The Kentucky softball team dropped its Southeastern Conference opener today, Mar. 10, with a 10-1 loss to Auburn. The Tigers (13-12, 2-0 SEC) won game two of the doubleheader in extra innings, 9-4. UK falls to 12-6 on the year and 0-2 in SEC play with the sweep.
The Wildcats are now 4-7 all-time in SEC openers after falling to these same Tigers last season in Auburn.
The Tigers got on the board early in game one, scoring five runs on six singles in the top of the first. Two Wildcat throwing errors and two wild pitches aided the scoring for Auburn in the frame.
AU added three runs in the top of the second on a three-run homer by Tatiana Fernandez to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead. They made it a 9-0 score with a single run in the third when Ashley Arcuri reached on an error and eventually scored on an RBI single by Holly Currie.
The Wildcats got a run back in the bottom of the third when senior Brooke Marnitz hit a two-out home run to left field to erase the shutout. Marnitz extended her hitting streak to a career-high eight games with her SEC-leading ninth homer of the season. The home run also moved Marnitz into a tie for second on UK?s all-time career home run list with 19 career bombs.
The Tigers made it a 10-1 lead in the top of the fourth. Lindsey Harrelson hit a one-out double and came around to score on a single through the left side by Nicole Russo.
The Wildcats attempted to rally in the bottom of the fifth. Natalie Smith beat out an infield bunt and went to second when Marnitz drew a base on balls. They would be stranded there, however, as Thompson recorded her 13th strikeout of the game to erase Molly Johnson and got a fly ball off the bat of Katie Campbell to end the game after five innings.
Jolly took the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season after giving up five runs on six hits in her fifth start of the season. Thompson (7-6) got the win after allowing one run on two hits with 13 strikeouts in the complete game.
In the second game of the double dip, the Wildcats struck first. Junior Alli Eckman beat out an infield single and would score on Becky Bishop?s third home run of the season ? a shot over the wall in right field to put UK on top 2-0.
Kentucky added to its lead in the third when Audrey Meyer drew a base on balls to lead off the inning, went to second on Smith?s bunt single and advanced to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Marnitz. Meyer plated the Cats? third run of the day when Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field to give UK a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers got a run in the top of the fourth and then took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on back-to-back home runs, but the Wildcats would not back down. Ashley Fertic drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh off game-one starter Thompson. She went to third on a single to right by Bishop and both runners moved up on a throwing error by the AU right fielder to knot the score at four and send the game to extra innings.
The Tigers scored five runs on seven hits and one UK error in the top of the eighth to break open the tie and take a 9-4 edge.
Smith laid down her third bunt single of the day but was thrown out at second when Marnitz reached on a fielder?s choice. Marnitz went to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a passed ball, but she was stranded there when Johnson flew out to deep center to end the game.
Jolly took the loss to even her record at 2-2 after allowing five runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings of work. Amber Matousek got the start in the circle and pitched well, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out three batters through the first 4.0 innings of the game.
Thompson added to her strikeout total with seven Ks over the final four innings to get the win and move to 8-6 on the year.
Smith finished 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, while Bishop went 2-for-4 with a homerun and two RBI. Meyer was 2-for-4 at the dish with a run scored and Eckman added a hit and scored a run in the loss.
The SEC series wraps up on Sunday, Mar. 11, when the Wildcats and Tigers face off in a single game at 1 p.m. at the UK Softball Complex.
