Renee Abernathy’s home run streak carries Kentucky softball to first SEC series win
Renee Abernathy can’t remember the last time she hit a home run in four straight games.
It happened this week against the elite opposition that Kentucky softball hopes to take down in the postseason.
After scoring UK’s lone run via the long ball in last week’s home loss to No. 1 Oklahoma, Abernathy hit a home run in each of Kentucky’s three home games this weekend at John Cropp Stadium against No. 18 Auburn.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats took two of three games from the Tigers, winning by run rule on Friday night and by one run on Sunday, two results triggered by walk-off home runs by Abernathy.
“Just been working hard and everything’s been falling into place recently,” Abernathy said Sunday. “It was a hard March at the beginning, but our whole team works hard. It’s nice to see that it pays off.”
Here’s a look at the weekend that was for head coach Rachel Lawson and the Wildcats.
Friday: UK wins 11-3 in 6 innings
Abernathy began the series with a program-record day as the Cats opened the weekend series with a run-rule win.
Abernathy tied the UK school record with six RBI in one game, with four of those coming on a grand slam that enacted the run rule in the bottom of the sixth inning and ended the game.
She also opened the scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning.
“We were consistent throughout the game, not just having one inning where we score runs, continuously scoring runs because we’re a good offensive team,” Abernathy said Friday, as UK scored in five of the game’s six innings. “We’ve got to keep putting pressure on the pitchers, make people a little nervous.”
Junior outfielder Rylea Smith also had a career night by going 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and three singles.
Lawson credited the experience UK gained during the Oklahoma loss with helping the Cats offensively against Auburn.
In that loss to the Sooners, UK faced star freshman pitcher Jordyn Bahl, who has allowed just 11 runs in more than 69 innings pitched after this weekend’s games.
“Even though we didn’t play well (on Tuesday), I think we got a clear understanding of what we needed to do,” Lawson said. “We’re very clear in our objectives and I think we did a good job of following through.”
Freshman Alexia Lacatena earned her sixth win of the season in the circle for UK, allowing three runs in her 3 1/3 innings of work.
Senior Tatum Spangler pitched the final 2 2/3 innings, marking just her second pitching appearance of the season.
Spangler also tossed one inning against Iowa on Feb. 12, before taking time away from the circle due to an injury.
“Coach Lawson has been saying over the past few weeks, ‘Just stand in the line of fire.’ That’s what I kept saying in my head,” Spangler said postgame. “This is why I’m here. This is why I’m in the circle, just stand in the line of fire and I have a team behind me that’s going to get me through it.”
Saturday: Auburn wins 6-3
Abernathy hit another home run, but Kentucky was unable to secure the series win in Saturday’s game.
UK trailed 6-0 before Abernathy hit a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth.
Sophomore Maddie Penta had a complete game in the circle for Auburn, while sophomore Stephanie Schoonover received the loss for Kentucky after pitching only the first inning, in which she allowed three runs.
Sunday: UK wins 5-4
For a while Sunday, it appeared missed opportunities were going to be the story of the series-deciding game for the Wildcats.
UK trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning and had left seven runners on base to that point. Six of those seven runners were stranded in scoring position.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, UK scored four runs from three hits and an Auburn error.
After UK scored the first of these runs to trim the Auburn lead to 4-2, Penta returned to the circle for the Tigers to try and secure the series win.
That didn’t happen.
“We kind of thought that coming into (Sunday’s) game … ‘We’ve seen their pitchers, let’s just try and dominate today,’” Abernathy said of UK’s mindset. “It wasn’t like that at the beginning, but the end’s all that matters.”
What followed was a single to left field by sophomore infielder Erin Coffel — who hit a solo home run earlier in the game — and then Abernathy’s walk-off three-run blast.
“We were never really nervous. We always felt like we were in control,” Abernathy said.
“It’s a huge win for a lot of reasons,” Lawson said. “I think more than anything it wasn’t an easy game for us. We were grinding it out the whole time, we had a lot of at-bats where it didn’t look like we were seeing the ball and all that. To be able to stay in it even when you’re not playing your best.”
Abernathy and Coffel were Kentucky’s two most consistent offensive players during the Auburn series.
Abernathy drove in 11 of Kentucky’s 19 runs, while Coffel hit at a .545 average for the series.
Up next
Kentucky (22-7 overall and 3-3 in SEC play) will host a midweek opponent Tuesday night at John Cropp Stadium before continuing league play on the road. UK hosts Ohio State at 6 p.m. Tuesday, before then traveling to LSU for a three-game series from Friday through Sunday.
