Hinz’s RBI Single Drives in Winning Run in Wild Bluegrass Battle
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 11 Kentucky
softball team scored two runs in the top of the seventh, just minutes after the
conclusion of a 54-minute lightning delay to come from behind to give the
Wildcats a 2-1 win over the Louisville Cardinals in the annual “Battle of the
Bluegrass” at Ulmer Stadium on Wednesday night.
Kentucky was seeing the ball well all night,
registering eight hits in the first six innings, but was unable to get a key
hit with runners in scoring position, as the Wildcats left four runners in
scoring position through the first six innings.
Kelsey Nunley did what she does best all night
long, throwing a complete game winner – holding the potent Louisville offense
to just one run on four hits all night. The Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native threw
153 pitches on the night, striking out seven batters and allowing just three
walks in the game. With Wednesday night’s win, Nunley now hoists a 19-5 overall
record.
UK with the result on Wednesday gets to 40
wins in a single season for the fourth time in school history, and this team
becomes the second-fastest team ever to reach the 40-wins plateau (2014 team).
UK sits at 40-11 overall and remains 14-7 in Southeastern Conference play.
Louisville falls to 32-11 on the year and remains 13-5 in Atlantic Coast
Conference action.
Louisville led the game 1-0 going into the
bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI slap triple to the wall in rightcenter
field by left fielder Jordan McNary to score Brittany Sims. The Cards then took
a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning and got a walk, followed by a
double to put runners on second and third with no outs.
After a Jenna Jordan groundout to first with
no advancement, lightning was spotted in the area seven miles away and the game
entered a lightning delay at 7:45 p.m. ET local time. The grounds crew then
pulled the tarp, and after a 54-minute delay, the game resumed with Nunley
getting a lineout to second and a groundout to third to end the inning.
Kentucky then stepped to the plate in the
seventh, and scored the game-tying and game-winning runs with two outs before
Nunley closed out the game in three-up, three-down fashion to close the game.
Kentucky will now take the weekend off and
enjoy its Southeastern Conference bye week before returning to action on
Friday, May 7 in the first game of a three-game set with the Mississippi State
Bulldogs. Saturday’s game with MSU will be Senior Day, and fans should be
advised that the start time of that game has been moved up to a Noon ET start
to accommodate the SEC Network+. Friday’s game will start at 6 p.m. ET with
Sunday’s series finale set to begin at 1 p.m. ET.
Key Stat
Thirty one. Kentucky’s pitching has allowed
one or zero runs in 31 of its 51 games this season with Wednesday’s 2-1 win.
Key Play
In the top of the seventh inning with the game
tied at 1-1, Brooklin Hinz stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and
two outs and then laced the game-winning RBI up the box into CF to score Abbey
Cheek from third and win the game for the Cats.
Key Player
Freshman Katie Reed was the key player in
Wednesday night’s win, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two singles and a
double, before scoring the game-tying run in the seventh.
Run Recap
Brittany Sims of Louisville got aboard in the
bottom of the second inning on a one-out walk issued by Kelsey Nunley, one of just
three issued by the senior all night. Left fielder Jordan McNary then slapped a
ball to the wall over the heads of the drawn-in infielder to score Sims and
score the first run of the game. UL 1, UK 0
In the seventh inning, after a Maisie Steed
groundout to open the inning, Katie Reed singled for the third time in the game
to open the UK last-ditch rally. Sylver Samuel fouled out to the left side for
the second out, and UK was down to its final out in the form of Nikki
Sagermann. Sagermann reached on an error to the second basemen, and Reed
stopped at second to put runners at first and second with two outs.
Abbey Cheek then laced a ball to the
shortstop/second base hole and the throw to first was not in time, and an error
allowed Reed to score from second. With runners on the corners, sophomore
Brooklin Hinz laced the game-winning RBI single up the middle to score
Sagermann – the game-winning run – from third. FINAL – No. 11 Kentucky 2,
Louisville 1
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
