Steed’s Homer, Nunley’s Shutout Guides UK to Winthrop Invite Title
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior Maisie Steed
hit her first home run of the season to leftcenter field in the bottom of the fourth
inning to put Kentucky up eight runs on the Winthrop Eagles and fellow senior
Kelsey Nunley recorded her 16th-career shutout 8-0 on Sunday as
Kentucky closed the Winthrop Invitational as the 2016 champions.
Kentucky caps off the weekend with an 18-3
overall record on the season and will play one more non-conference game against
Indiana at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday night at John Cropp Stadium before
Southeastern Conference play begins next weekend in Columbia, S.C.
The Winthrop Invite is the second championship
hauled in by the Wildcats this season, as UK also took the crown of the Frost
Classic last weekend in Chattanooga with a perfect 5-0 record in the Volunteer
State including a road win at UTC, 6-2.
South Carolina native Christian Stokes shined
all weekend in her home state, adding to her quick start to the season, going
2-for-2 on Sunday afternoon with two doubles and two runs scored. On the
weekend as a whole, Stokes batted .500 with six hits, seven runs scored and
three home runs – as she now has a team-high four homers on the season.
Nunley added to her fantastic start to the
season collecting her seventh win of the season to move to 7-1 on the season
with her 16th-career shutout, and already third of the 2016 season.
Nunley recorded five strikeouts in five innings of work and only threw 66
pitches whilst facing 20 batters.
Key Stat
Eight. Sunday’s 8-0 win was the eighth
run-rule win for Kentucky this season. UK also run ruled New Mexico, South
Dakota, Texas Tech, Miami, Eastern Illinois, Albany and twice against Winthrop
this weekend.
Key Play
Center fielder Sylver Samuel kept Kelsey
Nunley’s shutout in order in the top of the first inning, as she robbed the
Eagles of a three-run home run going above the fence and bringing the ball back
into play to end the inning with two runners stranded on first and third.
Key Player
Christian Stokes was the key player in the
game, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and two runs scored in her home state.
Run Recap
After a lead-off walk by Abbey Cheek, she was sacrificed
over to third on a perfect bunt and great base running by Nikki Sagermann. A Kelsey
Nunley single up the middle scored the run and put UK up 1-0. UK 1, WIN 0
After a lead-off double by Stokes to begin the
bottom of the third, Maisie Steed advanced to third on an E4 and put runners at
second and third with no outs. Abbey Cheek then singled to score two, followed
by a Brooklin Hinz double to right to score Cheek. UK 5, WIN 0
A Jenny Schaper walk and Christian Stokes
double led off the bottom of the fourth for UK. Schaper was pinch ran for by
Hannah Huffman and they all three scored on Maisie Steed’s first home run of
the season. FINAL – No. 16 Kentucky 8, Winthrop 0
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
