In the department of improbable victories, Kentucky softball’s 14-8 comeback over Louisville on Wednesday night ranked in the “Are you kidding me?” category.After losing a head-scratching eight straight games to the Cardinals, there was little reason for hope when Kentucky fell behind 7-0 after the first two innings of play. UK made two errors and committed several more mental lapses, qualifying senior captain Megan Yocke’s thoughts on Tuesday that Kentucky tends to play too tight against its archrival. “When you start getting beat that bad, your mindset goes into, ‘OK, how can I save this game and move forward and learn something from it?’ ” Lawson said.Things were so bad after two innings that Lawson decided to make some radical moves. With sophomore Kara Dill struggling at shortstop, Lawson put senior catcher Megan Yocke at short in the top of the third. Here’s the kicker: Yocke has never played the position other than practice.”You kind of start thinking, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, so I might as well try some other things,’ ” Lawson said.One can imagine how Dill, having a nightmare of a game, felt.An error by Dill and another should-be out in the first inning opened the doors for Louisville’s six-run first frame. She struck out in the bottom of the inning and was pulled from her defensive position in favor of Yocke to start the third.”I think it’s kind of contagious,” Dill said. “I missed one and it kind of went from there.”For a sophomore who was riding a team-high hitting streak and leading the team in batting average, this fall from grace was like tumbling off Mt. Everest.And yet, with UK mounting a furious rally in the third inning, Dill stepped to the plate as the designated player with the bases loaded, two outs and Kentucky trailing by three runs. If ever there was a time to wipe the slate clean, this was it.”You can’t think much about that,” Dill said. “You can’t put that much pressure on yourself to do well or you won’t be able to do it. You’ve just got to go up there and if the pitch is out over the white of the plate, you’ve got to take a chance and go for it.”Dill took her chance at redemption and sliced an opposite-field liner to the gap in left center. Dill cleared the bases with her first career triple, part of an eight-run third inning that put UK on top 8-7 after trailing by seven through two innings. The sophomore scored the go-ahead run when senior Meagan Aull singled through the right side.”It was a relief for sure,” Dill said of leading the comeback.If the miscues of the first two innings were contagious, then so were Kentucky’s bats. Once UK got going, the Cats cranked out 12 hits and two home runs in the 14-8 comeback win. Junior Rachel Riley, who relieved freshman Ellen Weaver in the second inning, not only pitched 5.2 innings of one-run ball to pick up the win, she was also 4-for-4 at the dish with a home run and three RBI.”I didn’t tell them anything after the first inning really,” Lawson said. “Riley is such a calming factor on our team, so anytime you plug Rachel Riley in, our team feels like we can win the game. I felt comfortable with her.”Lawson said they never panicked after the early hole, but she’d prefer if her team didn’t fall behind quite as much next time around.The victory was the largest comeback of the season.”It feels awesome,” Riley said of the win. “It really does. We’ve been wanting this for a long time.”Riley’s just a junior, but no player on UK’s roster – Lawson and seniors included – had ever beaten Louisville. To snap the notorious streak in Wednesday’s night comeback fashion felt pretty sweet. “It’s a big monkey off our back,” said Lawson, who also notched her first victory over the Cardinals since coming to UK. “This senior class, they’ve accomplished so much, and I know this was on their bucket list of things to get done before they graduated. To be able to do this in their last opportunity was cool for them.”

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