ELEXINGTON, Ky. ? Six fielding errors were costly as the University of Kentucky softball team fell in five innings to Arkansas on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon at the UK Softball Complex. Arkansas claimed the game 14-1.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage in the first inning. Senior Audrey Meyer led off the inning with a called base on balls. Freshman Megan Yocke advanced the runner to second on a sacrifice bunt that laid down the first base line. Sophomore Molly Johnson then tallied her 15th double of the season when she hit a high-fly ball that dropped in left-center and scored Meyer from second. That was the only offense UK could come up with as an error-filled game followed.
Arkansas took the lead in the top half of the third, scoring three runs on three hits and the first UK error. The Lady Backs added four runs in the fourth to take a commanding lead. Arkansas followed with three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to bring the score to its final margin, 14-1.
Freshman Annie Rowlands claimed the other hit on the afternoon for the Blue and White as she singled up the middle in the second, but was left on base as the inning ended on a groundout to the pitcher.
Kentucky falls to 15-27 overall and 3-16 in conference play. Arkansas improves to 32-18 and 5-12 in Southeastern Conference action.
Sophomore Jennifer Young takes the loss in the circle for the home squad, despite six of the 14 runs coming unearned on the afternoon. Young totaled two strikeouts in five innings. The right-hander has surpassed her career-high with 95.2 innings of work on the season and is just two strikeouts away from tying a career-high.
Johnson?s double puts her in a tie for seventh all-time in the UK record books with 26 career two-base hits.
The Wildcats will take to the road this week. Kentucky travels to Columbus, Ohio, for a non-conference doubleheader with top-25 ranked Ohio State Wednesday. UK will then travel to SEC-leading Florida and the top-five ranked Gators for a three-game series this weekend.
