No. 19/20 Kentucky Hosts John Cropp Classic in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After completing a whirlwind 17-game, four-stop, 22-day road trip to open the 2017 season, the No. 19/20 Kentucky softball team opens its home slate of games on Thursday night as the kick-off to the 2017 John Cropp Classic in Lexington. The Wildcats welcome in No. 15 Michigan, Drexel, Evansville, Dayton and Kent State for the tournament – in which the Wildcats will play six games in four days as part of the event.

All six of Kentucky’s games, beginning on Thursday, will be shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with Dave Baker or Dick Gabriel calling the play-by-play and former Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman or former Wildcat Ginny Carroll calling the action live from John Cropp Stadium. 

The Wildcats are coming off of a championship weekend for the second week in a row, as UK went a perfect 3-0 at the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Illinois, hosted by Southern Illinois University. UK got wins over Northern Illinois (2-0), hosts SIU (7-1) and Illinois-Chicago (6-2) on the weekend to add three more wins to the season-high eight-game win streak that the Wildcats are currently on. 

Abbey Cheek continued her tear of late, leading the Wildcats offense all weekend, as she hit .500 on the weekend with her first grand slam of the 2017 season and second of her career. She was 5-for-10 with a grand slam, four RBI’s, four stolen bases and four runs scored. 

The Wildcats as a team hit .349 in Carbondale, scoring 15 runs on 29 hits and stealing eight more bases – to continue the record pace in that category that UK is on.

Defensively – UK committed just one error on the weekend and the pitching was spectacular, only allowing three runs all weekend and picking up UK’s fourth shutout of the season. Meagan Prince was a workhorse in the circle, throwing 12.1 innings and allowing just three hits and one walk, while striking out 16 and earning two wins. The season ERA for UK sits at 1.68 overall, led by Erin Rethlake, who has a 0.86 ERA in her 24.1 innings of work this season. UK hosts Dayton on Thursday night to open play.

The tournament organizing committee is aware of expected weather that is entering the Lexington area. Fans should monitor UKathletics.com and @UKSoftball on Twitter for the most up-to-date information regarding game times and schedule updates. 

6 p.m. ET – Kentucky vs. Dayton

8 p.m. ET – Drexel vs. Dayton

10 a.m. ET – Evansville vs. Kentucky

Noon ET – Evansville vs. Dayton

2 p.m. ET – Kent State vs. Dayton

4 p.m. ET – Kent State vs. Drexel

6 p.m. ET – Kentucky vs. Drexel

10 a.m. ET – Michigan vs. Evansville

Noon ET – Michigan vs. Kentucky

2 p.m. ET – Evansville vs. Kent State

4 p.m. ET – Kentucky vs. Kent State

10 a.m. ET – Drexel vs. Evansville

Noon ET – Michigan vs. Kent State

2 p.m. ET – Michigan vs. Kentucky

For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.