No. 23 Kentucky softball (6-4) lost 3-1 to No. 4 UCLA (8-0) to wrap up the 2025 ESPN Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Florida.
Kentucky finished 2-3 in the invitational, ending with two straight losses to top 10 teams. This put the Wildcats at 6-4 through 10 games, marking their worst record through 10 games since 2019.
The Wildcats leaned on strong pitching performances from Carson Fall and Sarah Haendiges, but the offense only put up one run and left eight runners stranded.
Kentucky was designated as the away team in the game and Ally Hutchins led off with a walk, but the next three hitters all recorded outs to end the frame without advancing Hutchins.
Fall retired the first two Bruins, but then surrendered a solo home run to Jordan Woolery. The Wildcats escaped the inning facing a 1-0 deficit.
Kentucky started the second inning with two straight outs. Then, Lauryn Borzilleri walked and advanced to second on a single from Delani Sullivan. The next hitter recorded the third out to strand two more runners.
Fall bounced back from the first inning home run as she allowed just one runner in the second inning on a full-count walk.
Fall continued to pitch well in the bottom of the third, recording two consecutive outs to start the inning. UCLA then had another two-out solo home run, this time from Savannah Pola.
Kentucky responded in the top of the fourth inning when Peyton Plotts started the inning with a triple to right field. Plotts scored on a single from Borzilleri to make the score 2-1. Borzilleri was left stranded.
The Wildcats switched to Haendiges on the mound after Fall walked the leadoff batter in the fourth inning.
Haendiges walked the first batter she faced, then allowed a single that scored the lead runner to give UCLA the decisive 3-1 score.
Kentucky looked to have had something going in the top of the fifth when Hutchins reached on a hit-by-pitch, McKenzie Bump reached on an error and Allie Blum singled to load the bases with one out.
The next two hitters both struck out, leaving all three runners on base. This made seven runners left on base through five innings for the Wildcats.
The top of the sixth inning was much of the same for the Wildcats. Hallie Mitchell reached on a lead-off walk, but the next three Kentucky hitters all recorded outs to strand another runner.
Haendiges cruised through the final two innings, recording six outs in eight batters faced.
Kentucky entered the seventh facing a two-run deficit, which seemed insurmountable considering the offensive struggles in the first six innings. That was exactly the case as the Wildcats went three-up, three-down to end the game.
The Wildcat pitchers had a good day outside of two early home runs and the fourth-inning jam. Haendiges threw three scoreless innings in relief, which made 14.2 innings without allowing an earned run to start the year for her.
The offense had plenty of opportunities to support the pitching, but failed to capitalize. The team had four hits and three walks, but couldn’t put anything significant together.
The Cats will look to turn things around in their next game against Coastal Carolina on Friday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the first of five games for Kentucky in the 2025 I-75 Tournament.
