Kentucky softball rallies late to extend winning streak over Louisville
Kentucky softball rallied late to defeat rival Louisville 8-3 on the road Wednesday night, putting a stop to what was a four-game losing streak.
The Wildcats (22-15 overall, 5-7 SEC) broke open a 3-3 game with five runs in the seventh inning to beat the Cardinals (20-16 overall, 3-9 ACC) for the fifth time in a row. Kentucky improved its all-time Battle of the Bluegrass series lead over Louisville to 25-20.
Kentucky led off the seventh inning with three consecutive bunts from Ally Hutchins, Ally Blum and Lauryn Borzilleri. Borzilleri’s bunt resulted in an out, but pushed Hutchins and Blum into scoring position. Louisville then walked Tates Creek graduate Peyton Plotts before senior Hallie Mitchell was hit by a pitch, sending Hutchins home to give UK its first lead of the game at 4-3. Maddy Clark drove home Blum with a single, then Louisville native Emory Donaldson cleared the bases with a triple to complete the five-run onslaught.
Kentucky fell behind early, giving up a pair of runs in the first inning on an RBI double from Ally Alexander, and committing an error benefiting ex-Cat Camryn Lookadoo, who made it to first base while Chelsea Mack ran home.
UK answered with a run in the second when Plotts scored on a grounder by Karissa Hamilton.
Louisville restored its two-run lead in the fourth on a Taylor Monroe solo home run, her second of the season and the only run given up by UK reliever Sarah Haendiges. Kentucky tied it 3-3 in the fifth when Louisville walked two batters with the bases loaded.
Haendiges pitched the final six innings for the Wildcats after freshman starter Carson Fall allowed two runs on two hits in one inning. Haendiges (8-3) earned the win, allowing one run on three hits and striking out six.
Louisville sent four pitchers into the circle. Starter Alyssa Zabala allowed three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings before giving way to Sam Booe, Lindsey Mullen and Brooke Gray. All told, the Cardinals walked nine batters and allowed seven hits. The nine bases on balls was a season-high for UK.
Wednesday’s game started two hours earlier than originally scheduled because of severe weather in the forecast. Similarly, the Wildcats’ next task — a three-game series at John Cropp Stadium against Auburn slated to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. — might be affected by predicted weekend storms.
Catching up with the Cats
Now boasting 22 wins, the Wildcats are moving through a difficult 2025 schedule.
Once again, UK began its season in Clearwater, Florida, this time with the NFCA Lead-Off Classic. Unranked Kentucky defeated Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (in five innings), Morgan State and Southern Miss before being edged by then-top-10 Duke.
The Wildcats entered the top 25 after opening weekend, landing at No. 23 before muscling through a difficult stretch at the ESPN Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational; UK picked up wins against Wichita State and Clemson, but fell to unranked Virginia and then-No. 9 Oklahoma State and then-No. 4 UCLA.
Kentucky fell to No. 24, but closed out February with a combined record of 8-2 against unranked opponents across the I-75 Tournament in Atlanta and the WKU Tournament in Bowling Green; only Coastal Carolina and Evansville beat the Wildcats.
Improving to No. 23 in the national standings, UK’s stop-and-start success continued. The Wildcats proceeded to sweep Missouri in Lexington before falling to then-No. 16 Virginia Tech at John Cropp Stadium, and getting swept at then-No. 4 LSU, a difficult stretch that resulted in Kentucky dropping out of the rankings entirely.
The team earned midweek wins against Dayton at home and Bellarmine in Louisville, and won its series (2-1) with then-No. 20 Ole Miss at home. Kentucky’s four-game losing streak entering the Battle of the Bluegrass came via losses to then-No. 17 Stanford and a sweep at then-No. 14 Arkansas.
Following its series with Auburn, the Wildcats will host Marshall for a midweek matchup on April 9 before jetting off for the 2025 Boston Tournament next weekend, where UK will face Sacred Heart University once and Boston University twice.
