April 7, 2012
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind a three-run game from Brittany Cervantes, Kentucky (17-21, 4-7 SEC) gained a 7-0 win over South Carolina (23-17, 3-10 SEC) in front of 1,047 fans on Saturday afternoon at the UK Softball Complex.
Sophomore second baseman Dana Hathorn led South Carolina with two hits, while outfielders Lauren Lackey, Kaitlin Westfall and Chelsea Hawkins all had one single. Emily Jolly went 2-for-3 with a double for Kentucky, while Griffin Joiner drove in three runs with a double. Cervantes and Rachel Riley also homered for the Wildcats.
Kentucky got an unearned run in the first thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Joiner, the first of three free passes she earned in the game. Cervantes and Riley drew walks around Kara Dill’s sac bunt try that the Gamecocks threw away to put two Wildcats in scoring position. After Joiner’s RBI walk, Gamecock freshman pitcher Katelynn Howser (8-5) got two strikeouts and a foul out to end the frame without any further damage.
Cervantes made it 3-0 in the second, sending the 1-2 offering off the camera behind the centerfield wall. Lauren Cumbess had a two-out RBI single in the third, scoring Joiner to make it 4-0. Riley’s one-out solo homer in the fourth pushed the Kentucky lead to 5-0. And Joiner wrapped the scoring with a two-our, two-RBI double in the sixth, allowing Cervantes and Dill to score.
Both teams left seven runners on base, with two of the Gamecocks’ stranded runners coming both in the first and sixth. Lackey had a bunt single to start the sixth, and Westfall followed with an infield single with two down, but Riley got a fly out to center to end the inning.
Riley (5-6) got shutout win, allowing five hits while fanning five. Riley hit four batters in the contest but did not issue a walk. Howser took the loss, giving up four runs, three earned, on four hits and four walks while striking out three in 2.2 innings.
Kentucky and South Carolina close the three-game series at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday afternoon.
