Oxford, Miss. ? The Kentucky softball team split two games with the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday at the UM Softball Complex in Oxford, Miss. The Cats (13-9-1, 2-6 Southeastern Conference) dropped game one to UM 3-0 before avenging the loss in the second game of the doubleheader with a 7-3 victory.
Amber Janneck led off the nightcap against the Rebels (5-16, 1-1 SEC) with her fifth home run of the year to put UK up 1-0 early. Rachel Friberg extended the Cats? lead to two when she scored off a sacrifice bunt from Amy Kendall. The Rebels tied it up in the bottom of the first, as Britte Hardy and Brooke Turner reached base via an error and single, respectively, and rounded the bases to knot the score at 2-2.
The Cats were quick to answer back, as Lori Melchi, Ashley Fertic and Jessica Nance rattled off consecutive base hits and Amber Janneck drove in UK?s third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, giving Kentucky a 5-2 lead through two frames. UK and UM each scored one more in the third and the Cats drove in an insurance run in the seventh to provide the final 7-3 score.
Gretchen Prugh recorded her second win of the year with the victory, as she pitched 4.1 innings after replacing Meghan Cooper in the third. Rachel Friberg and Katie Campbell each registered two hits in the contest and nine different Cats tacked on hits in the game to propel UK to the win.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Rebels jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first frame on an RBI single from Andrea Brahs. UM added two more in the fifth when Stacy McCommon drove in Mary Jane Callahan and Rebecca McIntyre with a single to right field. Brahs led UM at the plate by going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Callahan went the distance on the hill, striking out 11 in her second shutout of the year.
The Cats struggled offensively, as they scattered only three hits during the first game of the day and moved only one runner beyond second base in the contest. Amy Kendall moved to 5-7 on the year with the loss, throwing 4.1 innings before being relieved by freshman Gretchen Prugh, who recorded the last five outs of the game for UK.
The Cats and Rebels will wrap up the series tomorrow, with the third and final game of the series set to begin at 1 p.m. Results can be found at www.ukathletics.com. -UK-
