May 6, 2010
Cat Scratches: Program-changer Johnson has blazed new trails for UK softball |
Game Notes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky will travel to Ole Miss for the final three-game series of the regular season Saturday and Sunday. UK and the Rebels will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday and a final outing on Sunday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. ET both days.
UK (29-23, 11-14) has clinched a spot in the Southeastern Conference tournament for the second consecutive season. The Blue and White are playing for seeding and can finish as high as No. 6 in the conference. Ole Miss (26-25, 7-17) currently sits in ninth place and is just out of the SEC tournament; however the Rebels are still very much in contention for one of the final two spots in the tournament taking place in Fayetteville, Ark., next week.
Kentucky head coach Rachel Lawson has already achieved a number of milestones as the skipper of the Blue and White. Lawson led the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament a season ago, the first national ranking in school history and the school’s first post-season victory. With 29 victories this season, Lawson has added to her impressive run as the coach of Kentucky. UK is guaranteed its second consecutive winning season for just the first time in school history after charting a 34-23 record a season ago.
The Rebels are led by senior Lauren Grill who is batting .445 on the season and has charted a team-best seven home runs on the year. The Rebels use a three-person rotation in the circle with the trio all owning ERA’s above 3.00. Brittany Barnhill has struck out a squad-best 129 batters on the season and is 9-9 on the year.
Ole Miss leads the overall series with the Wildcats by a 25-12 margin, but Kentucky has claimed the series in each of the last three seasons. UK captured the series with the Rebels a season-ago in Lexington by winning the rubber match to take the series.
Molly Johnson’s grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning ignited the Kentucky softball team to a seven-run inning propelling them to a series win over Ole Miss for the third consecutive season, with a 7-5 win in 2009.
Kentucky got a spark out of the shortstop with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fourth after scoreless innings by both teams through the first three and a half frames.
Megan Yocke had a tremendous weekend with an astounding .833 batting average, four RBI and two doubles. Her two doubles in Saturday’s second game saved the series for the Wildcats setting the stage for the rubber match.
The fourth inning included two errors by the Rebels and Ole Miss’ pitcher Becky Nye plucked three UK batters with a pitch in the stanza.
Samantha DeMartine was the first batter to get plucked to put the lead-off batter on base. Annie Rowlands then attempted to lay down a bunt in which Nye chose to try and get the pinch-runner Macy Allen at second, but the speedy Allen was safe on the play. Destinee Mordecai also attempted a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error by Ashley Dowdy loaded the bases for the Blue and White setting the stage for Johnson’s at bat and the first four runs of the inning.
Complete coverage of the Wildcat softball team can be found at UKathletics.com.
