LEXINGTON, Ky. – Two big innings at the plate and two solid pitching performances carried Kentucky to a 7-2 win over Toledo on Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Softball Lexington Regional held at John Cropp Stadium.
A two-run double by Abbey Cheek was the big blow of a four-run first inning and a two-run home run by Alex Martens highlighted a three-run fifth. In the circle, Autumn Humes and Meghan Schorman shut out the Rockets over the last six innings to advance the Wildcats.
However, it was the Rockets who blasted off in the first inning, getting five straight two-out singles – including RBI hits from Bekah Yenrick and Morgan Paaverud – in taking a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Cheek’s double knotted the count. She scored on a throwing error and Lauren Johnson’s sharp RBI single to left — the first of her three hits on the day – completed the four-run frame.
Katie Reed opened the fifth inning with a bunt single and after Cheek reached on a fielder’s choice, Martens followed with a clout to left field, her 12th homer of the year. Kayla Kowalik kept the inning going with a single and she eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Kelsee Henson.
After a difficult first inning, winning pitcher Humes settled in nicely. She went five innings, allowing two run on seven hits, striking out three with no walks. She has a 14-10 record on the season. Schorman finished the game with a pair of shutout innings.
Erin Hunt (17-12) went the distance for Toledo, allowing eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Offensively, eight Rockets had one hit each, all singles.
In the double-elimination event, Kentucky (34-22) will play Saturday at noon ET vs. Virginia Tech (46-9), the winner of Friday’s first game. Toledo (29-27) takes on Illinois (32-24), the loser of Friday’s first game, Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary
Top 1st inning (UT): With two outs, Katie Cozy singled to leftcenter, Kaitlyn Bergman singled to left and Bekah Yenrick singled through the right side, scoring Cozy. Aubrey Reed’s infield single loaded the bases. Morgan Paaverud singled to center field, scoring Bergman. UT 2-0
Bottom 1st inning (UK): Jenny Schaper walked. Katie Reed was hit by pitch. Abbey Cheek doubled to center field, scoring Schaper and Reed, and advanced to third base on a muff by the centerfielder. Kayla Kowalik walked, then intentionally got in a run-down between first and second base; Cheek scooted home and Kowalik was safe at second on a throwing error during the run-down. Lauren Johnson singled past the shortstop, scoring Kowalik. UK 4-2
Bottom 4th inning (UK): Reed reached on a bunt single. Cheek erased Reed on a fielder’s choice, with pinch-runner Jaci Babbs replacing Cheek at first. Alex Martens homered to left, scoring Babbs. Kowalik singled up the middle, Mallory Peyton was hit by a pitch and Johnson got an infield single to load the bases. Kelsee Henson’s sacrifice fly to left scored Kowalik. UK 7-2
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
NCAA SOFTBALL REGIONALS
UK-TOLEDO
MAY 17, 2019
JOHN CROPP STADIUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Rachel Lawson
Opening statement …
“Yeah, I thought this was a good game. I thought that Toledo did a great job coming out in the first inning and really showed their bats and really showed why they did such a great job in their conference tournament, winning so many games in a row and coming back and winning it. So, I thought that was great. We were a little bit tight at the beginning, so I thought that we did a really good job of coming down after the first half of the first inning and started to play our game a little bit better. So, overall I thought it was a good game.”
On Kayla Kowalik and Abbey Cheek …
“I thought it was big for a couple of reasons. I thought Abbey’s slide into third was great, so those kind of things are what gives the team energy. You know, everyone expects Abbey to get a hit. But, when she came and had that great slap to the right, she does it all the time, but that’s the expectation right. So, when she slid into third and she avoided the tag, I thought that gave us energy. Then, immediately Kayla did a similar thing where she did a great move on the base, which allowed us to score. I think that allowed us to relax a little bit and it was a lot of fun to watch. Those kind of momentum-gaining plays are what the post season is about. So, the fourth run was big, just being able to help us relax a bit was the key to that one.”
On Meghan Schorman’s performance …
“Well the things that I look for when you put in a new pitcher, especially one that is a freshman that’s in her first postseason start, is I look at their pitch speed. The other thing I look at is when they miss a pitch, did they miss it big or did they miss it in the dirt? So, I was really pleased with her pitch speed, I thought she did a really good job. Then, the first pitch that she through, if there was a mascot, she probably would have taken it out, which is actually a good sign to me. She didn’t throw it in the dirt, she through it hard and she through it wide. So, those are the things I look for and when I see that I know that the pitcher will have the ability to calm herself down and she’s ready for the big moment. So, overall I was pleased with her performance today.”
