No. 23 Kentucky Opens SEC Home Slate vs. No. 8 LSU
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a dominating performance in its midweek matchups against Northern Illinois and Indiana – the No. 24/23 Kentucky softball will focus its attention back on Southeastern Conference play this weekend, as the Wildcats play host to the No. 8/8 LSU Tigers for a three-game series at John Cropp Stadium.
Saturday will mark the series opener at Noon ET on the SEC Network with Mark Neely, three-time All-American Amanda Scarbrough and Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith on the call. Sunday’s game will be at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU with Monday night’s series finale on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. ET.
Kentucky put up a season-high 15 runs against Indiana on Wednesday afternoon, getting a 15-2 win over the Hoosiers. The 15 runs scored by the Kentucky offense was the most runs scored by the Wildcats in a single game since UK put up 18 vs. North Carolina in 2013.
The LSU Tigers entered the year as an SEC title contender, and the first week of the SEC season proved just as much. The Tigers swept No. 10 Auburn at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge behind stellar pitching from Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper as well as timely hitting from their offense. Hoover, an All-American, is leading the Tigers pitching staff with a 0.51 ERA and 9-1 record in the circle this season. Also with a sub-one ERA is Allie Walljasper, who has a 0.98 with a 10-1 record in the circle this season.
At the plate, LSU is led by Aliyah Andrews who is hitting .420 on the season with 23 runs scored and an astounding 22 stolen bases.
LSU leads the all-time series with Kentucky 37-12. LSU won the last meeting in the series, 2-1 on a Sandra Simmons home run in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. That season, UK had swept the Tigers in Baton Rouge with the program’s first-ever “shutout sweep” as Kelsey Nunley and Meagan Prince went a combined 3-0 in the circle vs. No. 4 LSU, and didn’t allow a run to the Tigers offense all season.
The last time LSU visited Lexington, UK took two of three from the No. 1 Tigers at John Cropp Stadium (2015). The two teams did not play in 2017.
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
