April 13, 2011
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Junior Rachel Riley paced the No. 18 Kentucky softball team to a 10-4 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader over Marshall on Wednesday evening. Riley became the fourth different UK player in the 2011 campaign to hit two homers in a single game while also earning a victory in the circle.
Riley improves to 9-4 on the year in the circle in leading UK to a 29-10 overall record. Marshall falls to 15-24 on the season with the loss.
Junior Brittany Cervantes added some offensive firepower to UK’s game with a 3-for-4 day which included a three-run round tripper in the seventh inning to push her season total to 13. Cervantes also scored three times in the game.
For the second consecutive game the Blue and White plated runs in the opening frame behind five hits in the stanza. Senior Meagan Aull got things going with a single through the left side and senior Megan Yocke followed with a single back to the shortstop. Aull attempting to stretch the play was caught along the base paths.
Sophomore Kara Dill then registered a hit with a bunt-single through the left side and Cervantes sent a dribbler along the right-field line to plate Yocke for the game’s first score. Dill would round home on a throwing error by Marshall’s catcher as Cervantes converted a steal at second. Riley then lofted her career-best fourth home run of the season to plate the final two scores of the inning to give UK an early 4-0 edge.
Marshall plated two scores in the home half of the second to make the score 4-2. The Herd benefited from a pair of UK errors in the stanza.
UK tacked on another run in the top of the third to reclaim a three-run edge by a 5-2 score. Cervantes recorded a one-out single through the left side and would swipe second to shift into scoring position. Senior Samantha DeMartine’s double off the left field wall plated Cervantes for the tally.
The Thundering Herd tallied a run in the bottom of the third to make the score 5-3. Marshall struck for a two-out RBI double to bring in the score.
Riley began the scoring in the sixth for Kentucky with her second round tripper of the game to lead off the stanza. UK’s winning pitcher lofted the ball over the right-center wall. Freshman Emily Jolly and junior Macy Allen posted consecutive two-out singles to keep the inning alive. Jolly would come home to score on a misplay by the Herd’s second baseman during a routine chopper for a 7-3 lead in favor of the visitor’s.
Behind a three-run jack off the bat of Cervantes, UK stretched its lead to 10-3 with three runs in the seventh. Yocke reached on a leadoff walk and Dill scooted to first thanks to a fielding error by the second baseman. Cervantes’ no-doubter over the right-center wall made the final score.
Marshall plated a score in the bottom of the seventh to make the final 10-4 margin. The home squad notched two hits in the inning to bring home the tally.
Kentucky returns to action with a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 16. UK will welcome Tennessee Tech for a two-game affair beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Complete coverage of the UK softball team can be found at UKathletics.com all season long.
