Kentucky softball lands in Blacksburg regional

coach-20

Photo by Vicky Graff

As expected Kentucky softball will not be hosting a NCAA regional this season after losing its first game in Southeastern Conference play at Florida last week and coach Rachel Lawson’s team certainly is in a regional where it knows plenty about the competition.

Kentucky will play at Blacksburg, Va., in a bracket with host Virginia Tech, Miami (Ohio) and Saint Francis (Pa.).

Kentucky will open NCAA play Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Miami. The game will be shown on ESPN+.

Kentucky finished regular season play 35-17 with a 13-11 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Cats were 11-1 in neutral site games and 11-7 in true road games like they would face against Virginia Tech.

The Cats played Virginia Tech Feb. 13 in the season-opening event in Leesburg, Fla., and lost 6-1 when the Hokies scored five runs in the sixth inning of the Northern Lights/Southern Nights Invitational. The Hokies advanced to the 2021 Super Regional and are the No. 3 overall seed this year.

Kentucky also lost 7-5 earlier this season at Miami (Ohio) after falling behind 5-0 in the first two innings.

Kentucky is led offensively by catcher Kayla Kowalik, shortstop Erin Coffel and left fielder Lauren Johnson.

Kowalik is hitting a team-high .413 with 51 runs scored, 26 runs batted-in and 15 stolen bases. She has started all 52 games and has a team-high 27 walks.

Coffel is hitting .412 and leads the team in home runs with 17 and RBI’s with 58.  Coffel has been walked 19 times.

Johnson’s average is .390 with eight homers and 39 runs knocked-in. She also has 10 steals.

Pitching has been UK’s issue. The team has a 3.67 earned run average but in conference play it went up to 4.30.

Tatum Spangler has been UK’s best pitcher with a 1.77 ERA in 59 1/3 innings. She is 9-2 in 17 appearances with five starts and has 47 strikeouts.

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