Nunley, Prince Combine For Shutout to Sweep South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Behind a shutout from
the Kentucky pitching staff and early runs on the board for the third straight
game in the series, the No. 15 Kentucky softball team capped off a sweep of the
South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday with a 4-0 to move to 3-0 in Southeastern
Conference action on the season after a perfect weekend in Columbia to kick
start league play.
Kelsey Nunley was once again spectacular in
the circle, going six full innings, only allowing three hits, walking one and
striking out five Gamecock batters. The Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native improved to
9-1 on the season and now boasts a 0.68 ERA in her 14 appearances. Nickie Blue
was the starting pitcher for the second day in a row for the Gamecocks, as she
falls to 7-4 on the year.
Junior pitcher Meagan Prince came on to get
her first save of the season in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first
and second and no outs. Prince was able to get the secondary runner on a
fielder’s choice, and then an unassisted double play by freshman Katie Reed
ended the game, preserving the shutout for the UK pitching staff.
Over the weekend, the Kentucky pitching staff
only allowed three runs with two on Friday and one yesterday. Between Nunley,
Prince and Shannon Smith, who started the game on Friday, the UK pitching staff
only allowed 12 hits, three runs, five walks and 12 strikeouts.
UK yet again scored in the top of the first
inning, for the third game in the series to put UK ahead early in the game. Maisie
Steed led off the inning with a double to the third base bag and was sacrificed
over and ended up scoring on a two-out hit by Abbey Cheek for the early lead.
Kentucky scored first in all three games of the series, outscoring the
Gamecocks 10-0 in the first inning on the weekend.
The Wildcats sweep of South Carolina marked
the first sweep of an SEC team since April 11-13 when UK swept Ole Miss.
Kentucky returns to the road on Wednesday
afternoon at 4 p.m. ET in Huntington, W. Va., as the Wildcats are at Marshall.
Key Stat
Three. Kentucky only allowed three hits to the
Gamecocks on Sunday afternoon. The only time that Nunley allowed back-to-back
batters to reach base in an inning was in the top of the seventh as USC got a
walk and a single before Prince came on for the save.
Key Play
The key play in the game was a double play
turned by the Kentucky defense harnessed by Katie Reed. With one out and UK up
4-0, USC had runners on the corner and Williams grounded to Reed at second, who
tagged the runner going to second and threw out Williams at first to end the
game.
Key Player
Abbey Cheek was the key player in the game,
going 2-for-2 in the game, and reaching safely in all four plate appearances in
the game in front of her home crowd. Cheek singled to score the game-winning
run with two outs in the top of the first. She also singled up the middle in
the third inning to cap off her 2-for-2 day at the dish.
Run Recap
Maisie Steed led off the top of the first
inning with a double to the bag at third that then bounced into foul territory,
and allowed Steed to race into second. After a sacrifice bunt by Katie Reed to
move Steed to third, Abbey Cheek stepped up with two outs and roped the first
of her two base hits on the day into center to score Steed and put UK up 1-0. UK
1, USC 0
In the top of the fifth, UK doubled its lead
on Abbey Cheek’s first run of the game. Cheek came around to score on a double
to center field by Brooklin Hinz and put UK up by two. UK 2, USC 0
Kentucky would add two more in the top of the
seventh, as Cheek again led off the inning with a walk. Hinz then came through
with a single to the left side to put runners on first and second with no outs.
After a SAC bunt by Erin Rethlake, UK put runners on second and third. Jenny
Schaper stepped to the plate and hit a SAC fly to center, scoring Cheek from
third, and on a muffed throw, Sarah Rainwater – who was running for Hinz – came
around to score. FINAL – No. 15 Kentucky 4, South Carolina 0
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
