Kentucky softball (21-13, 1-8 SEC) dropped its first game against Louisville (26-7, 3-3 ACC) since 2019 by a score of 8-7 in nine innings.

The Cats had been dominating the Battle of the Bluegrass, winning the last five and going 8-2 in the last 10 matchups coming into the game.

Kentucky was well on its way to making it six straight before a three run seventh inning kept the Cardinals alive pushing it to the bottom of the inning. The Cats stranded the winning run on third in the seventh and eighth, before the Cards took a two-run lead in the top of the ninth.

Although the Cats dropped the game in extras, there were some positives that came from the loss that they hope to build upon to get things going back in the right direction.

Notably, both Maddy Clark and Karissa Hamilton both broke major slumps. Clark was two for her last 23 when she stepped up to the plate in the first inning. She opened up the scoring with a two-run home run over the right field wall, her first homer of the season.

Coach Rachel Lawson moved Clark to third in the batting order for this game, the eighth different spot she has hit this year, leaving cleanup as the only spot she has not hit in.  

Hamilton entered the game going five for her last 24 and one for her last 13. She broke that slump with two home runs of her own, a 252-foot two-run shot in the third, followed by a solo shot in the bottom half of the ninth.

“It’s all just about relaxing and knowing that the person behind me has my back,” Hamilton said. “Just trusting myself because I’ve been working hard off the field and on the field as well.”

Kentucky recorded 11 hits as a team, the most since its 13-inning loss to Auburn on March 7. The team also recorded four home runs, with freshman Alexa Riddel notching the first homer of her career to add to the homers by Clark and Hamilton.

“They had a game plan, and they went into the box and they executed it,” Lawson said. “I think you get a lot of confidence anytime you set out to do something, and you actually accomplish what you set out to do.”

Lawson was also pleased with the way the pitching staff handled the situations they were put in. McKenzie Oslanzi, Sarah Haendiges and Abby Hammond all recorded time in the circle.

Oslanzi started and went 2.1 innings, allowing five hits and three runs, two of which were earned. Haendiges entered in the middle of the third and pitched a hitless first 3.2 innings before the Cards got to her in the seventh.

Hammond, a freshman, entered in the seventh with no outs and the tying run on third. She gave up a line drive off the glove of Emory Donaldson at third base, scoring the tying run. But, following that run she went three innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs, recording the loss.

“Sarah came in a tight situation, Abby came in a tight situation and they produced and they kept runs off the board,” Lawson said. “They gave our offense a chance to win the game. So, I thought they did a nice job.”

The extra inning loss to Louisville knocks the Cats’ all-time record against the Cards to 25-21. The teams will meet again, this time in Louisville, on April 22 prior to Kentucky’s last conference series.

For now, the Cats will look to bounce back against No. 11 Georgia (24-8, 3-3 SEC) in an upcoming weekend series at John Cropp Stadium.