California Golden Bears pitcher Joleen Henderson was shelled in the first game today by Kentucky, but in the second game she came back and shut out the Wildcats 9-0 in a dominant performance.

Much like Kentucky in the last game, the Golden Bears jumped on the Wildcats early, scoring 5 runs in the first inning and forcing starting pitcher Chanda Bell to an early exit.  Rachel Riley pitched a very good game in relief, but tired at the end after pitching the first game and most of the second, and Cal added four runs to their total in the 7th inning.  The Wildcats were retired in order in the bottom of the 7th, and the series ends with California winning, 2-1.

Congratulations to the Golden Bears on some really outstanding defense, and offense, in the last game.  Combined with Henderson's near-perfect pitching, the Wildcats looked a bit like a team reaching the super-regional level of the NCAA tournament for the first time, obviously frustrated that they could not hit Henderson, nor make a game of it after the big Cal first inning.

Coach Rachel Lawson and Wildcats fans everywhere have to be proud of the outstanding run by this Kentucky team that ended one game short of the Women's College World Series.  I can't say enough about how tough the Wildcats have been in this run, and the outstanding fan support that they received.  The future of the Kentucky softball program looks incredibly bright, and with a number of talented returning starters, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Wildcats back next year in the same position.

Go, 'Cats!

[Story re-promoted for the final game of the series.  Treat as open game thread]

Today, the Kentucky Wildcats face the California Golden Bears in games 2 and 3 (if necessary) of the 3-game series in the Lexington Super-Regional for the right to go to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. Game particulars are as follows, courtesy of UKAthletics.com:

California @ Kentucky
Game Notes	Kentucky Super Regional Guide | Cal Super Regional Guide
Location	UK Softball Complex Lexington, Ky.

Sunday, May 29, 1 p.m. ET
Game One Coverage	TV: ESPN Radio: Online, 630 WLAP in Lexington, 1080 WKJK in Louisville Free Video via ESPN3 Live Blog Text Updates
Game Two Coverage (if necessary)	TV: ESPN Radio: Online, 630 WLAP in Lexington, 1080 WKJK in Louisville Free Video via ESPN3 Live Blog Text Updates

The Golden Bears took game one in a 1-hit shutout, 1-0 before a record 1,717 fans in the UK Softball complex yesterday despite an outstanding pitching performance from UK's junior pitcher Chanda Bell.  Bell repeatedly got out of innings late when Cal had base runners in scoring position, and every time somebody hit safely against her, she came back stronger and got out of the innings, often with strikeouts (she had 8 total)

Continue reading this post »

The second game of the Lexington super-regional was no contest.  Kentucky ran Joleen Henderson after three innings, and her replacement, freshman Arianna Erceg, fared no better.  Only a ridiculously athletic outfield double-play by Jamia Reid in the bottom of the 4th prevented the margin from becoming truly ugly, likely 10+ runs.  Rachel Riley got the call as pitcher, and although she was nowhere near as dominant batter for batter as Chanda Bell was yesterday, she still pitched a 5-hit shutout

Kentucky displayed remarkable poise compared to last game, especially with bats in hand.  They handled Henderson with aplomb with timely (although anything but powerful) hitting and solid base running to get an early 5 run lead.  After Henderson gave way to Erceg, Kentucky really began exerting themselves offensively.  Kentucky ended the game with 8 runs on 10 hits with 1 error, and scored in every compete inning.

Cal was very shaky fielding the ball in this game with multiple errors.  In addition, no less than two Cal runners were called out on unusual plays, one when Victoria Jones got hit by the ball while advancing to second on an infield hit by Ashley Decker.  Another happened when Elia Reid interfered with UK 2nd baseman Samantha DeMartine while advancing to second on an infield hit by her sister, Jamia.  Elia was called out for interference, and Rachel Riley ended the game by getting Cal shortstop Britt Vonk to fly out to left.

This Kentucky victory sets up the decisive rubber match in just a few hours.  The previous open thread will be promoted back to the top, and you can leave your comments there as well.

The Kentucky Wildcats fell to the California Golden Bears 1-0 today at the Kentucky softball complex in Lexington.  Joleen Henderson for the Golden Bears pitched a 1-hit shutout in a stellar pitching duel.

Kentucky's Chanda Bell also pitched a very good game but for one pitch she got up in the strike zone and Frannie Echavarria got all of it and hit her first home run of the season, which represented the only scoring in the game.  Kentucky did a poor job of hitting the ball, in no small part due to the placement of the ball by Joleen Henderson, who has an impossible-to-believe 0.8 ERA and has won 38 games.  Henderson did not overpower Kentucky (only 4 strikeouts vs. Bell's 8) but she made no mistakes and kept the ball low in the strike zone and on the edges all day.

Cal also did an excellent job on the base paths, although it didn't produce any scoring for them.  Kentucky, meanwhile, played less than stellar defense, allowing a couple of balls to get out of the infield and making 1 throwing error that fortunately didn't result in a score.  All in all, though, the Kentucky offense, which has been so potent this year, was held completely in check by a combination of Henderson's well-placed pitches and what appeared to me to be an incoherent hitting strategy.  Perhaps the size of the stage finally got to them a bit.

Regardless, tomorrow's first game at 1:00 PM is an elimination game for UK, but will have the Wildcats as the home team hitting in the bottom of the innings, and hopefully that combined with the experience of a tough loss to an outstanding opponent will focus their minds and get them to the rubber match in the evening. 

This is the official A Sea of Blue open game thread for the  Kentucky Wildcats @ #7 California Golden Bears softball game today.  Game particulars as follows, courtesy of UKAthletics.com:

Kentucky @ California
Game Notes	Kentucky Super Regional Guide | Cal Super Regional Guide
Location	UK Softball Complex Lexington, Ky.

Saturday, May 28, 12 p.m. ET
Coverage Note: UK has been designated the visiting team for this game.	TV: ESPNU Radio: Online, 630 WLAP in Lexington, 1080 WKJK in Louisville Free Video via ESPN3 Live Blog Text Updates

This is the first NCAA super-regional appearance ever by the UK softball team, which has made a lot of history this year.  Coming off a road victory at #10 Michigan, the Wildcats now get to host their first super-regional round.  The Bears hav been in Kentucky since last weekend, where they defeated the Louisville Cardinals in the regional round. 

Continue reading this post »

We don't talk about sports like women's soccer on A Sea of Blue much.  There is just too much going on around the "revenue sports" for most of the year.  Women's soccer at UK certainly isn't that.

But in his second year at the helm of the Wildcats, Jon Lipsitz, the second-year coach of the Kentucky women's soccer team, is making noise.  Lipsitz retooled the style of the 'Cats after a rather dismal 2009, turned the team around and into a fast-breaking offensive-oriented team, and led the Wildcats to the SEC tournament in 2010.  Kentucky lost to the #2 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks, but suddenly, Kentucky has become on of the hottest names on the recruiting trail according to TopDrawerSoccer.com:

As of this moment, the Kentucky women's program could field a team using only its 2012 verbal commits.  

And we're not talking about a harmless team, either.

Just in case you haven't noticed, the Wildcats have successfully ransacked the recruiting season while acquiring players from Canada to Arizona.