Kentucky players hope to keep celebrating in postseason play like they did after the sweep of South Carolina. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky got the sixth seed in the Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament and will play Georgia Wednesday in Tuscaloosa and if it wins would have to face host Alabama, the No. 3 seed, the next day. But don’t expect Rachel Lawson to be anything but optimistic. Her team has won six straight SEC games after the weekend sweep of South Carolina — with the last win coming on an extra inning walk-offer by senior Mallory Peyton.
“I am the ultimate realist,” Lawson said after UK won the first game against South Carolina on Friday. “I am always tweaking. I feel like we are on an upward trajectory.”
She liked the way freshman shortstop Erin Coffel is playing because to win in the postseason requires “clean defense” and that has been a problem at times for Kentucky this season.
“I feel good about where we are at because our defense has got a lot cleaner and that is what is most important at this time of year,” Lawson said.
Kentucky is one of 20 teams being considered for the 16 NCAA Tournament host sites to open tourney play.
Lawson knows the last six wins have “helped our cause” and she always has “hosting in the back of my mind” because she knows what a big edge that can be in NCAA play.
“At the end, it comes down to what people think,” Lawson said. “Any time you can win at the end it looks very good. We have a lot of quality wins. Being on the (selection) committee (before) I know people talk about how you do at the end of the season.”
Senior Autumn Humes got the win in four of UK’s games during the current win streak. She knows what winning the SEC Tournament would mean to UK and its NCAA seeding.
“Right now we are just taking it one game at a time,” she said. “As long as we keep playing Kentucky softball we should be fine. When we step out of that, we do not play our best. When we trust the things we do in practice that is when we play our best.”
