No. 18 Kentucky Hosts No. 7/6 Georgia at John Cropp Stadium
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Riding a two-game winning streak, the Kentucky Wildcats will host the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend at John Cropp Stadium for a top-20 showdown in Lexington. UK is looking to pick up some more crucial wins for its NCAA Tournament resume, as well as stay above the cutline for the 2018 SEC Tournament in Missouri with the top 12 teams advancing to Columbia.
Game one of the series will be at 6 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app with Dave Baker and three-time national champion Jenny Dalton-Hill on the call. Games two and three on also on the SEC Network with Saturday’s contest slated for 2 p.m. ET and Sunday’s, 1 p.m. ET.
The Wildcats sailed past Western Kentucky on Wednesday night with a 7-1 win over the Hilltoppers thanks to timely hitting from Bailey Vick and Alex Martens coupled with a great outing from senior pitcher Erin Rethlake. With the win, UK is now 4-0 against teams from the state of Kentucky this season.
One of the best teams not only in the Southeastern Conference – but in all of college softball, the Georgia Bulldogs enter this weekend’s series ranked No. 7/6 in the national polls and sport a 38-6 overall record. Led by Lu Harris-Champer, the Bulldogs are one of the best hitting teams in the country, and by far the best in the SEC with a .351 team batting average. UGA has two players, Cortni Emanuel (.451) and Alysen Febrey (.415) hitting above .400 on the season. National player of the year candidate Alyssa DiCarlo is hitting .372 this season with 16 hone runs and a team-high 55 RBI.
In the circle, it’s a time of transition for the Dawgs, who are learning to cope with the loss of ace pitcher Brittany Grey in the circle. Grey announced last week she would miss the rest of the season with an injury, thus ending her career. Luckily for UGA, Mary Avant Wilson (5-1, 0.78 ERA) and Kylie Bass (12-2, 1.76 ERA) are ready to step into those roles and are more than capable of picking up where Grey left off.
Georgia leads the all-time series with Kentucky 54-13. Last season, UK picked up its first win of the season in the Rachel Lawson over the Bulldogs in Athens in a 2-1 win in game one of the series. The last time UGA made a visit to Lexington in 2015, UK was swept by the Dawgs and outscored 17-8 in the three games. The last time UK took a series from Georgia was the 2012 season in a 2-1 series win in Lexington.
PROMOTIONS:
Friday – Friday Floats
Saturday – Petting Zoo open when gates open, postgame autographs, UK Police Day
Sunday – Bark in the Park, Dogs get in free with donation to LHS, kids run the bases postgame, autographs
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
