Kentucky softball (23-12, 2-7 SEC) won its first conference series of the year against No. 14 Alabama (26-8, 3-6 SEC) on Thursday, March 28-30, at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

The series saw the Wildcats earn not only their first conference win of the year but also their first conference series win of the year.

The first game began with a scoreless first inning, but Alabama scored a run in the top of the second on a wild pitch.

The response from Kentucky in the bottom of the second was strong, though, as it scored three runs on two bases loaded, walks and a passed ball.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cats added three more runs. The first two came from an RBI single by junior Taylor Ebbs and the last was from a fielder’s choice, with the run scored by junior Jenna Blanton.

Alabama began to come back in the sixth by hitting two solo home runs, but Kentucky ace Stephanie Schoonover recorded a crucial strikeout in a 12-pitch at-bat to secure the Wildcats’ first conference win of the season with a final score of 6-3.

Schoonover pitched a complete game and struck out nine batters while only allowing three hits.

“She’s a workhorse, she always has been a workhorse, and it’s nice to see her enjoying being out there, throwing strikes and just being in the heat of the battle,” head coach Rachel Lawson said. “She’s one of my favorite pitchers to watch.”

On Friday, the first two innings were scoreless, but Alabama struck first in the third with a leadoff home run and a sacrifice foul-out.

The Crimson Tide added one run each in the fourth and fifth innings, but in the bottom of the fifth, a three-run shot by senior Erin Coffel put the Cats within one run of tying the score.

“Any time you can come up with a big play like that, that puts you so close to the game, it was everything,” Lawson said. “So, hats off to Erin to be able to create the count that she needed, and she was able to capitalize.”

However, sisters Lauren and Jenna Johnson of Alabama hit a two-run double and three-run homer back-to-back in the sixth to create a massive lead that Kentucky couldn’t catch up to.

Sophomore Karissa Hamilton for Kentucky drove in one run from a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Cats suffered a 9-4 loss.

Freshman Sydney Langdon, fifth-year Jaden Vickers, and junior Alexia Lacatena all saw time in the circle during the game, and the three combined for five strikeouts.

Although Lacatena only pitched for the final 1.2 innings, she had a solid performance, failing to give up any runs and striking out two in the process.

“I thought she was really good today,” Lawson said. “Her toughness on the mound is awesome, and the interesting thing is she just looks relaxed out there today. She was commanding her pitches, she was attacking batters, she looked good. She looked like an SEC pitcher, it was awesome to see.”

Saturday’s game also began with a scoreless inning, but this time Kentucky scored first after Coffel beat out Abby Duchscherer of Alabama to first base, allowing junior Hallie Mitchell to score.

Alabama evened the score in the third with a solo homer and added one more in the fourth after a passed ball.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats took the lead after Hamilton hit a double that scored both Mitchell and freshman Cassie Reasner.

Following two scoreless innings, Alabama tied the score in the top of the seventh with an RBI single, and Kentucky failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.

The Kentucky defense, led by Schoonover, only allowed one baserunner in the top of the eighth to set up a potential walk-off opportunity going into the bottom half of the inning.

“It all starts in the circle,” Schoonover said. “I mean, the pitcher has to pitch the ball to get the game going. So I didn’t feel any weight on my shoulders at all. I knew they had my back the whole time they were fighting, so I was gonna fight right there with them.”

Sure enough, Kentucky fifth-year Rylea Smith took full advantage of that opportunity, hitting an RBI double that scored Lacatena, pinch running for Lauryn Borzilleri, to walk off the game and the series.

Schoonover pitched all eight innings of the 4-3 victory and threw 140 pitches while striking out four.

“This series was a very big one for us because we’ve been struggling at the beginning of the year and we haven’t been getting the ones that we wanted,” Smith said after the final game. “It was coach that’s also been telling us, especially last weekend, to just keep staying the course, it’s going to work out, and to just see it finally start paying off meant a lot

Kentucky will return home for a midweek matchup against Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, April 3, at 5 p.m. EST at John Cropp Stadium.