March 11, 2014
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior pitcher Lauren Cumbess tossed seven strong innings to pick up her fifth win of the season, while the Wildcat offense provided Cumbess all the run support she needed with five runs in the opening frame, as No. 9/11 Kentucky took down Marshall 6-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Dot Hicks Field in Huntington, W.Va.
Cumbess was great for Kentucky (19-3) in the circle, going the distance to improve her record to 5-0 on the season. The native of Normal, Ill., allowed two earned runs in the game on six hits with seven strikeouts. The senior was efficient in the win, throwing only 85 pitches to move her earned run average to 2.11 on the year. Cumbess was also impressive at the dish, going 2-for-4 with her fifth double of the season and a run scored.
UK’s offense had a great day at the plate, scoring six runs on 11 hits, including a five-run first inning to break the game open. Junior catcher Griffin Joiner and senior outfielder Emily Jolly each had multiple-hit games with Joiner scoring a run and Jolly grabbing an RBI. Sophomore Nikki Sagermann went 1-for-3 with an RBI and her second double of the season, while senior Ginny Carroll had a hit and a run scored. Senior Emily Gaines had a two-RBI single in the game, while sophomores Christian Stokes and Darington Richardson each had singles.
Marshall (6-15) used three pitchers in the game, starting Lindsey Fadnek, who recorded one out before exiting the game after giving up four runs on three hits. Brittanie Fowler relieved Fadnek, recording the second out of the game allowing one run on two hits. Jordan Dixon tossed the final 6.1 innings of the game, allowing one run on six hits with three strikeouts.
Offensively, the Thundering Herd was paced by Morgan Zerkle, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Four other Marshall players had hits in the game with Shaelynn Braxton and Raquel Escareno each recording RBI hits.
The game continued an eight-game road trip for Kentucky, which will now turn its attention back to league action as it travels to highly ranked Missouri this weekend for a three-game series. The road swing ends next Tuesday as UK travels to Bloomington, Ind., for a non-conference game with the Hoosiers at 5 p.m. ET. The Wildcats will return from Indiana to start a 15-game home stand, beginning a stretch of 21 of its next 25 games at John Cropp Stadium.
Kentucky started the scoring in the first inning, getting five runs on five hits. The inning started with a leadoff single by Stokes, who was out at second on a bunt attempt by Carroll. After Ansley Smith was hit by a pitch, Joiner singled to right field to load the bases for Cumbess, who singled to left field to give UK a 1-0 lead. Sagermann picked up an RBI on a walk before Gaines singled up the middle to score two and give UK a 4-0 lead. Jolly gave UK its five-run lead with a RBI single to leftfield.
After Marshall scored two runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles from Braxton and Escareno, UK grabbed an insurance run in the seventh inning. Sagermann started the inning with a double off the wall in centerfield, moving to third on a groundout by Gaines. After a strikeout, Sagermann scored on a wild pitch putting UK up 6-2.
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Records
Kentucky 19-3
Marshall 6-15
Schedule/Results
Tuesday, March 10
Kentucky def. Marshall 6-2
