UK Softball vs. Utah: The Battle for Survival and the Supers

"Rain, Rain, Go Away. Our Cats have critical games to play!" I spied that sign on the sidelines yesterday and it couldn't have summed up the Lexington Regional any better. After an early wrap up of Friday's suspended game against Butler, the (non) Hittin' Kittens struggled through 7 innings against Utah. Roughly 3 hours later, Meagan Prince had one of her worse starts of the season with Illinois scoring 2 runs early. Kelsey Nunley came in to save the game, and save it she did.

All would be well if not for a potentially catastrophic hit by pitcher move in the 7th, when Kelsey was dinged (and hard!) while at bat. She pitched well in the 8th inning and helped give the Cats the win, but even a blind man could have seen she was hurting. Now Cat fans are left with a long night to worry and wonder.

While we knew walking in that Utah had the best hitters of the field, they proved their defense was no slouch. To get to the Supers, the Cats will need to show they too can make the bats roar and the opposition weep. And they have to do it not once but twice. Our keys to victory include:

• The ongoing growth of our freshman: Katie Reed had herself a heck of a day both in the box and on the field. Abbey Cheek was simply spoiling to hit a run or twelve, and Jenny Schaper was solid both behind the plate and on it.
• Senior Heroics: This group of seniors has never NOT made it to the Supers and they don't plan for that to change. I can't tell you who was the most impressive - Kelsey was amazing, but so were Sylver, Nikki, Maisie and Christian - but do know it's their collective will that can make the difference in the Cats getting to play on in the post season.
• Offense, Offense, Offense: The entire game cannot rest on the knife point of the pitcher's skills. Meagan and Kelsey need more help from their sisters to make both sides of the game work.

It all comes down to tomorrow's games, and let's hope we get to see games, plural! No TV coverage, but you can catch all the action at 1 PM EDT on ESPN3/the WatchESPN ap. You can also listen in via Fox 1580 AM, available on iHeart.

Until game time, Cat fans - GO BIG BLUE!!!!