Kentucky softball (19-9, 1-5 SEC) was swept by No. 8 Florida (29-1, 6-0 SEC) in a three-game set to open up SEC play at John Cropp Stadium.

Game one

Kentucky softball hosted No. 5 Florida Gators in its SEC home opener in game one of a three-game set.

Sarah Haendiges started game one on the mound for the Cats against a very strong Florida Gator lineup. Haendiges started strong, striking out two of three in the first. A one-out double by Townsen Thomas followed with a two-run home run by Cassidy McLellan to get the scoring started in John Cropp Stadium in the second.

Florida threatened for more in the second with back-to-back base hits and a walk to get the bases loaded, but sophomore, Allie Blum, made an incredible diving play at second to keep the Gators to just two in the second. 

“I knew I had a lot of range up the middle,” Blum said. “I made sure to field it first, then finish the play.”

Maddy Anson got on in the second inning, but Florida erased that scoring opportunity with a groundout to second base to end the inning.

Florida threatened once more in third after Thomas sent a ball to the left field wall for her second double of the game. Haendiges came up huge with back-to-back strikeouts to leave runners stranded on second and third to end the threat.

The Cats notched just their second hit of the game in the fourth with a leadoff single by Blum. With one out in the inning Florida catcher, Jocelyn Erickson, threw Blum out trying to steal second to end any momentum the Cats so badly needed. 

Madison Walker added to the lead in the fifth, hitting a leadoff home run extending the Gators lead to three.

Carly Sleeman answered back in the bottom half of the fifth hitting a leadoff home run to keep the Cats with a pulse late in the game.

Haendiges went out to the mound to start the sixth inning, continuously flirting with trouble, Florida finally got her number as Erickson hit a three-run home run to blow it open for the Gators, taking a commanding 6-1 lead. Haendiges finished her outing going five innings, allowing six runs, nine hits and striking out six. 

Abby Hammond came in for relief for the Cats, but Florida wasn’t done scoring just yet. The Gators added another four runs in the sixth highlighted by a two-run double from McLellan bringing the total to seven runs in the inning.

Keagan Rothrock was excellent for the Gators on the mound pitching a complete game allowing two runs on four hits, and three strikeouts. Rothrock kept the Cats off balance all game creating weak contact consistently.

The Cats fell to the Gators by a final score of 10-2 (6 innings). Kentucky will try and get back in the win column when they face No. 8 Florida in game two of three of its weekend series.

“Obviously it sucked, we didn’t play our best.” Blum added, “All we can do is learn from what happened and make an adjustment.”

Games two and three

Since going on an exciting 13-game win streak, Kentucky softball has found itself  stuck in a five-game losing streak, largely brought on by No. 5 Florida. 

The Wildcats were taken down in destructive fashion by the Gators in the first two games of the weekend series, and they were put right back against the ropes on Florida’s first at-bat of the game. Taylor Shumaker smashed her 12th home run of the season to go up 1-0 on the eighth pitch of the game. 

The top of the first inning was fruitful for Florida, scoring three more runs before Kentucky’s freshman pitcher Hailey Nutter could find a second out. Head coach Rachel Lawson instead looked to senior pitcher Haendiges for a spark. 

Florida picked right back up and scored again on Haendiges’ fourth pitch, which would cap off a five-run inning for the Gators, showing their teeth early. 

“We are just not playing good softball,” Lawson said.

Now being in a five-game losing drought, she wants her team to get back to their process.

“The last couple of games we have not done a good job playing Kentucky softball,” Lawson said. 

Despite Haendiges finding a groove and calming the game down after that first inning, Florida still found a score in the third. 

Florida hit a three-run homer, making it 9-0 in the sixth inning which would end the game and the pain for the Wildcats who were limited to just three hits all game by Florida’s junior pitcher Rothrock.