In their final home series of the season, UK softball hosted the Texas A&M Aggies in a top 20 SEC duel. The Cats won the Saturday and Sunday games, forcing the Aggies to lose their first series of the season.

The Cats were led by masterful performances from their seniors, who have possibly played their last game in John Cropp stadium, barring the Cats hosting in the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

When asked if she believed that the Cats would be hosting regionals, senior pitcher Meagan Prince, who only allowed one run against the power-hitting Aggies in the Sunday matchup, said, “most definitely, I believe in us. I have no doubt.”

On Friday, the Aggies challenged the Cats, not allowing many runs and shutting UK down 4-2. The Cats couldn’t generate much consistent offense until the 7th inning when they loaded the bases, but by then it was too late.

Saturday, which was also Senior Day, was when the domination by the Cats began, as they ran up the score on the Aggies 7-2, pouring all seven runs in the 5th and 6th innings of the game, after trailing 2-0 for much of the game.

Senior right fielder Breanne “Buzz” Ray celebrated Senior Day by carving up the Texas A&M defense, earning 3 RBI in the game. She admitted afterwards that the emotional charge of Senior Day fueled her in the batter’s box.

“It started to hit,” Ray said. “This is the last time, the last go-around,”

The Cats were also featured on Saturday’s edition of SportsCenter, as first baseman Erin Rethlake made a double play that was featured on the “SC Top 10” list of plays on the day. She dove to make an acrobatic catch in the infield, before flipping it to Alex Martens at first to secure the double play.

Sunday, the UK offense picked up right where it left off, running rampant and scoring three runs in the 1st inning. All weekend, UK head coach Rachel Lawson had emphasized “timely hits” and “a sense of urgency,” and the Cats took that to heart as they were up 3-0 before Samantha Show of A&M hit a 3-run homerun in the third inning to tie the game.

The score would remain tied until the 5th inning, when Brooklin Hinz grounded out to push freshman pinch runner Brynlee Bigelow to score her lone run of the day.

The Cats continued to dominate at the end of the game as they always do, putting up three more runs in the 6th inning, while only allowing one more run at the end of the game. UK now outscored opponents by a margin of 27 runs in the 6th and 7th innings over the last nine games.

During UK’s dynamite 6th inning, Ray came back at the Aggies for more as she hit the 2 RBI single that would put the Cats up for good, securing their series win against the top five team.

“If you would’ve told me a month and a half ago that we would be sitting here, not only competing against, but winning the series against one of the top teams in the country I would’ve said we had a far way to go,” said Lawson.

As the Cats end their home regular season schedule, they now look ahead to their upcoming series at Mississippi State starting Friday, May 5th.