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UK softball won its season opener against Florida A&M with a 4-2 final and is now 7-1 in season openers under head coach Rachel Lawson.

The Cats opened up the game in the first inning after senior catcher Griffin Joiner hit a sacrifice fly into leftfield, sending junior outfielder Sylver Samuel home after she got on base with a triple.

Florida A&M tied the game up in the second inning with a run-batted-in-single, but UK regained the lead in the third inning after Samuel hit an RBI-single of her own.

After extending their lead in the fifth inning, junior third baseman Nikki Sagermann connected for a home run in the sixth inning, giving the Cats a 4-1 lead with the first homer of the year. The blast was Sagermann’s 21st of her career, moving her into eighth place in UK’s career home run list.

The Rattlers cut into the Cats’ lead in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to an RBI-double, but ultimately did not have enough to rally for the win.

UK sophomore pitcher Meagan Prince pitched the entire game and had a career-high 11 strikeouts on the night. She allowed just one earned run in five hits and a walk. The complete game was Prince’s second of her career in nine total starts.

In total, the Cats collected seven hits and were walked three times by Florida A&M freshman pitcher Kenya Pereira.

UK will remain in Tallahassee, Fla. to play No. 5 Florida State and Georgia Southern on Saturday as part of the Renegade Classic road trip. The Cats will play both teams again on Sunday as well.

Staff Report