Humes’ Effort at Plate, In Circle Not Enough to Fend off Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 3 seeded and third-ranked nationally Alabama Crimson Tide booked its ticket into the 2021 Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals with a 5-1 win over sixth-seeded Kentucky on Thursday night at Rhoads Stadium.
Kentucky concludes the 2021 regular season with a 39-13 overall record, and a fifth-place finish in SEC play with a conference mark of 13-11, its best in program history with this schedule rotation.
The Wildcats will now await its postseason fate as an at-large team into the 2021 NCAA Softball Tournament. The full field of 64 teams will be announced during the NCAA Softball Selection Show on Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The Women’s College World Series crew of Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Amanda Scarbrough will exclusively unveil the field of 64, along with the 16 host sites for the NCAA Regionals. Kentucky was previously announced as one of 20 finalists to host an NCAA Regional by the selection committee. 16 of those 20 pre-determined sites will be chosen.
Alabama will face Tennessee in the second SEC semifinal on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.
Key Stat
39. Kentucky finishes the regular season with 39 wins, its 12th-straight 30+ win season under head coach Rachel Lawson.
Key Player
The key player in the game was Miranda Stoddard, who had a one-out double in the top of the third inning, and pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning for Kentucky.
Key Play
The key play of the game came from Autumn Humes on a single into right center to score Renee Abernathy on a throwing error.
Run Recap
Bailey Hemphill hit a home run in the bottom of the first. ALA 1, UK 0
Jenna Johnson hit a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the third. ALA 3, UK 0
Autumn Humes singled into right field and Renee Abernathy scored on a throwing error into the third base side dugout to score UK’s only run. ALA 3, UK 1
A two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth extended the Alabama lead. FINAL – Alabama 5, Kentucky 1
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