SAN DIEGO, Calif. ?University of Kentucky junior Brooke Marnitz hit for the cycle tonight, Feb. 25, as the Kentucky (7-5) softball team defeated Indiana State (0-3) 11-3 in five innings. Marnitz is just the second Wildcat to hit for the cycle and the first since Angie Dal Pozzo on March 9, 2001, against Akron.
Unlike Dal Pozzo, Marnitz achieved the feat in just four at-bats. Marnitz doubled in the first inning, homered in the second, tripled in the fourth and singled in her fourth at-bat in the fifth and final inning.
?Hitting for the cycle is a great accomplishment for any batter,? said second-year head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?That was a pretty amazing thing to witness tonight, especially since Brooke was able to do it in four at-bats.?
The Cats recorded season-highs with 11 runs on 16 hits for their second run-rule win of the season. UK downed Kent State in five innings earlier this season by a score of 9-0 on Feb. 16 in its home opener.
UK started the scoring with four runs on in the top of the second. Katie Campbell singled to second base to lead off the inning. Lori Melchi reached on a two-out fielder?s choice and Ali Ray followed with a single to drive in the first run of the game and of her collegiate career. Marnitz followed with her third homer of the season to give the Cats a 4-0 lead.
The Sycamores plated one run in the bottom of the frame on a double and a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 after two innings.
Kentucky added three runs in the fourth after Marnitz tripled to lead off the inning. Megan Miller drew a walk to put runners at the corners for Megan Cooper who delivered a single to center to score Marnitz from third and put Miller at second. Ashley Fertic singled to load the bases for Katie Campbell who drove in a pair of runs with a single to left field and make it a 6-1 UK lead.
The Wildcats batted around in the fifth and plated four more runs on five hits. Megan Glenn scored the first run of the inning when Lori Melchi doubled down the left field line. Fertic drove in a run with a single through the right side, while Campbell drove in a pair with a ground-rule double to left center field to put the Cats on top 11-1.
ISU attempted a comeback in the bottom of the fifth and scored two runs on three hits, including a solo homer and an RBI single, but that was as close as they would come and the Cats held on for the nine-run win.
Freshman Lindsay Brogdon got the win and improves to 2-1 on the year. She allowed just three runs on seven hits and did not walk a batter in 5.0 innings of work.
Marnitz had a career day at the plate. She went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs. The four at-bats and four RBIs are new career-highs, while she tied career-highs with four at-bats and three runs scored. Katie Campbell also tied a career-high with four hits as she went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored.
Fertic went 2-for-4 with an RBI in her first game as the UK backstop. Miller was 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Cooper went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored two runs. Glenn pushed her hitting streak to a career-high eight games.
?That is the Kentucky team that we have seen in previous weeks this season,? said Schmidt. ?Lindsay Brogdon did a great job on the mound and Ashley Fertic was great behind the plate for the first time in her career because we?re short-handed by injuries. Cooper and Fertic both did a good job of adjusting at the plate and this was a total team effort. I hope we can continue to build on this tomorrow.?
The Cats wrap up play at the Aztec Invitational tomorrow, Feb. 26, when they take on Loyola Marymount at noon.