On Alex Martens striking out twice before she hit the homerun …
“I mean, Alex is a great hitter, she’s also a great ball player because she is very mature and she has a great mind. The thing about her is if she fails or makes a mistake, she has the ability to pick herself back up. So, I didn’t do anything there, that was 100 percent all Alex.”
On pitching plan for tomorrow and Grace Baalman’s status…
“Well, as of right now she is available. Healthy at this time of the year is always a little suspect. You have to be careful with pitchers when you’re dealing with arm situations. One of the things about college is all these pitchers throw so many pitches when they’re younger and then they come into college and they throw a ton of pitches too. We had to go on a heck of a postseason run, so that was a lot of wear and tear on Grace. With that said, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. I know that Grace is available, I know Autumn Humes is ready, Meghan, I also know Larissa Spellman is available. So, what we know about Virginia Tech is they are a great pitching team. They’re smart, they can hit the ball. So, to me I’d say we’re going to have to use multiple pitchers to make it through tomorrow.”
On Abbey looking down in the first inning…
“Yeah, we were back to the old days where I yelled at Abbey and she doesn’t like it. But, it’s a relationship we have cultivated over four years. She’s such a good player and like I said, if she had any fault at all, she always wants to hit the homerun and do things for her team. She’s a very good teammate like that. So, it’s my role, that’s why I guess I get the big bucks, to make sure that I try to keep her in the moment. So anyway, I just remind her why she is good and what it is she needs to do to move forward and what is it that makes her successful. You have to sometimes be a little force when you tell her. So anyway, I’m really proud of Abbey because in her last at bat, she got back to her normal pace. She was able to take the walk, she didn’t swing outside of the zone and that’s the Abbey that we’ve been seeing all year. So I was really proud that she had a great first at bat and then she was able to regroup after having a couple of ones that weren’t so great, and then having a great last at bat, so I feel really good about where Abbey was at.”
On how you will make the pitching decision or tomorrow …
“Well, I watch a lot of video and I haven’t completed watching the video for Virginia Tech yet, that’s why it’s down to the wire. Luckily I have a great staff who collects a lot of video, the downside of it is I can never say ‘Oh, I’m done.’ So, I do as much as I can up until 9 or 10 a.m. tomorrow, before we start pregame. It’ll come down to who is the best matchup. It’s really important for us that we try not to let the other team come into their offense, whatever that is for that team. Fortunately, I have a lot of faith in all of my pitchers, so that is good. That’s some of it and the other part of it is obviously Autumn is a workhorse so you want to put her in the best situation to be successful, but honestly she could pitch all the rest of the games throughout. She’s in good enough shape and she’s strong enough that she could pitch the rest of the tournament if she had to. When you have a pitcher like that, that is very comforting. It’s also something in the back of your head when you’re game planning.”
On going up against the ACC Pitcher of the Year tomorrow in Carrie Eberle …
“Well I think she is great. Virginia Tech is one of those teams, if you were voting on the top 25, they’re a team that I look at being outstanding every week. I think they’re well coached and that’s a coaching staff that also comes over form Missouri. They’re very familiar with the SEC, they’re very familiar with Kentucky and how we do things. So, I have expected this to be a battle. She’s outstanding, she has a good drop ball, she can move the ball up in the zone and when her change up is on she does a nice job of changing her speed, so there is a reasons why she is the ACC Pitcher of the Year. With that said, our offense has been game planning for pitchers like Eberle all year. That’s what we see week in and week out. Our game plan all year has been the post season, but when you’re training in September and October and January and throughout the year, those are the types of pitchers you’re training for. So, we’re going to really have to make sure we get looks off of her, hopefully we have been in this situation enough that we’re able to trust our game planning that we’ve done all year and barrel up on some balls.”
Kentucky Student-Athletes
#7 Autumn Humes, P
On rocky start to game…
“Toledo is a great time and obviously they’ve accomplished a lot of things to get here. So they came out really aggressive, me and my team just made the adjustment to find our center and be aggressive with them.”
