April 16, 2003
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Bloomington, Ind. – The University of Kentucky softball team (10-35) ended its 21-game streak of losses Wednesday with a 9-5 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers (15-23) in the first game of a doubleheader at the IU Softball Field. The second game ended with a 4-2 IU victory. It was called in five innings because of darkness.
Game 1 – Kentucky 9, Indiana 5
The Cats got on the board in the first inning of the first game. Following a ground-out, Lori Melchi beat out an infield single. The Hoosiers’ left-fielder then dropped a high fly ball hit by Lyndsey Angus putting runners on first and second. Rachel Friberg loaded the bases with a single down the left field line. A ground-out to the shortstop by Amy Kendall brought in Melchi as Kentucky took the 1-0 lead.
Megan Glenn led off the top of the second inning with a single to left field. After two straight strikeouts, it looked as though she might be stranded. But Nikki Jones smashed a triple to right-center, scoring Glenn and pushing the lead to 2-0. It was the team-high fourth triple of the season and second in as many games for Jones.
The scoring continued for the Cats in the third. Angus led off with a double, her fifth of the season. A fly-out and a strikeout brought up Jessica Nance who singled through the right side, allowing Angus to come around and score giving UK the 3-0 lead.
The Hoosiers chipped into the lead in the fourth. With the wind blowing out, designated player Lauren Hines hit a towering fly ball to centerfield that drifted over the wall for her third home run of the year. With Abby Stark on first base, the Kentucky lead was cut to 3-2.
In the fifth, Angus once again led off with a base hit, this time an infield single. Friberg forced her out at second with a grounder to the shortstop and Amy Kendall followed up with a single putting runners on first and second with one out. Nance knocked a single down the left field line, scoring Friberg from second for the 4-2 lead.
But the lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the fifth, three singles, a double and a wild pitch meant three more runs for the Hoosiers and gave them the 5-4 advantage.
In the top of the sixth inning, Kentucky took the lead right back. Christal Mattingly, who played four years for the women’s soccer team and joined the softball team April 4, knocked her first career base hit up the middle. After advancing to second on an infield bunt single by Jones, she scored on a single up the middle by Melchi. With runners on first and second, Angus hit her seventh home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field fence that gave UK the 8-5 lead.
Kentucky added an insurance run in the seventh when a Nikki Jones double brought home Glenn who had doubled earlier in the inning.
The Cats held the Hoosiers scoreless in the last two innings and walked away with the 9-5 win, ending their 21-game losing streak.
Kentucky pounded out a season-high 16 hits in the first game. Eight of the starting nine players had at least one single. Angus led the way, going 3-4 with a double, a home run, two runs and three RBIs. Jones was 3-5 with two RBIs and a run and was a home run shy of the cycle. Megan Glenn had her first career multi-hit game, including her first career double. Lori Melchi was 2-5, the first two-hit game of her career.
Game 2 – Indiana 4, Kentucky 2
The Wildcats got off to a quick start in the second game. Following a Lyndsey Angus double, Rachel Friberg hit her second home run of the season over the left field fence to give the Cats the early 2-0 lead. Angus’ double was the 42nd of her career, moving her into a tie for second place on the UK career list.
The Hoosiers answered in the bottom of the third. With one out and runners on second and third, Valerie White hit a double to the gap in left center scoring both runners. IU batted around in the inning, adding two more runs and taking the 4-2 lead.
With darkness creeping into Bloomington, the Cats came up in the top of the sixth. Jessica Nance and Megan Glenn began the inning with singles. After a fielder’s choice forced Nance out and put Crystalie Wolfe on first, Nikki Jones hit a shot to the wall in centerfield. Both runs scored but Jones was thrown out trying to turn it into an inside-the-park home run.
After Kentucky’s half of the inning, the umpires called the game due to darkness and UK’s sixth inning would not count. The score would go back to what it was after the fifth inning with IU coming out on top, 4-2.
The Cats will be home this Friday and Saturday for an SEC series with Auburn. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 3 p.m. ET. Admission to the UK Softball Complex is free.
