Rachael Metzger had the game-winning, pinch-hit single on Friday. (David Wegiel, UK Athletics)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Come postseason, experience was supposed to serve Kentucky well.With numerous returners from last year’s Women’s College World Series team back, the veterans were the ones who would lead the way.To start with, that’s exactly how things played out.It was junior Sylver Samuel getting on in front of senior Griffin Joiner, who laced a double to plate the game’s first run. It was junior Kelsey Nunley shutting out Northwestern through four innings. It was junior Nikki Sagermann slamming a two-run home run to tie the game in the fifth inning. But that familiar script got flipped in the sixth.”I think what it says is you never know what’s going to happen in the postseason,” head coach Rachel Lawson said. “The postseason is the time for–you gotta be risky, you gotta do whatever and it’s really about who shines in the moment.”In the end, two underclassmen – sophomore Meagan Prince and true freshman Rachael Metzger – shined brightest and led UK to a 5-4 win to move into the winners’ bracket of the South Bend Regional.Prince came on in relief of Nunley, who gave up four runs and a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. She tossed two scoreless innings and picked up the win in her first career NCAA Tournament appearance.”I couldn’t say enough about Meagan coming in and shutting the door,” Lawson said. “Northwestern was doing a great job, they were hitting the ball hard and for her to calm down their bats a little bit was big for the win today.”Also big was Metzger, who came off the bench and delivered the game-winning pinch-hit single.The hit – which came on the first pitch of the at-bat – made Metzger the exception on Friday afternoon. The first time through the order, her teammates didn’t manage a single hit against Kristen Wood. “We had never seen her before,” Lawson said. “She’s a really good pitcher and she had a little bit different spin than we were used to. It didn’t break as much side to side as we thought that we had seen on video. So it had a lot more downward movement than we were anticipating and once we figured that out we were able to recognize the pitches sooner and be able to square up on them.”Metzger didn’t need that time.”I had been watching previous at-bats from other batters and had watched a lot of pitches – first-strike pitches – and kind of knew she was most likely going to throw something close in my house,” Metzger said. “I just kind of saw the ball and hit the ball.”Metzger promptly laced a ball down the left-field line to score Maisie Steed and stake UK to a 5-4 lead. Prince took it from there.Even though Northwestern loaded the bases thanks to an error, a walk and a fielder’s choice, Prince closed the door with a game-ending strikeout.”Pretty stressful situation, but I trusted my teammates behind me,” Prince said. “I knew when it came down to it they would have my back. So long as I just didn’t give up a bomb, they would have my back.”Thanks to Prince and her teammates having her back, UK will play the early game Saturday needing just one win to reach the Regional final. The Cats will face Ball State at noon.

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