC homeopener. UK captured the first game of a four-game series with the Dawgs,3-2, but UGA took the next three games.
The Dayton Flyers squeezed out a 1-0 win over the visiting Wildcatsin the first of two games. UK rebounded and cruised to a 6-2 win in thesecond game as freshman Shanna Martini singled with one out in the top ofthe first inning and the Cats never looked back.
Under overcast skies on April 15 at the UK Softball Complex, the UKsquad won its 20th game of the season, a 9-5 win over Morehead State, tobreak the school record for wins in a season. In 1997, UK won 11 games andin 1998, the second-year Wildcats won 19 games. Freshman pitcher JenniferHowland earned the win for the Cats as six UK batters hit safely in thecontest and as a team, recorded four extra base hits and four stolen bases.
The Big Blue defeated Mississippi State for the fourth time in a rowin the first of a two-game series. Clinging to a 5-0 lead, the Wildcatshad to withstand a two-out, four-run rally by the visiting Bulldogs. Withthe bases loaded, Camunas struck out Jenny Hehnke to end the threat.
With thoughts of earning a berth into the 1999 SEC Tournamentdancing in their heads, the Wildcats headed to Gainesville, Fla., hoping toposition themselves for a shot at the tournament. UK was unable to find ananswer in four games against the upstart Gators. In the second game of thefour-game series, Camunas set a school record for strikeouts in a game with13 as the Wildcats fell to UF, 6-1.
Visiting Arkansas managed enough offense to steal the first contest2-0, but the result was different in the second game. In the fifth inning,Kwiatkowski hit a triple to score freshman Beth Fogle and Howland. DalPozzo grounded out to the Lady ‘Backs shortstop but Kwiatkowski scored asUK built a 3-1 lead. Kruse singled to score Holwand in the bottom as theCats went on to a 4-2 win.
To close out the season, UK made the drive down Interstate-75 toKnoxville, Tenn., where a thirsty Lady Vol team waited, needing three winsto earn a share of the SEC Eastern Division Title and No. 2-seed in theupcoming conference tournament.
UK kept the high-powered UT offense in check the first two games butwere unable to generate enough runs of its own, falling 4-0 and 3-2.
In the Cats’ final game of the season, UK poured it on and showedthe promise that this young team has for the future. Kwiatkowski did mostof the damage. Her solo shot in the first inning gave UK a slim lead butthe Lady Vols scored two of its own to take a 2-1 lead. Kwiatkowski tiedan SEC record with her second homer of the game, a fifth-inning grand slam- her first career grand slam – giving the Wildcats a 6-2 lead. UT chippedits way back into the contest, trailling 9-2. The Lady Vols scored threeruns of their own in the bottom of the fifth and then two more in the sixthbefore Camunas struck out Adrianna Wilson to end the sixth with the basesloaded. Boddy came in to close out UT in the seventh and earn her firstsave as UK ended the year with a 9-7 win, its first win over the Lady Volsin school history.
The strides UK made from 1998 to ’99 were tremendous and evident onthe field. With the same improvement made next year, a set of Cats will beclawing their way to the top of the SEC.
