Kentucky softball (24-14, 3-9 SEC) lost its series against No. 14 Texas A&M (31-8, 10-5 SEC) at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, from Friday, April 5-7.
All three games were decided by only one run, with the Aggies taking the first two games and the Wildcats avoiding a sweep in the final game.
Kentucky led for the majority of the first game, kicking off scoring with a three-run homer by senior Grace Lorsung in the first that scored Peyton Plotts and Rylea Smith.
Sophomore Lauryn Borzilleri added another run in the top of the second with a solo homer.
After that, the Wildcat offense lost steam as the Aggies scored five unanswered runs, including an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to walk off the game.
Senior Stephanie Schoonover pitched all 6.1 innings of the game, allowing four hits and striking out four.
Saturday’s game began with Kentucky scoring a run in the first from an RBI single by Plotts.
However, things crumbled on the defensive side, as Texas A&M scored ten runs in the first two innings.
In between the two massive innings for the Aggies, Borzilleri hit a two-run homer that scored junior Margaret Tobias.
In the top of the fourth, senior Erin Coffel added another run for Kentucky with an RBI single that scored junior Hallie Mitchell to make the score 10-4 in favor of Texas A&M.
The Cats began a comeback attempt in the top of the sixth with another home run by Borzilleri, this time a solo shot, for her second of the game and third of the weekend.
The top of the seventh saw solo home runs from both Lorsung and Plotts, as well as a two-run single by Smith, but she was tagged out at second on that play for the third out, ending the game.
Fifth-year pitcher Jaden Vickers was credited with the loss for UK, after pitching 1.0 innings and giving up six runs. Freshman Sydney Langdon also pitched 0.2 innings.
It was junior Alexia Lacatena who was the standout pitcher for the Cats, though, as she pitched 4.1 innings and did not give up any runs while striking out one.
Sunday’s game was significantly less eventful than the first two games, as the only run of the game came in the top of the seventh when Kentucky sophomore Karissa Hamilton hit a solo homer.
Schoonover struck out three batters in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win, her 14th win and 10th complete game of the season.
Kentucky will face in-state rival Louisville (23-16, 4-8 ACC) on Wednesday, April 10, beginning at 7 p.m. EST at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The game will be televised on ACC Network.
