Cats make quick quick work of Golden Eagles with 15-0 win in five innings.
TUCSON, Ariz. (Feb. 18, 2000) — The University of Kentuckysoftball team used an offensive explosion en routeto a 15-0, five-inning victory over the TennesseeTech Golden Eagles Friday night at HillenbrandStadium. The Cats pounded out 14 hits and tied theschool record for runs scored in a game, whilefreshman Nikki Jones went 3-3 with two singlesand a triple. Beth Fogle added three singles andscored four runs for UK.
UK (3-5) was in control from the beginning, scoringtwo runs in the bottom of the first followed by ahuge second inning, where the Cats scored sevenruns on six hits.
The Cats put five more runs across in the bottom ofthe third and added another run in the bottom of thesecond inning.
Junior slugger Leslie Kwiatkowski continued hertorrid hitting, going 2-4 with four RBIs, while scoring two runs. Before ahometown crowd, pitcher Jen Howland was brilliant, pitching a four-hitshutout, her second shutout of the season to improve her record to 2-1. Atthe plate, Howland went 1-2 and scored two runs. Junior Tiffany Kruse
In the first game of the day, UK fell to New Mexico, 5-2.
The Cats fell behind 3-0 after the first inning, but battled back, scoring tworuns in the sixth inning with the help of two UNM erros.
After consecutive singles by Tiffany Kruse and Andi Eilertson, Jamie Dardiswalked to load the bases. Colleen Boddy reached on an error by the secondbaseman, scoring Kruse from third. Jen Howland reached on an error by theLobos’ third baseman, which scored Eilertson, cutting the Lobos lead to 4-2.
UNM put one run across in the bottom of the sixth for the game’s finalmargin.
Lyndsey Angus, Kwiatkowski, and Dardis each recorded two hits apiece forthe Cats. Pitcher Keary Camunas took the loss, dropping her record to 0-3.
“We really got our bats going against Tennessee Tech, and it was importantfor us to score some runs,” UK coach Beth Kirchner said. “I think ouroffensive production today will help carry us into our two games tomorrowagainst Arizona and Oklahoma with some strong momentum.”
UK returns to action on Saturday when the Cats take on host No. 3 Arizonaat 7 p.m. (EST) and No. 8 Oklahoma at 9 p.m.
