The University of Kentucky softball team extended its season by an inning on junior Brooke Marnitz? game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh, but fell to Mississippi State defeated the Cats 3-2 in eight innings. The Wildcats went 0-4 in extra inning contests and end the 2006 season 21-36 overall with a 4-26 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs finish their regular season with a 33-28 overall record, going 7-22 in the SEC.
The Wildcats scored their first run of the day in the bottom of the third. Senior Lori Melchi singled through the left side to lead off the inning and went to second as fellow senior beat out an infield single to short. Melchi came around to score when Katie Campbell singled up the middle for her team-high 42nd RBI of the season. MSU went to the bullpen as Ragan Blake relieved starter Stephanie Comeaux and got a ground ball to end the inning.
Senior Amy Kendall got the start for the Wildcats and had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings. The Bulldogs tied the game at a run apiece after a one-out walk and an RBI double by Katie Cooley in the fourth.
MSU took a 2-1 lead on a solo home run by Michelle Kinney to lead off the top of the fifth. Kendall retired the side in order after the homer and stranded five MSU runners in the game.
The Wildcats were three outs away from the end of their season when Marnitz belted her team-high sixth home run of the year, a blast over the wall in left off Blake. MSU went to the pen again and brought in Kelli Miller who tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning.
MSU?s Lindsay Hunley led off the eighth with a single to left center and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. She went to third on a ground ball out and scored on a wild pitch by Jessica Trueblood who relieved Kendall after the leadoff single.
In the home half of the eighth, only one runner reached base as Cooper was hit by a pitch for a team-high 16th time this season. She would be stranded at first base when Campbell struck out swinging to end the game and the Wildcats? season.
The Bulldog bullpen of Blake and Miller shut down the Wildcat lineup. UK had four hits through the first three innings, but didn?t have another until Marnitz? solo shot to left field in the seventh. It was the first Kentucky homer since Ashley Fertic?s longball against Arkansas on Apr. 14.
Marnitz finished the day 2-for-2 with a homer, a double, an RBI and a run scored. Melchi was 1-for-4 with a run scored, while Cooper was 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch.
Kendall pitched well, but took the loss for the Cats to end the season with a record of 8-14. She allowed three earned runs on five hits and struck out three in 7.0 innings of work. Trueblood tossed an inning of no-hit relief but saw the winning run score on one wild pitch.
Miller (2-0) was the game winner after striking out two in two innings of no-hit softball.
Seniors Cooper, Kendall, Megan Glenn and Melchi each played their final game for UK on Sunday. Cooper and Glenn were two of just four Wildcats to start every game this season
?It was a long year. We had a good start, but we just didn?t sustain the intensity level that we needed,? said second-year head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?I look forward to building for next year on the positives of this year.?
