Feb. 18, 2000
TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Kentucky softball team used anoffensive explosion en route to a 15-0, five-inning victory over the TennesseeTech Golden Eagles Friday night at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Cats pounded out 14hits and tied the school record for runs scored in a game, while freshman NikkiJones went 3-3 with two singles and a triple. Beth Fogle added three singlesand scored four runs for UK.
UK (3-5) was in control from the beginning, scoring two runs in thebottom of the first followed by a huge second inning, where the Cats scoredseven runs on six hits.
The Cats put five more runs across in the bottom of the third and addedanother run in the bottom of the second inning.
Junior slugger Leslie Kwiatkowski continued her torrid hitting, going2-4 with four RBIs, while scoring two runs. Before a hometown crowd, pitcherJen Howland was brilliant, pitching a four-hit shutout, her second shutout ofthe season to improve her record to 2-1. At the plate, Howland went 1-2 andscored 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 two runs in the sixth inning with the help of two UNM erros.
After consecutive singles by Tiffany Kruse and Andi Eilertson, JamieDardis walked to load the bases. Colleen Boddy reached on an error by thesecond baseman, scoring Kruse from third. Jen Howland reached on an error bythe Lobos’ third baseman, which scored Eilertson, cutting the Lobos lead to4-2.
UNM put one run across in the bottom of the sixth for the game’s finalmargin.
Lyndsey Angus, Kwiatkowski, and Dardis each recorded two hitsapiece 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 wasimportant for 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. 3Arizona at 7 p.m. (EST) and No. 8 Oklahoma at 9 p.m.
