No. 11 Kentucky Travels To No. 4 Alabama For SEC Showdown
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 11 Kentucky
softball team will make the 500-mile trip south to the Rhoades House over the
weekend for a three-game series with the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide as both
teams will be looking to stay in the hunt for a Southeastern Conference
championship with action kicking off on Friday night extending through Sunday
afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The series commences on Friday night at 7:30
p.m. ET with that game shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN
app. Saturday’s game will start at 6 p.m. ET and televised by the SEC Network
with Jenn Hildreth and Kayla Braud on the call. Sunday’s series closer will
start at 2:30 p.m. ET.
UK is sitting at No. 11 in Monday’s release of
the NCAA RPI and currently hoists a 38-9 overall record, including a perfect 4-0
mark against in-state opponents in 2016. The Wildcats beat the Hilltoppers of
WKU 5-0 on Wednesday night thanks to a five-run fourth inning and junior
pitcher Meagan Prince’s fifth complete-game shutout of the season, hurling a
one-hitter.
Alabama comes into the weekend as the No. 4
ranked team in the country in both major polls, sitting three games behind
Kentucky of the win column in the Southeastern Conference standings board
through six weekends of conference action. The Tideare the only team this
season to have taken a series from the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators, winning two
of three in Gainesville two weeks ago.
Kentucky is led in hitting by speedy slapper
Sylver Samuel, who will enter weekend 11 of play in at .362 on the year in
batting average. Samuel has scored 20 runs on 46 hits this season with a double
and six RBI. The hottest bat being swung by the Wildcats right now is freshman
Abbey Cheek, who has four home runs in her last five games, including three off
the John Cropp Stadium videoboard in left field. Three of the four homers she
hit last week were game-winning long balls, including the series-clinching
homer in the bottom of the sixth inning on Sunday against No. 18 Missouri’s
ace, Paige Lowary.
Senior pitcher Kelsey Nunley continues to be
sensational in the circle, entering the weekend with a 17-4 overall record on
the season, and a 1.14 ERA to lead the deep and dynamic Kentucky pitching
staff. Nunley is the NCAA leader for all active pitchers in career innings
thrown, with over 870 in her four years in the Blue and White.
The Tide are led in the circle by the duo of
Alexis Osorio and Sydney Littlejohn, who have thrown the most innings this
season for Alabama, and both have ERAs under 2.50. Littlejohn leads the charge
with a 2.02 ERA and an 18-3 record in the circle, with the sophomore Osorio
posting a 12-5 record on the season and a 2.72 ERA.
Game Schedule
Friday, April 22
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 4 Alabama – 7:30
p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
Saturday, April 23
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 4 Alabama –
6 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Sunday, April 24
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 4 Alabama –
2:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network+)
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.