Peyton’s Two-Run Double Lifts No. 17 Kentucky Past South Carolina
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior first baseman Mallory Peyton roped a two-run double into left center in the bottom of the third inning that ended up being the difference Friday as No. 17 Kentucky downed South Carolina 4-3 in the series opener.
Autumn Humes picked up her fourth-straight win in as many appearances in the circle, as she threw a complete game, only allowing three seventh-inning runs on nine hits and four strikeouts. Humes is now 19-6 on the season in the circle for Kentucky.
UK and South Carolina will play a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET with game two following the 2 p.m. ET game 30 minutes following. Senior Day ceremonies will begin at approximately 1:45 p.m. ET at John Cropp Stadium. Tickets for both Saturday and Sunday’s games will be honored Saturday, with fans holding a Saturday tickets taking priority for seats in game one and Sunday’s ticket holders will take priority for game two of the doubleheader. Both games will be shown on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
Kentucky improves to 35-12 on the season with an even .500 record at 11-11 in Southeastern Conference play. Friday marks the first time since early March that UK has been .500 or better in SEC play. South Carolina falls to 25-23 and is 4-18 in conference action.
South Carolina put a three-run dent into UK’s 4-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but a pair of groundouts to the left side by Cayla Drotar and Kassidy Krupit to end the game with the winning run stranded on second.
Key Stat
33. There was a 33-minutes rain delay beginning at 7:19pm ET and ending at 7:52pm ET as the game was in the top of the fifth inning.
Key Player
Mallory Peyton was the key player in the game, going 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI, including the biggest play of the game.
Key Play
Peyton’s two-run double in the bottom of the third was the key play in the game, with Erin Coffel’s double in the bottom of the fifth inning also making a big difference in the game.
Run Recap
Grace Baalman singled with two outs, and runner Emmy Blane scored on an RBI double from Miranda Stoddard in the bottom of the second inning to break open the scoring. UK 1, USC 0
Erin Coffel’s RBI single through the left side scored Kayla Kowalik, who led off the inning with a single in the bottom of the third inning. Mallory Peyton then roped a two-run double into left scoring Johnson and Coffel. UK 4, USC 0
The game remained 4-0 until the top of the seventh inning, when South Carolina got a one-out pinch-hit home run, and a successive double to pull within a run. Two groundouts after the double to the left side ended the game. FINAL – Kentucky 4, South Carolina 3
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