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No. 16 Kentucky traveled to the gentle setting of Oxford, Mississippi to play no. 24 Ole Miss in a three-game weekend series.
The results were anything but serene.
A blowout and a shutout led to UK's first series loss to the Rebels in coach Rachel Lawson's tenure.
Kentucky is now 24-8 on the year and a respectable 5-4 in the rugged SEC.
A Friday Night to Forget
Defensively sound all season, Kentucky committed three fielding errors in a 7-1 defeat in the series opener in Oxford.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd inning. The Rebels got a triple and a walk off of UK starter Megan Prince 10-4).Then Sarah Van Schiak strode to the plate and belted a three-run dinger to put Ole Miss in the lead. Prince lasted three innings in the pitcher's circle. She surrendered three hits and two walks in addition to the home run. Larissa Spellman did not fare any better in relief. She gave up fours runs on five hits in three innings of work.
Van Schiak homered again in the bottom of the 5th, this time a two-run blast. With two outs, timely hitting and UK's errors allowed Ole Miss to add two more runs to their lead.
Alex Marten's RBI single in the 6th drove home Kentucky's only run of the game.
Erin Rethlake recorded Kentucky's only multi-hit game and finished 2-of-3.
Prince Bounced Back in Game 2
The sequel to Friday's blowout proved to be much more compelling theater.
The game was tied at 0 heading into the top of the 6th inning. Erin Rethlake walked to lead off the inning. Abbey Cheek reached based on an error. Then with two outs, Breanne Ray's single right up the middle brought Rethlake home for what would be the winning run.
Ole Miss refused to yield. In the bottom of the 7th and final innings, the Rebels had the bases loaded with two outs. A screamer came straight at Meagan Prince, and with heroic poise, the pitcher scooped up the pitch and tossed it to first for the game-winning out.
The out ended a complete game, shut out for Prince (10-5). She struck out nine, walked two, and allowed seven hits.
UK finished with five hits as a team, but no player finished with more than one hit.
UK's Offense Sputtered in the Series Finale
Ole Miss pitcher Katie Lee threw a seven-inning beauty against the Cats on Sunday. She allowed only five hits in the shutout and struck out two Cats.
Shannon Smith (6-3) gave the Widlcats 4.2 solid innings of work in the circle. She allowed only one run off of five hits. The normally solid Meagan Price allowed three runs in relief.
Bailey Vick was the lone bright spot for UK at the plate. She went 2-for-2.