Kentucky softball (12-4) used the long ball and stellar pitching to fuel them past Memphis (3-8) by a score of 7-1 in the Cats’ fourth game of the Blues City Invitational.
Sarah Haendiges started in the circle for the Cats, coming off one of the best starts in her two years in Lexington. She entered the game against Memphis following a 12-strikeout complete game shutout of North Carolina A&T just over 24 hours prior.
The senior capped her weekend with another excellent performance on the mound. Haendiges recorded nine strikeouts in her second complete game of the weekend, allowing only four hits, one walk and one earned run.
Haendiges improved her record to 4-1 on the year and has now thrown three complete games in her four starts. She is down to a 2.75 ERA on the year and has boosted her strikeouts per nine innings to 9.96.
The wind was blowing heavily in Memphis, around 15 mph, blowing out toward the wall. Kentucky took full advantage of the weather, putting the ball in the air and letting nature do the rest.
The Cats finished the game with four total home runs, two of which looked like routine fly balls off the bat before the wind caught them and carried them over the wall.
Maddy Anson led the way for Kentucky at the plate with two solo home runs, enough to tie her with Peyton Plotts for the team lead on the year.
Anson, a freshman out of Commerce Township, Michigan, was placed on the Softball America Freshman Watch List prior to the season and entered the season as a D1Softball Top-100 Freshman.
Allie Blum and Carly Sleeman also did some heavy lifting for the Cats. Blum contributed with a two-run home run to open the scoring in the fourth inning. She finished 3-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk at the plate.
The day Blum had catapulted her up to second on the team in batting average, now hitting .404. She also jumped up to a tie for second on the team in RBIs, tying Plotts with 11.
Sleeman also had a three-hit day, going 3-4 with a two-run home run, her first as a Wildcat. The Central Michigan transfer hit 17 home runs last season for the Chippewas. She has gone 4-10 in the four games in Memphis, tallying three RBIs on the weekend.
