Plotts and Haendiges Guide Kentucky to 6-2 Win Over Dayton
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind a 2-for-3 night from Lexingtonian Peyton Plotts and five solid innings from Sarah Haendiges, the Kentucky Wildcats beat Dayton 6-2 on Tuesday night at John Cropp Stadium.
Plotts opened the scoring with a first-pitch solo home run to left field in the bottom of the second inning, and was responsible for the next two Kentucky runs and she blooped a two-RBI single with two outs into right center to score a pair as Kentucky took a 3-0 lead.
Haendiges struck out a career-high tying 10 batters, with five of those strikeouts looking in a five-inning effort as she only allowed two runs on 10 hits with three walks and 10 K’s. The Upland, California native picked up her fifth win of the season to move to 5-2. Julie Kelley entered with one on and no outs in the top of the sixth and after walking the first batter she faced and retired the final six batters in a row to end the game, including a strikeout to cap it off after 28 pitches.
Kentucky improves to 18-10 with Tuesday night’s win over the Flyers, who fall to 12-8. The Wildcats play at Bellarmine on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET with the game broadcasted on ESPN+.
Key Play
With runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the third inning in a 1-0 game, Peyton Plotts delivered a 3-2 offering into right center that found the green and scored both runs to push Kentucky out to a 3-0 lead through the opening trio of innings.
Key Player
McKenzie Bump had two doubles in the game as she went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Super Stat
- Kentucky turned its first double play in the month of March on Wednesday night with runners on first and second and no outs in the Flyer sixth inning. The batter hit a ball to Bump at third, who fielded it on one hop, stepped on the bag for the force play at third and then threw across to Lauryn Borzilleri at first to record the first two outs of the inning and extinguish the threat.
Run Recap
Peyton Plotts hit her fifth home run of the season on the first pitch in the bottom of the second inning. UK 1, UD 0
In the bottom of the third, Maddy Clark and McKenzie Bump scored on a Plotts RBI single into center. UK 3, UD 0
After an RBI double off the bat of Allie Blum, Ally Hutchins added on with a two-bagger and then Bump made it three in the inning with a ball into RF to score Hutchins. UK 6, UD 0
Dayton had a pair of RBI singles in the fifth. FINAL – Kentucky 6, Dayton 2
The Kentucky Softball Designated Players Club
The Designated Players is the Official Booster Program of Kentucky Softball. Financial contributions and community support through The Designated Players program, Kentucky Softball will be able to continue to develop our student-athletes on and off the field. To join The Designated Players, you can join online or click here to download the membership form and mail to the address listed. For more information, email Kristine Himes at kentuckysoftball@uky.edu or Larry Cash at Larry.Cash@uky.edu.
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