ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Kentucky softball team evened its record at 12-12 today, Mar. 15, after falling 8-0 in six innings at No. 11 Georgia. The Wildcats are now 0-6 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Bulldogs are now 22-6 overall and 5-1 in conference games.
UGA had 12 hits on the day, while the Cats managed just four. The Wildcats used a season-high four pitchers as Jessica Trueblood, Samantha Allen, Lindsay Brogdon and Amy Kendall all took the mound for at least one inning of work.
Trueblood (4-7) got the loss after giving up one earned run on three hits in 2.0 innings of work. She walked one and recorded one strikeout. Allen tossed a scoreless third inning, followed by Brogdon who allowed two runs on four hits in an inning of work. Kendall closed out the final 1.2 innings and gave up four unearned runs on four hits with one strikeout.
The Bulldogs plated single runs in the first and second to take an early 2-0 lead. Following a scoreless third, the Dawgs added a pair of runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to go on top by a score of 7-0.
The Wildcats had just three hits through the first five innings but put runners in scoring position in the top of the sixth. Katie Campbell was hit by a pitch and went to second on a single by Ashley Fertic. A double steal put runners at second and third with two outs but both were stranded on the basepaths to end the Wildcat scoring threat.
The Bulldogs scored their eighth and final run in the bottom of the sixth after a leadoff single by Courtney Knight. She went to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a groundout. Knight scored the winning run when Ashley Godfrey reached on an error to give the Dawgs the run-rule victory.
Jessica Doucette got the win for Georgia to improve to 6-3 on the year. She gave up just four hits and struck out five in the six-inning shutout.
Meghan Cooper and Fertic each singled in the loss to push their hitting streaks to four games each. Lori Melchi and Megan Miller both singled to account for the Wildcats’ four hits.
The Wildcats return to action this weekend, Mar. 18-19, at South Carolina. The three-game series kicks off with a Saturday doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday with a single game, also scheduled for 1 p.m.
