UK softball scores two walk-off wins over weekend
March 3, 2014
By Justin Chartrand
No. 8 UK Softball faced a doubleheader Saturday as UK head coach Rachel Lawson was looking to find some bright spots in her team.
She found them.
UK softball displayed resiliency in two comeback wins against the University of Pittsburgh and Eastern Kentucky University behind two walk-off performances Saturday at John Cropp Stadium.
The Cats faced an early 2-0 deficit in the first game against Pittsburgh.
After six innings of two-run ball, senior pitcher Lauren Cumbess was replaced by freshman Meagan Prince. Prince landed three quick outs to send the Cats into the bottom of the seventh with a chance to walk-off with a victory.
“For Meagan Prince to be able to come into both games in tight situations as a freshman and win them just shows how tough she is and what a great pitching staff we have,” Lawson said.
UK failed to get on base to generate any kind of score and the game went into extra innings.
The Panthers broke the tie after sophomore Maggie Sevilla doubled to left center, giving the Panthers a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth inning.
With bases loaded and two outs, sophomore Ansley Smith drove a shot past the third basemen that scored two runs to give the Cats a 4-3 walk-off win.
“I really was trying to get a base hit so we could score a run just to tie it back up but we scored two because we have good base running skills,” Smith said.
The second game of the doubleheader featured UK against EKU.
With UK trailing 1-0, senior Emily Gaines came up clutch with a two-run homer to left field to give the Cats another walk-off victory, 2-1 over EKU in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“Our pitchers have been doing a really good job keeping us in the game and I was just looking for a good pitch to drive somewhere,” Gaines said.
UK’s resilience to fight was not the only bright spot Lawson saw from her team.
“We’re not just seeing toughness out of a few people, we’re seeing toughness out of the entire team,” Lawson said.
The Cats open SEC play Friday on the road against Mississippi State.