March 1, 2000

RICHMOND, Ky. – Led by junior Leslie Kwiatkowski’s two home runs, the UKsoftball team pushed its winning streak to three as the Cats whippedEastern Kentucky, 12-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Gertrude Hood Field.

Kwiatkowski, who hit a solo home run in the top of the first and athree-run blast in the top of the sixth, tied her own record for home runsin a game. The South Bend, Ind. native also broke the UK school record forRBIs in a game with six and total bases in a game with nine. For theafternoon, she was 3-4 and scored two runs.

The Colonels struck first in the bottom of the first when Jessica Soto hita two-run bomb over the left field fence, giving the Colonels a 2-0 lead.

Kwiatkowski answered Soto’s home run with a solo shot of her own to leftcenter. UK (7-9) added five more runs in the top of the third inning tobuild a 6-2 lead. In the top of the fourth, freshman Lyndsey Angus’ RBIsingle put one run across, and Kwiatkowski followed with a single to leftfield that scored Angus and Nikki Jones, giving UK a 9-2 lead.

EKU (4-6) catcher Kim Sarrazin hit a solo home run to left center, but theCats responded in the top of the sixth when Kwiatkowski hit her secondround-tripper of the game, a three-run shot over the left field fence as UKcruised to a 12-4 victory.

The Cats, who have not committed an error in their last two games, poundedout 13 hits against the Colonels. Five UK batters, including Kwiatkowski,recorded multiple hit games. Angus was 3-4 at the plate with an RBI andscored three runs. Jones was 2-4 and scored three runs, while Jen Howlandwent 2-3 and crossed the plate twice. Shortstop Angie Dal Pozzo added a 2-2performance with an RBI and scored a run.

Angus and Jones, who each scored three runs apiece, tied the UK mark forruns scored in a game with three.

“Our offense was outstanding today,” UK coach Beth Kirchner said. “It wasimminent that an offensive explosion was forthcoming. We are building somemomentum heading into our tournament this weekend, which we will need to besuccessful.”

UK will travel to Bristol, Tenn. this weekend to participate in the StateLine Classic. The Cats open the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. againstVirginia Tech and will play Tennessee at 4 p.m.

                           R  H EUK0 1 5 3 0 3  12 13 0EKU2 0 0 1 0 1   4  6 4

WP – Camunas (3-6) and Angus, LP – Soto (1-3) and Sarrazin. Save – Marr(1), HR – Soto (EKU), Kwiatkowski 2 (UK), Sarrazin (EKU)Records – UK (7-9), EKU (4-6)