No. 9 Kentucky Co-Hosts Bluegrass Classic Beginning Thursday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a 3-1 weekend at the John Cropp Classic, the Kentucky Softball team will play host to its second tournament in as many weeks, as it co-hosts the 2022 Bluegrass Classic with the University of Louisville.
UK will play four games over three days, facing Buffalo twice, Valpo and Ohio. The tournament will start Thursday and run through Sunday, taking Saturday off in expectation of inclement weather in the area.
Kentucky moved up to No. 9 in the latest release of the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association top-25 ranking and currently sits at No. 12 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com poll with a 16-2 record.
All Kentucky games of the Bluegrass Classic will be shown live on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Live stats are accessed through UKathletics.com for all games of the tournament. Any game involving UK will be on the SEC Network+ and any game not featuring UK will be ESPN+. The weekend will feature commentary from Dave Baker, Carol Bruggeman, Jenny Dalton-Hill and former UK pitcher, Autumn Humes.
With no games taking place Saturday, fans holding Saturday tickets can now use that ticket for the new game vs. Ohio on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Fans that purchased tickets for Friday’s original game will still be valid. If fans can not make the Thursday game, they may exchange it for another game this season at John Cropp Stadium.
Lauren Johnson leads the offensive charge for the Wildcats, sporting a .509 batting average through the first month of the season with two home runs and 18 RBI. Erin Coffel led the NCAA through four weeks with 26 RBI and currently sits on 28 runs batted in with Kayla Kowalik hitting .483 and five extra-base hits.
In the circle, both Alexia Lacatena and Miranda Stoddard have four wins each with Stephanie Schoonover recording wins in three games. The Wildcats’ team ERA is an impressive 2.24 and 87 batters have been struck out by UK pitching.
REVISED – 2022 Bluegrass Classic
John Cropp Stadium – Lexington, Ky.
Thursday, March 10
2:30 p.m. ET – Kentucky vs. Ohio
5 p.m. ET – Eastern Kentucky vs. Ohio
Friday, March 11
10 a.m. ET – Buffalo vs. Kentucky
12:30 p.m. ET – Buffalo vs. Eastern Kentucky
3 p.m. ET – Eastern Kentucky vs. Valpo
5:30 p.m. ET – Valpo vs. Kentucky
Saturday, March 12
No Games
Sunday, March 13
Noon ET – Buffalo vs. Valpo
2:30 p.m. ET – Buffalo vs. Kentucky
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
