Late Rally Falls Short as No. 10 Georgia Secures Series
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 10 Georgia hit three home runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and added the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning to beat No. 16 Kentucky 4-3 on Sunday night, securing the series and winning their 11th-straight game of the season.
The Wildcats put the tying and go-ahead run on the base paths in the top of the seventh inning, but a strikeout swinging with two outs ended the game and secures the series for Bulldogs and ended the game. With the result Sunday, Georgia improves to 29-6 on the season is now leads the Southeastern Conference with a 9-1 league record. UK falls to 21-9-1 in 2023 and is 4-4 in the SEC.
Shelby Walters was Sunday night’s pitcher of record, going 6.2 inning, allowing three runs, two earned and striking out three in the victory. Alexia Lacatena got the start for UK, suffering just her third loss of the season as she falls to 8-3 after throwing four innings with three runs on five hits, allowing no walks and striking out one.
Game three of the series will be Monday night at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network with Eric Frede and Madison Shipman on the call from Athens as UK will look to salvage a game from the weekend.
Key Play
Sunday night’s key play for Kentucky was Taylor Ebbs legging out an infield single to extend the game in the top of the seventh inning and put herself on base representing the go-ahead run at the time.
Key Player
Grace Lorsung was the key player in the game, as the only Wildcat to record two hits in the game.
Key Stat
- Seven of nine players in the Kentucky starting batting order reached safely via a hit in the game.
Run Recap
Kentucky put up a two spot in the top of the third inning to take the early lead in the game. Erin Coffel delivered an RBI single into center field to score Kayla Kowalik, who led off the inning with a walk. After UK put runners on the corners with two outs, Meeko Harrison sharply hit a ball to the right side that was mishandled by the Bulldogs defense and that scored UK’s second run. UK 2, UGA 0
UK’s lead would last into the bottom of the fourth inning, when UGA hit three solo home runs off the bats of Jada Kearney, Davis and Sydney Kuma to take a 3-2 lead heading into the fifth. UGA 3, UK 2
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Georgia got its first two batters on with no outs and a one-out sacrifice fly to left field scored a run to double the Bulldogs lead. UGA 4, UK 2
Rylea Smith hit an RBI double down the line in right in the top of the sixth inning to pull the Wildcats to within a run as Hallie Mitchell scored from first after reaching on a two-out single. UGA 4, UK 3
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
