The University of Kentucky softball team will host Louisville in their final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play begins this weekend. UK and UofL will face off in a single game at the UK Softball Complex on Wednesday, Mar. 7, at 5:30 p.m.
This is the 18th all-time meeting between the Cats and Cardinals who split the season series a year ago. The Wildcats lead 11-6 in the series and have won three of the last five matchups.
UofL is now 6-7 overall and has won two straight with wins over Bradley and Akron last Friday in Louisville. The Cards are led offensively by Audrey Rendon who is batting .326 on the year. Brittany York leads the team with seven RBI, three doubles and is batting .270 on the season. Catherine Bishop leads the pitching staff with 12 appearances and a 2.20 ERA in 47.2 innings of work. She and Kassie Stanfill each have three wins this season for the Cardinals.
The Wildcats have been an offensive juggernaut through their first 15 games. They are 11-4 which is the best start in school history and are outscoring their opponents 125-67. As a team, the Cats are hitting .378 and have belted 22 homeruns already this season. UK has reached double-figures in runs and hits in each of its last four games and is averaging 8.3 runs per game.
Senior catcher Katie Campbell leads the team with a .523 average and a team-high 18 doubles to go along with 17 RBI and five homeruns. Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Molly Johnson follows with a .511 average, six doubles, four homeruns and 18 RBI. Senior Brooke Marnitz leads the team with 32 RBI and eight homeruns, while junior transfers Becky Bishop and Audrey Meyer are batting .346 and .333, respectively. Starting second baseman Natalie Smith is hitting .440 over her first 15 collegiate games with a team-best three triples, while freshman Destinee Mordecai is also hitting above .300 mark with a .324 average, 15 runs scored, two triples and nine RBI on the young season.
?What a great out of conference series. Louisville, by far, is the benchmark program in this state and we are doing our best to catch-up,? said third-year head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?Year in and year out, they are in the finals of their conference and off to Regionals. They are solid in every facet of the game, so we are definitely going to have to play a clean game defensively while continuing our offensive production.?
