Rethlake Pitches Well, Martens Slugs No. 18 Kentucky Past WKU

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Senior Pitcher Erin Rethlake threw a complete game on the road Wednesday night, only allowing one run to pick up her eighth win of the season as No. 18 Kentucky beat Western Kentucky 7-1 in front of a huge crowd at the WKU Softball Complex.
 
With the win, Kentucky has now won two games in a row and picks up its 27th win of the season to improve to 27-13 on the year.
 
UK returns to action on Friday night against No. 6 Georgia at 6 p.m. ET for the first of a three-game Southeastern Conference series at John Cropp Stadium. The game will be shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Dave Baker (pxp) and three-time national champion Jenny Dalton-Hill.
 
Kentucky scored a run in the first inning on an Alex Martens double to the wall in CF and didn’t look back. The Wildcats also took advantage of a season-high seven errors by WKU in the game, which allowed five of the other six runs to cross.
 
Key Stat
Two. Alex Martens broke open the seal of the game in the top of the first with the first of her two hits, roping a double off the wall in CF. She then singled to begin the fifth to go two-for-three at the plate.
 
Key Play
Bailey Vick’s RBI single in the top of the second inning to put the Wildcats up by a pair of runs, and plating the winning run was the key play in the game.
 
Key Player
Erin Rethlake was the key player of the game, going the distance in picking up her eighth win of the season. She allowed eight hits, one run, no walks and eight strikeouts.
 
Run Recap
Katie Reed led off the game with a bunt single and came around to score on an RBI double to the wall by Alex Martens. UK 1, WKU 0
 
In the second, Jenny Schaper led off the inning with a double, and came around to score on Erin Rethlake’s single coupled with a pair of WKU errors. Rethlake then came around to score on an RBI single from Bailey Vick. UK 3, WKU 0
 
In the sixth inning, UK scored four runs. Kelsee Henson led off the inning with a double to right and then came around to score on a bizzare play with Lauren Johnson to bat. With Henson on third and Reed on first, there was a ball hit to the hole, and the fielder elected to try and get an out at second, which was unsuccessful. The shortstop then overthrew the catcher trying to catch Henson scoring, and that went to the backstop allowing Henson and Reed to score. The catcher then threw the ball into CF on an overthrow, allowing Lauren Johnson to come all the way around to score on the same play.
 
WKU scored in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of hits. FINAL – #18 Kentucky 7, Western Kentucky 1
 
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.