The University of Kentucky softball team returns to action for a mid-week showdown with in-state rival Louisville. The Wildcats will head west to take on the No. 18 Cardinals on Wednesday, Apr. 19, for a single game. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Louisville?s Ulmer Stadium.
The Wildcats are 4-0 this season when facing Kentucky schools. UK has in-state wins over Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and swept a doubleheader with Western Kentucky.
This will be the 16th meeting between the rival schools. The Wildcats hold a 10-5 advantage in the all-time series after the teams split the season series in 2005. Kentucky won the first matchup in Lexington on Apr. 14 by a score of 3-2 before falling at Louisville on Apr. 27 by a final of 6-0.
The Cardinals are currently 26-7 on the year and have won seven of their last 10 games. UofL had won five straight before losing a doubleheader against South Florida in its last outing. Junior shortstop Courtney Moore leads the Cards? offense, batting .389 with five homers, 10 doubles and 24 RBI. Senior Lacy Wood has been the top run producer with a team-high 28 RBI to go along with 13 doubles, four home runs and a .386 average. Junior Catherine Bishop leads the team with a 17-4 record and a team-low 0.74 ERA. She has 132 strikeouts in 24 appearances this season.
The Wildcats enter the Wednesday game with a 19-26 overall record after dropping two out of three games to Arkansas last weekend in Lexington. The Cats defeated the Lady Razorbacks in six innings by an 8-0 score on Friday night before dropping the Saturday doubleheader.
Junior catcher Katie Campbell leads the team with a .320 batting average and is one of four Cats to start all 45 games this season. Campbell leads the team with 10 doubles, six homers and ranks seventh in the Southeastern Conference with 37 RBI. Senior Meghan Cooper follows with a .310 average to go along with six doubles and 13 RBI. Freshman Megan Miller has had an outstanding season for the Cats, batting .300 with 15 RBI and 18 runs scored.
The Wildcat defense has played well all season, posting a .969 fielding percentage which ranks them fourth in the SEC behind No. 6 Tennessee (.978), No. 3 Alabama (.977) and No. 11 LSU (.970). With her 287 putouts this season, senior Megan Glenn has tied former Cat Angie Dal Pozzo as UK?s all-time leader in that category. Glenn is ranked seventh in the league in putouts and is second in fielding double plays with 10. Cooper is sixth in the league with 92 assists, while senior Lori Melchi is tied for first in the league with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
?Louisville is such a tough team and they are having a great year,? said second-year UK head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?We are going to have to put all parts of our game together like we did Friday night against Arkansas. We really need to step up these last three weeks — physically, emotionally and mentally.?
