Martens' Big Weekend Makes UK Super Again

Somebody forgot to tell Alex Martens this is the NCAA Tournament and she’s only a freshman.

After playing at a level well beyond her years all weekend, the second baseman saved her best for last and slugged Kentucky past Illinois and into the super regionals.

Martens had a home run and three runs batted in No. 14 UK’s 4-2 win over Illinois on Sunday to clinch a regional title.

“Never would have thought,” Martens said. “You work hard and you hope for it and you work your butt off to get here and you work your butt off for these opportunities. All you can do it put your best foot forward and go for it. Softball’s a game of opportunity. I was handed my opportunity and I took it.”

Her biggest opportunity and her biggest blow came in the first inning off Illinois ace Breanna Wonderly, who started her fourth straight game of the weekend. Coming up after UK had plated a run on a Brooklin Hinz triple, Martens stepped in and ripped a two-run home run over the fence in center field to give the Cats a 3-0 lead.

Martens would later add a sacrifice fly in the third inning for UK’s fourth run before she was finally retired on a hard-hit ground ball to second in the fifth. All told, Martens had five hits in seven at-bats this weekend with five RBI and two runs scored.

“You never anticipate it, but you hope for a good success,” Martens said. “At practice and everything leading up to it, you feel good. I felt good all week hitting.”

Her head coach, meanwhile, wasn’t surprised in the least to see the freshman star in her NCAA Tournament debut.

“Alex is a winner,” Rachel Lawson said on Saturday. “She was recruited as a winner. I’m not surprised that she’s getting hits right now in the postseason. She is a competitor. That’s why she was picked, to be honest with you. She knows how to focus and she is wise beyond her years. She’s not a typical freshman. She knows how to drown out all of the noise and just focus on the task at hand.”

As further evidence of that, Lawson shared the story of Martens’ commitment to Kentucky. Lawson remembers clearly when Martens visited UK as a recruit. At the end of the visit, Lawson offered Martens a scholarship.

“Without talking to her parents, she accepted it on the spot,” Lawson said. “So I knew that she was ready for the big-time.”

At Lawson’s urging, the commitment didn’t become official until Martens discussed it with her parents, but the message was sent all the same.

“It’s Kentucky,” Martens said. “I wanted to come here, obviously.”

The program Martens was so eager to join now will make its fifth super regional trip in seven seasons. The Wildcats will await the winner of a regional final between No. 3 Oregon and Wisconsin later on Sunday, but don’t expect them to spend the time wildly celebrating. 

“This is something we do,” Lawson said. “This is Kentucky softball. Super regionals is not something that is foreign to us. It’s not our first time and we are a team that wants to not only go to supers, but we want to be a team that gets national seeds, that goes to the World Series. For us this is awesome and it’s a great feeling, but it’s just a step to where we want to go.”

Lawson believes UK is well equipped for the next step of their journey, and it’s largely because of the pitching depth the Cats have developed. In three games this weekend, UK allowed just two runs – the fewest in a regional in school history – with Meagan Prince starting Friday and Saturday and closing Sunday, while Erin Rethlake pitched the final inning Friday and turned in 5.2 scoreless innings in her Sunday start.

“A few years ago when we first started going to supers, I really didn’t have a lot of options on the mound as much and didn’t know,” Lawson said. “We thought we’d have to trick people. And now we’re OK kind of just going out there and playing our game. I feel good. I think the team’s equipped.”