On key to building resilience to come in and lock things down…
“Last year as a first year in the SEC, I had a really bad habit of letting things get out of control and out of my hands. So, one thing that I’ve learned this year is if things are starting to go south or if they are not going as planned that I’ve learned to just take a breath and figure out what needs to be done in that moment and in that pitch to get the job done. I’ve learned a lot about self control this year and I think that it comes with more experience and maturity. So I would say that’s probably the key to of coming back from something that happened in the first inning”
On what she seen from her defense…
“That always something that a pitcher loves to see is the girls behind her working really hard for her and all credit to them because they put in so much work every day to be able to do that. But it’s definitely relieving when you see them making plays like that, it makes my job so much easier”
On if she would be able to pitch all regional games and how coach mentioned her work efforts…
“It’s obviously a huge honor hearing that from a coach but that’s kind of something that’s she has always said about me. I remember my first day at Kentucky, she looks at me and said, ‘Autumn you’re a bowl in a china shop’ and she said, ‘You know what that means?’ I was like no! And she was like, “Well how would a bowl in the china shop look?” I’m like, ‘Normal.’ Turns out she was saying you’re a bull in a china shop. So that’s like a running joke of the pitching staff but I think I’ve impressed her with my strength. But it’s just an honor to know that she feels that way.
On pitching the rest of the weekend…
“Yeah, I think as a pitcher that kind of what you’re signing up for to be ready no matter what.”
#9 Lauren Johnson, OF
On if this game gives you more confidence…
“This year I feel that I’m a lot more confident than I was last year as a freshman. A big thing this year is I’m going one pitch at a time, I’m not really thinking about what she’s going to throw me next. I’m just being confident and being in the moment.”
On mindset after giving up two early runs in the first inning…
“We’re kind of an answer back team, so whenever we see them put up two runs, all of us came in the dugout and got together and said it’s just two runs. Every game this year we have scored a lot of runs and we have faith in our teammates so whenever Jenny (Schafer) started out the game by getting on base we knew we would get on a roll.”
Toledo Head Coach Joe Abraham
Opening statement …
“We gave it all we had. We know we’re up against a (Southeastern Conference) team. What we told the girls after the game is we can play with them. Kentucky’s got more talent than us, but we can play with them. We played with Florida State earlier in the season close. We were (close) to a 5-4 lead on a home run ball that just missed in the top of the fifth inning. Erin Hunt comes out against people we watch on TV for the last couple years and is not intimidated at all. After a rough first inning, five innings of three runs. Ami (Ill) has just been on fire as of late. She hit .556 in the (Mid-American Conference) Tournament. Without that, we don’t get here. She has another hit today, she’s playing great out in center field. We had eight of our nine hitters in our lineup get a hit. We played well. The better team came out on top, but we were proud that we showed that we can play with this type of team.”
On confidence from first inning on …
“Because of the way we played at the (Mid-American Conference) Tournament last week, we were confident throughout, even going into that seventh inning. In that first inning, (Kentucky’s) Autumn Humes is obviously a good pitcher. We faced (Andrea) Scali from Kent State, (Courtney) Vierstra from Miami (Ohio), these are really good pitchers and we weren’t the least bit intimidated. It didn’t surprise me at all that we came out with two runs, not one bit. These girls can flat out break. I’m surprised we didn’t get more, frankly.”
Toledo Student-Athletes
#14, Erin Hunt, P
On facing Kentucky’s Abbey Cheek …
“She swings with immense power. You can tell during the game, she was taking ‘daddy hacks.’ I wasn’t going to change my game to throw around her. I’m going to do what I’m good at, and she’s going to do what she’s good at, and we’ll see who comes out on top.”
On her mindset going into what could potentially be the last game of the season …
“Same mindset as always, go out there and fight. We’re not done. They’re a strong opponent but so are we.”
#15, Katie Cozy, 3B
On what Kentucky pitcher Autumn Humes did differently after the first inning …
“Coming out that first inning, it was that two first pitch strikes. You knew they were coming and coming back in. You expected them, but they got lower and lower because she got in the zone. You go after them because you’re expecting that, and she did a really good job.”
On how she uses her experience from the Mid-American Conference Tournament …
“That (Mid-American Conference) Tournament was huge. We never had a doubt. Never were we nervous. We had so much confidence in each other, and we know we can go out there and compete against anyone.”
#8, Ami Ill, OF
On facing something they haven’t seen all season …
“They’re a (Southeastern Conference) team, so they are going to come out strong straight from the first inning. They’re a great team. It was nothing we didn’t expect. We were just going out there and playing our game with the same mindset we’ve had throughout the (Mid-American Conference) Tournament.”
