Rethlake, Cats Roll Through Regional
Erin Rethlake found herself in a familiar spot on Sunday. In 2017, with Kentucky on the verge of winning the NCAA Tournament’s Lexington Regional, Kentucky head coach Rachel Lawson called on Rethlake to serve as the starting pitcher for the Wildcats in the regional title game against Illinois. Rethlake came through for the Cats on that day, pitching 5.2 innings to help UK beat Illinois 4-2 to win the regional title.
On Sunday, Kentucky was again one win from claiming the regional title, and once again, Lawson sent Rethlake into the circle. And as she did last season, the left-hander delivered, blanking the Irish over the course of six innings as Kentucky topped Notre Dame 8-0 to claim the program’s sixth regional title and subsequent berth in the Super Regionals.
The experience of being in the circle in last year’s regional helped Rethlake on Sunday.
“It’s definitely nice to have that under my belt, so I knew exactly what to expect,” Rethlake said. “The way we’re hitting the ball right now is something that puts a different confidence in a pitcher’s head.”
Rethlake was outstanding on Sunday, holding Notre Dame to one hit, while walking two and striking out three. After allowing a hit and a walk in the first inning, the senior from Huntington, Indiana, retired nine straight Notre Dame batters before allowing a walk to Cait Brooks in the fourth inning. But Rethlake barely missed a beat, setting down the final seven Irish hitters of the game on her way to earning her career-high 11th victory this season.
Lawson has full confidence in Rethlake.
“I felt great about Erin,” Lawson said. “I woke up this morning, watched a little video and I knew she had this. I felt really good about her.”
Rethlake seems to be peaking in the circle at exactly the right time for the Cats. In her last three starts, including Sunday, she has pitched 18 innings, allowing just 12 hits and three earned runs, walking five and striking out 11. That equates to an impressive 1.17 ERA in wins over South Carolina, Illinois-Chicago and Notre Dame. Rethlake attributes her late-season surge to being fresh.
“Honestly, I played a lot of first base this year, which has been really nice because my arm kind of feels fresh at this point,” Rethlake said. “I feel good, I feel fresh, I’m ready to go.”
As for what was working for her today, Rethlake was quick to credit her teammates and coaches.
“The defense, for one,” Rethlake said. “Coach Lawson knows the pitch calls. Today was about trusting whatever she called and believing that my stuff was good enough and then allowing the defense to make plays behind me.”
Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf was also impressed with Rethlake on Sunday.
“She produced ground balls, and that’s probably the most effective thing that she did with us today,” Gumpf said. “I thought we made really good contact, but she did a great job of getting the ball on the ground and her defense behind her was spectacular.”
The fact that Rethlake is peaking now will be a huge benefit as the Wildcats visit top-seeded Oregon in the Super Regional this week.
