The Kentucky softball team will take a quick break from Southeastern Conference competition when it hosts Marshall for a single game on Wednesday, Mar. 21, at the UK Softball Complex. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
This marks the eighth meeting between UK and the Thundering Herd. The Wildcats hold a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series after sweeping a doubleheader in Lexington in their last meeting which came back on Mar. 23, 2005.
Marshall is 16-11 on the year and will play a twinbill at Chattanooga on Tuesday before making the trip north to take on Kentucky. The Herd has won six of its last ten games and swept a doubleheader from Louisville earlier this month.
Joscelyn Bitner leads the team with a .469 average and 26 runs scored. She also leads the team with 22 stolen bases in 27 attempts this season. Rachel Folden is also hitting above the .400 mark with a .468 average and a team-high seven home runs and 28 RBI. Abigail Harter leads the MU pitching staff with an 8-6 record and a team-best 3.49 ERA. She has recorded 62 strikeouts in 86.1 innings of work.
The Wildcats dropped two out of three at No. 18 Georgia last weekend to move to 14-10 on the year and 2-6 in SEC play. UK continues its hot hitting, led by seniors Brooke Marnitz and Katie Campbell. Marnitz leads the team with a .417 average, 10 homers and 34 RBI. Campbell is second on the team with a .412 average and has a team-high nine doubles to go along with seven home runs and 22 RBI.
The Wildcat newcomers have also been steady all season as Natalie Smith and Molly Johnson are batting .386 and .373, respectively. Junior transfer Becky Bishop is third on the team with six home runs and is hitting .347 in 23 games this year. Junior Audrey Meyer is batting .292 with 18 runs scored, four stolen bases and nine RBI, while rookie Destinee Mordecai has 10 RBI, two triples and has scored 18 runs for the Wildcats.
?Marshall is having a great year,? said head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?They are strong offensively, always have been. We are looking forward to another tough game out of conference.?
