UK softball faces off against in-state rival Louisville

By Justin Chartrand

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UK softball is coming off a crushing senior day loss to No. 8 Tennessee on Sunday and will look to bounce back Wednesday against in-state rival Louisville.

The No. 9 Cats (40-11, SEC 13-8) will hit the road to take on the Louisville Cardinals (31-18) at Ulmer Stadium.

The Cardinals are looking for a shot at revenge after the Cats 5-0 victory back on April 2 sent the Cardinals out of Lexington with a sour taste in their mouths.

“Louisville is going to want revenge,” said UK softball infielder Nikki Sagermann. She has been the Cats go-to hitter this season and leads the team with 40 runs batted in and 11 home runs this season.

The Cardinals are coming off a series sweep over Temple and are hosting the Cats in their final home game of the regular season.

“We always expect a big time game in Louisville,” UK head coach Rachel Lawson said. “It’s a championship atmosphere because it’s the one game all year that they pack the house.”

Coming into the one-game matchup with the Cardinals, the Cats will have to work on their defense according to Lawson.

“I think the thing that hurt us both on Friday and Sunday was the fact that we just didn’t play tough enough defense,” she said.

The Cats committed five errors in the three-game series against the Volunteers and have committed 40 errors on the season.

A big positive for UK this season has been the pitching staff, especially sophomore Kelsey Nunley.

Nunley has tossed 140 strikeouts and has earned 20 wins this season. Overall the UK pitching staff has an earned run average of 2.36 and has combined for 314 strikeouts this season.

The Cardinals average five runs per game and have hit .303 as a team.

“We’re going to make sure the next couple of days we practice hard on the things we need didn’t do well, we’ll make some adjustments,” Lawson said.

This game marks the Cats final non-conference matchup of the season.

“They’ll have 2,500 to 3,000 fans there,” Lawson said. “It’s a great championship atmosphere, and to be honest, this game will help get us ready for the postseason.”