Humes Keeps Rolling, Reed Swings Big as UK Sweeps Miss. St.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 15 Kentucky softball team won its sixth-straight game inside of Southeastern Conference play, and 11th overall as the Wildcats swept the Mississippi State Bulldogs with a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon at John Cropp Stadium.
With Sunday’s result, UK moves to 20-7 overall and for the first time in program history is 6-0 in SEC play. Kentucky bookended the game with two runs in its first at bat of the game and two in its last. In the circle, Autumn Humes was again spectacular, only allowing one run on two hits to the Bulldogs, as she picked up her second win of the series in the circle.
Reed caps off a terrific weekend against the Bulldogs, as she went 2-for-2 with a program-record tying six RBI against MSU on Friday night with a pair of home runs and then capped it on Sunday with a huge two-run double to the opposite field to make a 2-0 lead 4-0 and put the game on ice.
Abbey Cheek was stellar in the game for UK, going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI, as her hit scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. The senior slugger is now hitting a team-high .471 on the season and has 28 RBI.
Key Stat
0. Autumn Humes pitched 12 innings this weekend against the Bulldogs and allowed zero walks all series. This weekend, Humes stifled the Bulldog offense, striking out nine batters and only allowing one run and six hits.
Kentucky also committed zero errors in the game, and had zero errors all series long. UK has played six SEC games this year and has only committed one error.
Key Play
Katie Reed’s two-run double to the opposite field in the bottom of the sixth inning was the key play in the game, increasing UK’s lead from 2-0 to 4-0, giving Humes breathing room for the seventh inning.
Key Player
The key player in Sunday’s series finale was Alex Martens, who’s RBI single to right won the game for Kentucky in the bottom of the first inning. Martens went 1-for-2 on the day at the plate.
Run Recap
Kayla Kowalik drew a walk in the first, and came around to score on an Abbey Cheek double to the wall. Cheek then followed and scored on the next at bat as Martens hammered a single up the middle. UK 2, MSU 0
Katie Reed took center stage in the bottom of the sixth inning, as she hit with two on and two outs and went opposite field for a two-run double, scoring pinch runners Kennedy Cowden and Tatum Spangler. UK 4, MSU 2
Mississippi State scored its only run of the game on a solo HR in the top of the seventh. It broke Humes’ streak of 19.2 consecutive-scoreless innings thrown in the circle, but did not prevent Humes from retiring the next three in order to close out the game. FINAL – Kentucky 4, Mississippi State 1
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