SEC softball is brutal, but that’s just the way Kentucky likes it
So you think SEC football is tough.
It’s nothing compared to SEC softball.
Five of the eight teams in last year’s Women’s College World Series were from the SEC. Check out the current rankings. Nine of the top 16 teams are from the SEC. Florida is at No. 1, followed by Auburn at No. 3, Alabama at No. 7, Georgia at No. 9, LSU at No. 10, Texas A&M at No. 11, Kentucky at No. 12, Missouri at No. 15 and Tennessee at No. 16. Talk about stacked.
The home folks have taken notice. This weekend over at John Cropp Stadium off Alumni Drive, a crowd of 1,231 showed up Friday night to watch Auburn roll 9-0 over Kentucky. Saturday, a sellout crowd of 1,721 braved the strong winds to watch Auburn hold off a Kentucky rally for a 6-5 win in a bizarre three-hour affair.
How bizarre? During Auburn’s third inning, the wind carried a couple of routine fly balls right over the left-field fence for two-run homers in what turned out to be a five-run inning for the team that leads the nation in average runs scored per game at 9.8.
That wasn’t even the bizarre part. One inning the teams had to be called back onto the field because the umpires thought there were three outs when there were only two.
There was also a 27-minute delay when Auburn protested a Kentucky substitution and the umpires couldn’t figure out who was wrong and who was right. At one point during the delay, UK Coach Rachel Lawson used her cellphone to call an official for a clarification of the rule, then handed the phone to an umpire so he could talk to whoever was on the other end.
“I work a lot and I’m on a lot of committees, so I have a lot of phone numbers,” Lawson said afterward, admitting the rule in question — as best we could understand, it had something to with designated players and re-entries and flex positions — is written in a confusing manner.
Every time you step on the field you’re playing world class coaches, you’re playing All-Americans, people are prepared, the stadiums that you play in are gorgeous, the athletes are awesome, the crowd is great. Our crowd today was awesome. There’s no place I’d rather be.
Kentucky softball coach Rachel Lawson
Here’s something that is crystal clear: SEC softball is brutal. After Sunday’s series finale with Auburn, UK travels to LSU next weekend for a three-game series; returns home to play Missouri in a weekend series, then travels to Alabama for a three-game set before April is done. All three of those teams are ranked in the Top 15.
“That’s why we’re here,” said UK pitcher Kelsey Nunley on Saturday. “We want to play the best of the best.”
A strong case can be made that, with the exception of a certain men’s basketball coach, Lawson is Mitch Barnhart’s best hire at Kentucky. She has led the Cats to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including four Super Regionals in the last five years and a Women’s College World Series appearance in 2014.
Even with Saturday’s loss, Kentucky is 31-7 overall and 8-3 in the SEC, a game behind league-leading Florida. In her ninth year at UK, Lawson has built a nationally recognized program while competing in the nation’s toughest conference, which can either be gruelling or gratifying.
“It’s a lot of fun for a lot of reasons,” Lawson said. “Every time you step on the field you’re playing world-class coaches, you’re playing All-Americans, people are prepared, the stadiums that you play in are gorgeous, the athletes are awesome, the crowd is great. Our crowd today was awesome. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
That being said …
“It is tough week in and week out,” Lawson admitted. “Every time you step on the field it’s like you’re playing a Super Regional. With that said, it also gets you ready for the postseason.”
That makes Sunday’s third game with the nation’s No. 3 ranked team important. Having lost the first two games in the series, salvaging the third game against Auburn would be huge.
“You’re looking for seeding in the SEC Tournament and you’re also looking for seeding for the NCAA Tournament,” Lawson said. “Any time you play a team like an Auburn, you’re expecting they are going to go deep in the postseason so you want to learn as much as you can. Because everything that we do is to get us ready for the World Series.”
John Clay: 859-231-3266, jclay@herald-leader.com, @johnclayiv
Kentucky’s remaining home softball schedule
April 3 - Auburn, 1 p.m.
April 6 - Louisville , 5:30 p.m.
April 13 - Eastern Kentucky, 6 p.m.
April 15 - Missouri, 6 p.m.
April 16 - Missouri, 5 p.m.
April 17 - Missouri, 1 p.m.
May 6 - Mississippi State, 6 p.m.
May 7 - Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
May 8 - Mississippi State 1 p.m.
This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "SEC softball is brutal, but that’s just the way Kentucky likes it."