Series Win over No. 4 A&M Proves Cats Are Peaking

It’s the goal of every coach to have a team playing its best when games matter most.

Rachel Lawson, it seems, will accomplish that goal this season.

“I feel like we’re climbing the mountain,” Meagan Prince said. “We’re peaking right at the right time and I just hope we keep that momentum going.”

Lawson’s Kentucky Wildcats stayed hot on Sunday by claiming the rubber match of their weekend series with Texas A&M and handing the Aggies their first series defeat of the season. No. 18 UK (34-14, 11-10 Southeastern Conference) downed the fourth-ranked Aggies (42-7, 15-5 SEC), 7-4.

“I think everyone’s really maximized their potential and everyone’s in the groove of hitting,” Breanne Ray said. “I think we still have room where we can get better. We did really good today, but there’s always things you can work on. It’s really good going into postseason with this feeling and everybody knows that we can do it.”

The Cats have now won nine of their last 11 games entering the final week of the regular season. Six of those victories have come over SEC opponents and three over teams ranked in the top five nationally.

“I definitely think this is the best we’ve played,” Lawson said. “If you would have told me a month and a half ago that we’d be sitting here not only competing against but winning the series against one of the top teams in the country, I would have said we kind of have a far way to go. That just shows you how hard the team has worked.”

UK jumped on the Aggies early in Sunday’s series finale. The Cats tallied three first-inning runs in sending nine batters to the plate, but two innings later A&M evened the score with a three-run Samantha Show home run. UK would answer with a run in the fifth on a run-scoring groundout by Brooklin Hinz.

Jenny Schaper then provided some sixth-inning insurance with a solo home run, her sixth of the season, and Ray later singled in two more runs. Ray reached base six times in nine plate appearances during her three-game Senior Weekend – which she shared with pitchers Prince and Shannon Smith – and knocked in five runs combined in UK’s two wins.

“I’m seeing the ball well this weekend,” Ray said. “My focus, I just have great focus in the box, seeing the ball well. I have good confidence and I think when you have a clear head everything falls into place for you.”

That would be more than enough for Prince, who for the second straight day pitched in relief to slam the door on a UK victory. All told, Prince tossed nine innings on Saturday and Sunday and allowed only one run.

It was a fitting way for the two seniors to close their careers at home.

“Anytime your seniors can go out on their home field regular season and have the performances that they do says a lot about the program,” Lawson said. “I’m glad that they were able to have that memory on the field with the fans, with their parents and everything. It was awesome.”

Senior Weekend is often a time for reflection. And with family and friends in town, there was certainly some of that. The Cats – ranked No. 17 in the last release of the RPI – have a few more home games down the road in mind though. They want to be one of 16 regional hosts in a few weeks.

“We’ve really hit our stride, so I think we’re going to go deep into postseason and I can honestly see us hosting regionals if we keep this up,” Ray said.

UK’s late-season surge has been gratifying for the Cats, particularly the seniors in the midst of their last go-round. Gratifying, but not satisfying.

“I can’t speak for the other two seniors, but for me personally I’m just looking ahead,” Prince said. “I’m not looking back at all right now. We have so much more that we can accomplish that we have been to accomplish in the past. … We want to get back to the Women’s College World Series.”