Meeko Harrison Hits First-Career HR as Kentucky Beats Morehead
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Freshman Meeko Harrison hit her first-career home run in the bottom of the third inning as the No. 7 Kentucky Softball team defeated Morehead State 13-1 on Wednesday night at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington.
The Wildcats struck for seven early runs in the bottom of the first, as three singles, three walks and a double caused havoc for the Eagles early, and the Wildcats never let their foot off the gas petal.
Kentucky’s potent offense continued to shine as freshman Erin Coffel hit her school freshman record-tying 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it a 12-0 lead for Kentucky Coffel is now just one home run away from breaking the school’s freshman record for home runs in a season which she currently co-holds with Amber Janneck in 2004.
No. 7 Kentucky will head south to Knoxville over Easter Weekend to face No. 18 Tennessee in a three-game series with the Lady Vols. All three games will be televised with Friday (5 p.m. ET) and Sunday’s (2 p.m. ET) games on ESPNU and Saturday’s game (6 p.m. ET) airing on ESPN2. Beth Mowins and two-time Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith will have the call.
UK is now 26-4 on the season as it continues its best start in program history through 30 games in a season. The 2014 and 2016 teams both started with a 26-4 record for UK.
Key Stat
7. Kentucky scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Key Player
Meeko Harrison was the key player in the game, going 1-for-1 at the plate with a pair of RBI as she hammered out her first-career home run to left center in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Key Play
The key play in the game was a two-RBI double in the bottom of the first inning by Miranda Stoddard to score Tatum Spangler and pinch runner Emma Boitnott to make it a 6-0 game.
Run Recap
Kentucky loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning with no outs and broke the ice with an RBI walk from Autumn Humes. Tatum Spangler singled to score a run, and Grace Baalman walked to follow. Stoddard then laced a double into right center to score a pair of runs to make it a 6-0 game. The seventh run came across as Kayla Kowalik had an RBI single to score Stoddard. UK 7, MOR 0
In the bottom of the second, Erin Coffel led off the inning with a walk and scored on Grace Baalman’s fifth home run of the season to straight-away center. UK 9, MOR 0
Erin Coffel led off the third inning with a solo home run to tie the school freshman record, and after a single by Renee Abernathy, Meeko Harrison went yard to put UK up by a dozen. UK 12, MOR 0
In the top of the fourth, an Eagle double broke off the shutout. UK 12, MOR 1
Kentucky scored its final run in the bottom of the fourth as Vanessa Nesby hit her first-career triple to left-center and scored Jaci Babbs from first on the play. FINAL – Kentucky 13, Morehead State 1
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