Abbey Cheek’s Walk-Off Homer Lifts No. 20 Kentucky Past EKU

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Abbey Cheek belted a walk-off three-run home run over the top of the John Cropp Stadium scoreboard on Tuesday night in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Kentucky a 10-0 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
 
Sophomore pitcher Autumn Humes went the distance in the circle to lock down her sixth win of the season, and third complete-game shutout. Humes also went yard on offense, hitting her first-career Division I home run over the fence in straight-away center in the bottom of the third inning.
 
With the win, Kentucky improves to 21-11 overall on the season, while EKU falls to 20-12.
 
Kentucky will host the “Battle of the Bluegrass” on Wednesday night at John Cropp Stadium against the Louisville Cardinals. First pitch is 7 p.m. ET and the game will be shown live on the SEC Network, ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Matt Schick and Jennie Ritter on the call from Lexington.
 
Tickets are available at UKathletics.com, and there will be a live camel in attendance to celebrate Hump Day.
 
Key Stat
Six. The Wildcats scored six runs on six hits in the bottom of the first inning to seize control of the game early.
 
Key Play
The key play in the game was Abbey Cheek’s walk-off home run over the top of the scoreboard at JCS to score Katie Reed and Bailey Vick to end the game.
 
Key Player
Autumn Humes was the key player, going the distance in the circle while also hitting her first-career home run, scoring her first run, and tallying her first-career RBI. Humes pitched 6.0 innings, allowing just two hits, no runners to reach third and striking out six.
 
Run Recap
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Jenny Schaper walked to force in a run. Alex Martens then singled to second base on a hotshot and that plated two runs. Erin Rethlake then singled to plate a fourth run before the lineup turned over for Katie Reed, who pulled a single into left with two outs to plate a pair of runs. UK 6, EKU 0
 
The seventh UK run was scored by Autumn Humes on her home run. UK 7, EKU 0
 
After an EKU error and a walk to Bailey Vick, Abbey Cheek hit a walk-off home run to left to end the game. FINAL – #20 Kentucky 10, Eastern Kentucky 0 (6 innings)
 
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.