March 23, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky softball team kicks off a stint of playing seven games in five days when they host Kent State for a doubleheader Tuesday at the UK Softball Complex. UK returns home for just the second time this season and will look to preserve its unbeaten home streak.
First pitch Tuesday is slated for 3 p.m. with the second game to follow approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Kentucky (18-8) will play Kent State (7-11) Tuesday before heading to Bowling Green, Ky., for a doubleheader against Western Kentucky Thursday during this grueling stretch. The Blue and White will wrap up play in Athens, Ga., for a three-game SEC series against top-10 ranked Georgia.
The Wildcats went 3-2 last week, defeating Miami (OH) in a mid-week set and then tallying a 1-2 series record against Arkansas. Junior Molly Johnson led UK at the plate in their 3-2 week with a blistering .529 average and a slugging percentage of 1.118. She paced UK with nine hits and a team-best nine runs. Additionally, her four hits in the third game against Arkansas matched a career-high for a game. This week she moved into the career record books in several categories: hits (ninth–151), RBI (eighth–93), home runs (fourth–17), total bases (eighth–248), stolen bases (fourth–39) and assists (seventh–278).
Freshman Brittany Cervantes had an impressive week at the plate with a .467 average, second best on the squad. The first-year player led the team with six RBI in the five games. She also had three doubles and two home runs for the week. She matched career single-game highs with runs scored (2) and RBI (3).
Kent State comes into tomorrow’s game with the Wildcats having won their last contest against Charleston Southern on March 15. Leah Archual leads the Eagles at the plate with a .271 average and four doubles on the season. Kylie Reynolds has seen the bulk of the action in the circle pitching over 80 innings and corralling a 6-7 record on the season.
Live stats are available at UK’s Official Homepage. Additionally, a complete recap of the game will be available at UKathletics.com.
