The University of Kentucky softball team defeated Minnesota (7-4) today in the fifth and final game of the Crowne Plaza Classic in Houston, Texas. The Wildcats (2-13) won by a final score of 6-4 in 10 innings.
?This is the kind of performance we?ve been waiting on all year,? said head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?We never buckled today under the pressure and we fought hard the entire game. We?re pretty beat up right now, but I was proud of our effort today in taking down a tough BigTen team in Minnesota. We need to continue to build on the things we did today.?
The Wildcats scored in the first inning for the third straight game as Jessica Nance led off with a double. She moved to second on a sacrifice by Gina Florence and scored on an error by the Minnesota third baseman to take an early 1-0 lead.
The lead would be short-lived as the Gophers plated two run son three hits in the home half of the first. Starting pitcher Meghan Cooper struck out two in the frame and got a bouncer back to the mound to end the inning and strand three runners.
UK tied the game in the top of the fourth as Amber Janneck homered for the third time in three games to knot the score at 2-2.
The Wildcats recorded the go-ahead run in the sixth as Janneck doubled off the bottom of the wall in left field and moved to third on a Megan Glenn groundout. She would score from third on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Alli Eckman and avoided the tag at home to put UK on top 3-2.
Minnesota pushed a run across in the bottom of the sixth on three straight singles and a sacrifice fly to tie the score for the third time in the game. Reliever Samantha Allen stranded three more Golden Gophers as she struck out Valerie Alston to end the inning and send the game to the seventh.
The Cats would not score in the eighth and then got an inning-ending double play to end the eighth and leave two runners on base to erase a Minnesota scoring threat.
UK took a 4-3 lead in the ninth as Megan Glenn scored on a single to shortstop by Katie Campbell. The Gophers tied it for the fourth time with an RBI single in the home half of the inning.
Kenucky plated a run in the tenth to take a 5-4 lead on Nance?s RBI double to score Lori Melchi from second. Ashley Fertic?s bases-loaded single added another run, giving the Cats a 6-4 edge.
Nance finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while Florence went 2-for-2 on the day. Janneck also added two extra base hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Allen picked up the win to improve to 2-6 on the year after allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits in 7.0 innings of work. The freshman tied a career-high with five strikeouts.
The Kentucky defense was stellar all day long, stranding 16 runners, and committing no errors.
The Cats return to action next weekend, Feb. 25-27, at the Frost Cutlery Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.
