You get three May privileges in Lexington: Blue skies, 80 plus degree weather and NCAA Regional softball action at John Cropp Stadium.

The No. 14 nationally-seeded Kentucky Wildcats (40-13) defeated the Wildcats of Northwestern (29-16) 3-2 Friday afternoon.

“The fact that we were the home team was calming for us,” head coach Rachel Lawson said post-game. 

The battle of the Wildcats began slow in the first, but turned around in the second as Northwestern’s Maeve Nelson took Autumn Humes (21-7 starting) yard on the first pitch of the inning.

Humes would pitch all seven innings for Kentucky, letting up six hits and a home run while recording four K’s in a winning effort. 

Kentucky turned the tide quickly in the bottom of the inning as Renee Abernathy took Northwestern’s first pitch up the middle for a single, Humes reached on a fielder’s choice and after a wild pitch, both advanced. Rylea Smith skipped a ball up the middle which went past the pitcher and brought both runners home for Kentucky’s first lead of the afternoon.

The regional hosts weren’t done there as Kayla Kowalik reached on a fielder’s choice that brought Smith home for the third run of the inning. 

A double-play in the fifth off a Mac Dunlap bunt got the crowd rocking in John Cropp Stadium. The roar of the crowd inspired Humes to strikeout the next batter and retire the inning. 

Big Blue Nation kept that passion into the bottom of the inning where they let the umpires know their feelings after a foul ball call followed by a strikeout to Erin Coffel. Softball hasn’t had a turnout this large since March of 2020. 

“It’s so much fun,” Lawson said about the turnout. “We have such a faithful following, they’re cheering for us and giving us the boost we need from an energy perspective. We have such a great fanbase and they do such an awesome job showing up to the postseason.”

Kentucky’s stellar defensive performance and Humes’ quality start continued into the sixth as Northwestern went 1-2-3 in the top of the inning. 

Drama in the seventh ensued as Nikki Cuchran doubled, Dunlap brought her home off a throwing error bringing Northwestern to within one. Kentucky showed their resilience as that was all they allowed, picking up the victory 3-2.

Kentucky finished with three runs on four hits with only one error. The Wildcats will play the winner of Notre Dame and Miami (OH) tomorrow at noon in John Cropp Stadium.