Feb. 24, 2012
Box Score | Game One Recap: UK 8, UNF 3
STATESBORO, Ga.– Led by a two-RBI day by senior Brittany Cervantes and a perfect 3-for-3 outing by junior Kara Dill the Kentucky softball team notched a 2-1 victory over Jacksonville State on Friday afternoon. Senior Chanda Bell earned the victory in the circle to tie Keary Camunas for the most wins in school history at 54.
Kentucky pushes its record to 6-5 on the season and Jacksonville State falls to 1-6.
Kentucky struck first with a run in the home half of the first. Dill notched a hit for the eighth straight game with a single into left field. She’d move to second on an erroneous throw by the Gamecocks’ left fielder and then she’d move to third on a wild pitch. Cervantes then drilled a double into the left-center gap to plate the game’s first score and lift UK to a 1-0 lead.
Bell and the Wildcat defense looked terrific in the opening three frames. Bell allowed just two base runners by way of walk and a third reached on a UK error. Otherwise, the right-hander and her defensive unit dispelled all of the Jacksonville offense.
Dill began the bottom of the third by roping a triple into the left-center gap. Cervantes would pick up her second RBI of the game with a brilliantly-executed sacrifice bunt to bring in Dill for a 2-0 Wildcat advantage.
The Gamecocks registered their first hit of the game with a single along the left field line in the top of the fourth, but Bell ended the threat by getting consecutive outs to end the frame with the runner still stranded on first.
Despite giving up a leadoff single, Bell and the Wildcat defense continued to preserve the shutout. The righty notched a pair of strikeouts and picked up her third out by way of a sacrifice bunt.
UK had another prime scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth as Dill logged her third hit of the game. This time the left-handed batter dipped a ball over the right-fielder’s head for a double. Freshman Griffin Joiner then picked up a walk to place two runners aboard, but UK could not muster any more offense.
Jacksonville State smacked a solo homer in the top of the sixth to bring the score to 2-1 in favor of the Wildcats.
The Gamecocks threatened again in the top of the seventh with a one-out double. The runner advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Bell preserved the victory with a fly-out to junior Alice O’Brien in right for the game’s final out.
The Wildcats will play two games on Saturday in their final action of the Georgia Southern Invitational. UK takes on Radford at 11:30 a.m. ET and Georgia Southern at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Follow along with the UK softball program all season long at UKathletics.com.
