Kentucky softball (6-2) split its doubleheader, first losing to Cal State Fullerton (4-3) by a score of 6-2, then upsetting No. 12 Stanford (5-1) by a score of 11-7.
If the Cats have proven anything in the short sample size provided so far this season, it is that this team has a very short memory. This doubleheader showed just how resilient this team can be.
The first game Kentucky lost this season was against San Diego State in the San Diego State Season Kickoff. That game against the Aztecs was a close battle that the Cats led for the majority of, until eventually losing 4-3 on a walk-off wild pitch.
The Cats responded the next day with a resounding 8-0 run rule of Minnesota in just five innings. Maddy Anson, Carly Sleeman and Peyton Plotts led the Cats past the Golden Gophers in that game, all while Hailey Nutter held it down for them in the circle.
Fast-forward less than a week later, and the Cats are in a different early-season event, the Cardinal Classic hosted by Stanford. The Cats found themselves in a very similar situation to the one they faced against SDSU, except this time it was against Cal State Fullerton.
The Cats started off hot with an Allie Blum home run in the first inning. Blum kept it going in her next at-bat with a two-out double, followed by a Plotts single to score her.
This is when the game turned into SDSU all over again. The Cats’ 2-0 lead diminished in the bottom of that inning, and they never regained it, losing the game 6-2 and losing to the Titans for the first time in program history.
Kentucky then had to play No. 12 Stanford 30 minutes later. But, thanks to the team’s short memory, the team that came out in the top of the first inning and looked nothing like the team that had just dropped the game to the Titans.
Led by Karissa Hamilton and Sleeman, the Cats put up a three spot in the first. They followed that up with another five runs in the second, thanks to more help from Hamilton and Sleeman, along with Plotts, Blum and Maddy Clark.
Nutter led the way in the circle for the Cats and, just like that, they were up 8-0 after two innings against a top 15 team in the country.
Just like the game against Minnesota following the loss to SDSU, Kentucky put the loss in the rearview mirror, came out hot and put up five runs in the second inning, never looking back.
The Cats could not quite complete the run rule against Stanford as they did against Minnesota, but the 8-0 second inning lead did not shrink any smaller than the final deficit of four.
The ability to win games coming off losses is something that has become popular for Kentucky when it comes to these early-season invitational events. Last season, the Cats went 4-2 after a loss in one of the four invitational events they took part in.
Only eight games into this season, the Wildcats have made one thing clear: if they drop a game, they will be back.
