Young Cats Clicking Heading into Super Regionals

EUGENE, Ore. – The circumstances of Kentucky’s trip to super regionals this weekend are unmistakably familiar.

Three years ago, the Wildcats traveled to the West Coast as the underdogs to take on a favored national power from the Pac-12 en route to the Women’s College World Series.

Change the opponent from UCLA and UK will be facing the same scenario at Oregon starting on Friday.

So, does that bring any feelings of déjà vu?

“It would for myself and the staff and our seniors, but nobody else has actually been in this format,” Rachel Lawson said. “And over 50 percent of our team hasn’t been in the supers yet, so I think they’re really excited to be on the road.”

To Lawson’s point, only three players on this year’s roster were on that 2014 Women’s College World Series team, none playing significant roles in the postseason. Only six were on UK’s last team to make super regionals in 2015, with the other 14 being freshmen or sophomores. 

That kind of inexperience might be enough to doom some teams, but UK is one of 16 teams still alive. Seeding No. 14 overall, the Cats are fresh off a weekend in which they swept through regionals to advance.

“We do have young players on the team, but as far as their ability to play and their mental ability on the field in order to focus on the game at hand I think they’re very mature in that sense,” senior pitcher Meagan Prince said. “They’re able to focus on the moment and not the surroundings or the event they’re in.”

The event this weekend will be a big one.

UK will be playing in a brand-new venue – Jane Sanders Stadium – and in front of a national-television audience – ESPNU on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The opponent is a softball powerhouse in Oregon (50-6) that has made the Women’s College World Series in two of the last three seasons and the super regionals six straight times.

“They’re ranked No. 3, so they’re way on up there,” Prince said. “They’re a good program. They have been a good program. They’ve made it to the Women’s College World Series multiple times, so they’ll be great competition for all of us. It’ll be great competition between pitchers and hitters and it’ll be great competition on defense.”

The Ducks are averaging 6.7 runs on offense and sport a microscopic staff earned-run average of 1.30. Oregon has won 13 straight games with seven coming in shutout fashion. Back in February, the Ducks scored four combined runs in the final two innings to overcome a 4-1 deficit in a 5-4 victory over Kentucky.

All that adds up to a tall task for the Cats, but one Lawson knows the youthful Cats are more than capable of handling.

“Quite honestly, this team for its youth is very mature,” Lawson said. “So you can speak to them more on an adult-type level instead of just commanding them.”

Lawson demands a lot of her teams, but that’s never been an issue this year. That’s because the individuals that make up the team expect so much of themselves.

“I think that the cool thing about this team is they’re very process-oriented,” Lawson said. “So for them, a lot of them just take in the information and then they try to excel. A lot of them really are your type-A type personalities and those are the ones that seem to be doing very well. They’re also the ones that are not very happy when they don’t do well. So whether we’re playing Oregon or we’re playing Illinois or UCLA or whoever, I think they for themselves expect the same outcome.”

Perhaps the best example is Alex Martens, who carried UK on offense in last weekend’s regional sweep. The freshman has had a solid season, batting .296 as the Cats’ everyday second baseman, but she found another gear in NCAA play. In three regional games, Martens had five hits in seven at-bats with a home run and five runs batted in.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Lawson said. “Alex is somebody who’s been one of my dark horses all year. I think she’s got the ‘it’ factor. She’s got a great mind and she knows how to process things and she knows how to be steady in the moment. So I wasn’t surprised, but it was pretty cool to see a freshman lead us offensively. I thought that was a great moment for her.”

Martens and UK had plenty of great moments last weekend, meaning they carry plenty of confidence into this weekend’s best-of-three series.

“One, I thought our offense, especially Alex, who’s a freshman, Martens, did an awesome, awesome job,” Lawson said. “I thought Brooklin (Hinz) looked good and steady and Katie Reed of course was exceptional. So I think offensively we had some good things going. On the mound we were great. Only gave up one earned run and that’s pretty exceptional in a regional. And then defensively, with the exception of one miscue, we weren’t only steady, but we were really good defensively. So I think we’re finding confidence. A lot of players are finding confidence in a lot of different things. I think (Erin) Rethlake and Prince looked great, so I think overall we’re rolling pretty well right now.”

The Cats know they have a challenge ahead of them if they want to reach the program’s second Women’s College World Series. They’re not shying away from it, and why should they?

“We played Oregon in the preseason out in California and we had a really close game with them,” Martens said. “So I think we’re going into very excited, very eager, very confident. Just ready to get out there and prove to the world that we can do it and we want to go to Oklahoma City.”