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The Hittin’ Kittens escaped the turbulent weather by taking a working vacation down at the Florida Atlantic Invitational in posh Boca Raton. Instead of hitting the beach, the Wildcats put together their best stretch of the season and left with five consecutive wins and the tournament trophy in hand and a 10-4 record.
Here are the scores:
2/24
Kentucky 4, Connecticut 2
Kentucky 2, Florida A&M 0
2/25
Kentucky 9, Memphis 1
Kentucky 6, Florida Atlantic 2
2/26
Kentucky 12, Memphis 0
Erin Rethlake Had Herself A Weekend
Junior pitcher and Indiana native Erin Rethlake was a woman for all seasons over the course of the tournament. Friday against UConn, Rethlake played first base and had a dandy of a game at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI’s. In the second game of the day against the Rattlers of Florida A&M, she went 1-of-2 but drew two walks and scored a run. Also, Rethlake pitched four innings in relief of starting pitcher Larissa Spielman. She only gave up a single hit and walk to go along with seven strikeouts in addition to no runs in what turned out to be her second win of the season.
Rethlake earned third win of the season against Memphis earlier today by tossing a five-inning, two-hit shutout. At the plate, she was 1-of-3 with 2 RBI’s.
She finished the tournament hitting an even .500 two along with four total RBI’s.
The Pitching Staff Was Solid Overall
Rethlake was not the only Wildcat to hold down the circle during the tournament. Shannon Smith got two wins to improve her record on the season to 3-1. Meagan Prince got a pair of save and a single win to improve her record to 3-2. The staff ERA was 1.00 during the three-day stretch of games. Solid work in the circle just might carry these ladies far once SEC play begins.
The Kittens Kept on Hittin’
After struggling at the plate during the early days of the campaign, the Cats came on strong in Boca. As a team, they cranked out 54 hits, an average of 10.8 a game. Their 33 runs averaged out to 6.6 a game. Amazingly enough, despite the explosion, Kentucky is still ranked eighth in the SEC in hits and is near the bottom in total runs.