Kentucky Softball Comes Back to Beat Indiana 6-2

No. 20/21 Kentucky (27-13, 6-9) trailed the Indiana Hoosiers for much of the game during this evening's border battle in Bloomington, but a rally in the later innings proved to be enough to sink IU in the end, 6-2.

The Hoosiers struck early in the bottom of the 1st inning. Rebecca Blitz singled to open the inning off of UK starter Meagan Prince, and after recording the first out of the inning, Prince walked Caramia Tsirigos. Blitz tagged up on a flyout and advanced to 3rd. So with two outs and runners on the corners, Taylor Uden singled to 2nd base and in the process brought Blitz home to put IU up 1-0.

The Wildcats evened the game quickly their next time up at bat. Alex Martens doubled to begin the inning and moved to 3rd courtesy of a fielder's choice on an Abbey Marten grounder. Breanne Ray was the next batter up and connected on a single to put her team on the board.

The Bats stayed quiet for both teams until the bottom of the 4th inning. The Hoosiers Bella Norton began the frame with a double to left field. With one out, Blitz strode back to the plate and came up with a RBI single to put the hosts in front for the final time, 2-1.

Blitz finished the day 3-of-4 and had a hand in both of IU's runs.

Meagan Prince exited the game after 5.0 innings. She allowed two runs on four hits while striking out a single batter against three walks.

Kentucky finally took the lead in the top of the 6th. With one out, Martens and Cheek each recorded a single to get on base. Breanne Ray, the next batter up, tied the game with yet another single. Rachael Metzger put UK in front, 3-2, with the second RBI single of the inning. After a Sarah Rainwater walk and an Erin Rethlake groundout, the bases were loaded with two outs; then Katie Reed drew a walk to increase the Cats' lead to 4-2.

The Cats added two insurance runs in the top of the 7th and final inning thanks to a RBI groundout by Ray and a RBI double by Metzger.

Shannon Smith (7-3) closed out the game for the cats. In two complete innings of work, she gave up three hits, a walk, and no runs. She also recorded a trio of strikeouts in her 13th appearance of the season.

Metzger finished the day 3-of-4 with two RBI, and Ray notched three runs driven home on 2-of-4 hitting. Martens hit 3-of-4 and scored two runs. Cheek went 2-of-4 at the plate and scored two runs as well.

Kentucky will hit the road again to play Missouri in Columbia for a three-game weekend series. The first pitch will at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time on Friday afternoon.