April 29, 2001
The University of Kentucky softball team was defeated 6-3 by Auburn in the opening game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the UK Softball Complex, but the Wildcats bounced back to take the nightcap 8-5.
The Tigers took an early lead in the opener, scoring twice with two outs in the top of the first inning. Senior Mary Petrie doubled to right-center field scoring Michelle Martin all the way from first base after Martin reached on a fielders choice. Sophomore Rasheedah Hameed came in to pinch run for Petrie and scored when UK shortstop Angie Dal Pozzo misplayed Deni Zeigler’s hard grounder. The Tigers’ attempt to score their third run of the opening frame was thwarted when center fielder Beth Fogle threw Jen Kraemer out at the plate.
Auburn added another run in the fourth when shortstop Lindsey Chitwood doubled to right center, scoring Martha Phillips from second base.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the in the top of the fifth inning on the strength of three singles and a walk to put the deficit at 5-0 for the Wildcats.
UK got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Nikki Jones singled, moved to second on Lyndsey Angus’ third walk of the day, and scored on Angie Dal Pozzo’s double over the head of Auburn left-fielder Martha Phillips. Auburn pushed another run across in the seventh when Martin drilled a home run over the left-field fence.
The Wildcats rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh as Angus singled to left field, senior Tiffany Kruse doubled to right field, and freshman Rachel Friberg tripled with two outs to score both runners, cutting the deficit to 6-3. The game ended as junior Jen Howland flied out to center field.
Angus reached base four times in the game, recording a single and three walks, increasing her single-season record of bases on balls to 25.
Sophomore Morgan Marr dropped her third consecutive decision, falling to 15-14 on the season. The Wildcats jumped ahead quickly in the nightcap, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jones and Angus banged out consecutive one-out singles and scored on Tiffany Kruse’s single.
UK pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Angus reached base on an error by Auburn shortstop Chitwood and one out later Kruse hammered her fourth home run of the season over the right-field fence. The Cats made it 6-0 in the fourth when Friberg scored after leading off the inning with a double to left field. Howland singled and came across on Jones’ two-out single.
The Tigers scratched back in the fifth by scoring four runs on three hits and one error. Kentucky added single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth inning Kruse led off with a single and came around to score two outs later on Howland’s single to left. In the sixth inning Angus doubled to right field to score Jones with one out in the inning.
Freshman Monique Lovell went 5.1 innings to even her record at 5-5 on the season. Kruse was 5-8 on the day with four RBI, while Angus was 3-4 and reached base in all eight at-bats on the afternoon.
“After we split today it makes tomorrow even more critical,” UK coach Beth Kirchner said. “We need to attack offensively and defensively from pitch one.”
The Cats (25-30, 8-16 SEC) and Tigers (28-27, 9-17 SEC) take the field again Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. contest.
AGATE
R H EAuburn 200 120 1 6 11 1Kentucky 000 010 2 3 9 1
WP-DuBois (8-6) and Martin , LP- Marr (15-14) and Angus, 2B-Petrie,Chitwood, Dal Pozzo, Kruse, 3B-Friberg, HR-Martin, SH- Fogle,CS- Moore
R H EAuburn 000 041 0 5 8 1Kentucky 202 211 X 8 13 2
WP- Lovell (5-5) Angus, LP- Rasmussen (10-13) and Martin, 2B-Moore,Martin, Zeigler, Angus, Friberg, HR- Kruse, HBP- Phillips, SH- Hammock,Zeigler, Eilertson, Fogle
Records- UK (25-30, 8-16 SEC), AU (28-27, 9-17 SEC)
