Stoddard Strong in Relief, Wildcats Haunted by Errors in 3-1 Loss
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Miranda Stoddard was strong in relief Saturday throwing 3.2 scoreless innings, but it was three critical errors that ended up costing the No. 9 Kentucky softball team, as it fell 3-1 to No. 5 Florida on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville.
Game three of the series will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
For the second night in a row, it was a promising start for the Wildcats (19-2, 0-2 SEC), who got on the board first with a solo home run in the top of the second inning thanks to Grace Baalman, who deposited one over the bullpen in left field.
Kentucky was unable to take advantage of its opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning and not scoring a run in the top of the first inning with a runner in scoring position and nobody out.
Natalie Lugo picked up the win in the circle for the Gators. Lugo went five innings, allowing one run on one hit to keep her perfect record on the season intact.
Key Stat
3. Kentucky had three errors, leading to all three of Florida’s runs being unearned runs in the game.
Key Player
Miranda Stoddard was the key player in the game, as she had a terrific outing in the circle pitching 3.2 innings without allowing a run on three hits and 16 batters faced. Stoddard threw 48 strikes of the 78 pitches she threw on the afternoon.
Key Play
The key play in the game was a two-run scoring error in the Gator half of the second inning. That ended up scoring the game-tying run, and go-ahead run that ended up being the game-winning run for Florida.
Run Recap
Grace Baalman launched a solo home run in the top of the second inning over the left field bullpen that gave UK the first run in the game for the second night in a row. UK 1, UF 0
With the bases loaded and two outs, Kentucky had an error that allowed two runs to score on a groundball. The next batter, Hannah Adams, singled to bring in the third Gator run of the inning. UF 3, UK 1
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