UK baseball and softball are rolling; Wildcats gymnastics upsets nation’s No. 2 team
The University of Kentucky baseball team swept its three-game series against Milwaukee with a pair of victories in a doubleheader at Kentucky Proud Park on Saturday.
UK, now 4-0 this season, won the first seven-inning contest 9-3 behind a big game from sophomore sensation John Rhodes, who got things rolling with a three-run homer in the bottom of the second. Rhodes drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fourth, generating the first of four runs in the inning as the Cats pushed ahead 7-2. Oraj Anu went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Rhodes, Zeke Lewis and Reuben Church also had two hits apiece in the win.
With the Cats clinging to a one-run lead in Saturday’s second game, Church homered to left field in the top of the seventh, providing some breathing room for relief pitcher Sean Harney, who struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to earn the save and seal a 4-2 UK win. Mason Hazelwood picked up his first victory of the season, striking out six and allowing two runs in four innings.
Church, a freshman from Maryville, Tenn., had a storybook debut as a Wildcat in Friday’s 10-0 win over Milwaukee, slapping a pair of doubles and driving in four runs. Rhodes had a double, two walks and a stolen base. Austin Schultz went 2-for-3 and scored two runs, drew two walks and stole two bases.
Cole Stupp picked up the win on Friday, striking out four and allowing four hits over four innings. Austin Strickland struck out three and allowed no hits over the game’s final two frames.
Softball
The 12th-ranked UK softball team continued its early-season tear with a pair of wins Friday and another Saturday during The Spring Games in Orlando, Fla.
With those three wins, the Wildcats improved to 12-0 and matched the 2014 team which eventually went to the College World Series for the best start in program history. UK was scheduled to face New Mexico State later Saturday and wrap up The Spring Games against Stetson on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
In Friday’s first game, freshman infielder Erin Coffel launched two three-run home runs in an 11-1 five-inning run-rule win over New Mexico State. Coffel’s six RBI tied the school’s single-game record for a freshman. In the second game, junior outfielder Renee Abernathy hit a two-RBI walk-off triple to deliver a 6-5 win over Florida International.
Coffel hit her seventh homer of the season during the win over FIU. She doubled home another run and scored twice during Kentucky’s 7-0 win over Stetson in Saturday afternoon’s first game. Abernathy also had an RBI double and scored twice in the victory.
Gymnastics
No. 14 Kentucky (4-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) closed its home schedule by sending its senior class out with a 197.100-196.800 victory over No. 2 LSU (4-3, 3-3 SEC) on Friday.
It was Kentucky’s highest-scoring performance of the season and marked the team’s third home victory in four tries over a top-10 opponent.
Raena Worley led the way as Friday’s all-around champion, while Cally Nixon tied eight-time NCAA champion Jenny Hansen’s program record score on uneven parallel bars in winning the event with a 9.975.
Kentucky’s regular season is scheduled to come to a close at No. 15 Georgia (2-5, 1-5 SEC) on March 5 at 7 p.m. ET, live on the SEC Network.
Indoor track
University of Kentucky sprinter Abby Steiner ran the fastest preliminary time in collegiate history and shattered the Southeastern Conference record in the 200-meter dash on Friday at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Arkansas.
Running in the fifth preliminary heat of the 200, Steiner finished in 22.41 seconds, breaking the SEC record of 22.43 set by Veronica Campbell of Arkansas in 2004 and her own school record (22.52) set two weeks ago. Steiner’s mark tied for the third-fastest in collegiate history and was only .03 away from the collegiate record. She owns the fastest 200 collegiate time of the season and the second-fastest time in the world this year. In addition to the 200, Steiner also qualified for the finals in the 60-meter run with a time of 7.23 seconds. She was scheduled to run in the finals of both events Saturday night.
Other Wildcats who qualified for Saturday’s finals include Dajour Miles in the 200, Masai Russell in the 60-meter hurdles, Megan Moss in the 400 and Jenna Schwinghamer in the 800, along with Tori Herman and Perri Bockrath in the mile.
Swimming and diving
The UK swimming and diving squad posted the best combined team score in program history with 759 points and finished seventh in the SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at Missouri.
Junior Mason Wilby broke the school record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:42.28, finishing fourth
Freshman Zane Rosely set a personal record in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 15:06.07 to finish eighth.
Throughout the meet, Kentucky swimmers recorded 36 personal records. The list of men’s and women’s swimmers and divers invited to the 2021 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will be released in early March.