Softball sweeps Akron in doubleheader.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 22, 2000) — The UK softball team swept adoubleheader from Akron Wednesday afternoon,extending its school-record winning streak to fivegames and breaking the .500 mark for the first time inschool history after 20 games. With the sweep, theCats improved their overall record to 15-13 on theseason.
UK hurler Keary Camunas won her fifth straight game,pitching a 3-0 shutout against the Zips, her fourthshutout during her five-game winning streak.Camunas, who improved to 8-7 with the win, struckout eight Akron batters as the Cats claimed a 3-0victory over the Zips.
Leslie Kwiatkowski’s RBI- single in the bottom of thefirst, put UK up 1-0. Left fielder Tiffany Kruse groundedout to second base as Lyndsey Angus scored fromthird base, giving the Cats a 2-0 advantage. In thesecond inning, Jen Howland scored from second onfreshman Nikki Jones’ RBI-single to center field for thegame’s final margin.
The Cats, who have not committed an error in eight oftheir last nine games, were led at the plate by centerfielder Beth Fogle and Kwiatkowski who had two hitsapiece.
In the second game, UK took a 3-0 lead in the bottomof the third inning. Catcher Sandi Dengler scored fromthird base on Angus sacrifice fly to left field.Kwiatkowski followed with her third triple of theseason, scoring Fogle from second and Jones fromthird.
Akron (10-8) tied the game in the top of the fourth onfour hits, including a two-run single to center field by pinch hitter Melissa Hurley.However, UK responded with a huge sixth inning as the Cats pulled away fromthe Zips.
Angie Dal Pozzo doubled to left center, her fourth double of the season, and shescored on Andrea Eilertson’s RBI-single, giving UK a narrow 4-3 lead. With thebases loaded, pinch hitter Colleen Boddy stroked a bases-clearing double offthe center field wall, as the Cats went on to defeat Akron, 8-3.
Howland pitched the final two innings after freshman Morgan Marr started andthrew five strong innings. In Howland’s two innings of work, the Glendale, Ariz.,native struck out two batters and did not allow a hit as she picked up the win,improving her record to 5-5.
Dengler went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs, while Jones went 1-for-3and scored two runs. Fogle recorded two hits and scored a run for the secondstraight game.
“Our bats are starting to catch fire, and we need that with two toughSoutheastern Conference opponents coming to town this weekend,” UK coachBeth Kirchner said. “Keary Camunas had another good outing today andMorgan Marr threw well. We need our defense to continue to play well because,we give ourselves a chance to win if we can hit the ball.”
UK will begin SEC play this weekend as the Cats play host to the AuburnTigers on Friday at the UK Softball Complex. The first game of the doubleheaderis set for 4 p.m., while the second game is slated for 6 p.m.
R H EAkron 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0UK 2 1 0 0 0 0 x 3 7 0WP - Camunas (8-7) and Dengler; LP - Keenan (6-5), Watson and Villard. 2B -McCoy (Akron) Records - Akron (10-7); UK (14-13). R H EAkron 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 6 0UK 0 0 3 0 0 5 x 8 11 0WP - Marr, Howland (5-5) and Dengler; LP - Keenan (6-6) and Villard. 2B -Villard (Akron), Boddy (UK), Angus (UK), Dal Pozzo (4); 3B - Kwiatkowski (UK) Records - Akron (10-8); UK (15-13).
