No. 12 Kentucky Hosts No. 25 Louisville in Battle of the Bluegrass
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky will host the first
of an annual two-game series with in-state rival Louisville on Wednesday night
at 5:30 p.m. ET inside John Cropp Stadium. The game will be shown live on the
SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with Dick Gabriel and Dorian Craft on
the call.
UK enters the midweek matchup with a 31-8
overall record, having lost three games over the weekend to the No. 3 Auburn
Tigers at home. Kentucky lost a nine-inning affair with AU in the series capper
on Sunday afternoon at John Cropp Stadium leaving the tying runs on base and
the go-ahead run at the plate. UK sits 8-4 in the SEC, tied with Auburn and
Alabama for second – only behind top-ranked Florida by one game.
The Louisville Cardinals under the direction
of longtime head coach Sandy Pearsall enter Wednesday’s contest with the
Wildcats at 24-8 overall, and 9-3 through four weekends of Atlantic Coast
Conference action. The Cards are coming off of a series defeat at the hands of
the North Carolina Tar Heels, where UL lost games two and three after taking
the series opener on Friday night in Chapel Hill.
UK has outscored its opponents 49-16 in the
first inning of games this season, and 33-1 in the second inning of games.
That’s a total of 80-19 in the first two innings of scoring in favor of
Kentucky this season. The Wildcats are 19-0 when they score in the first inning
this season and 26-1 when they score first.
The Wildcats scored a run in the first inning
in all three of its wins at South Carolina on SEC Opening Weekend and have
scored first in six of the 12 SEC games it has played, with the eventual game-winning run crossing the plate
in all five of those instances.
UL has not played an SEC opponent yet this
season, but has played six games against the Big 10 Conference, splitting games
with Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin in pre-conference tournament action.
Maryssa Becker leads Louisville’s offense,
hitting .430 on the season with 40 hits in her 93 plate appearances. Becker has
25 runs scored, 10 doubles, 10 home runs, 44 RBI and 23 base on balls. In the
circle, Becker is also the Cards leader, with a 2.05 ERA and 13-5 win-loss
record as the pitcher. She has appeared in 25 games, throwing 12 complete games
on 119.2 innings pitched. Meagan Hensley is the second Card pitcher, and she
currently sports a 2.40 ERA in 87.2 innings thrown with an 11-3 overall record
in 2016.
Gameday Information
John Cropp Stadium
Gameday Webpage
Parking
Free game day parking is available the upper
and lower paved parking lots adjacent to John Cropp Stadium. In the event
that those lots fill spectators will be directed to park in the grass lot near
College Way and Wildcat Court.
Tickets
Tickets for Softball are sold through the UK Ticket
Office. For information about hosting Birthday Parties at John Cropp
Stadium please contact (859) 257.1818. The Ticket Office and stadium gates will
open one hour prior to first pitch.
Seating
All seating in John Cropp Stadium is general
admission and is first-come, first served.
Facility Address
John Cropp Stadium
570 Wildcat Court
Lexington, KY 40506
WatchESPN
Fans can watch the game on WatchESPN here:
Louisville at Kentucky – http://es.pn/1UX7vo1
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
