Kayla Kowalik, right, and Erin Coffel are UK's top hitters going into NCAA play. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If there’s any coach who can always find an optimistic but realistic outlook, it is Kentucky softball coach Rachel Lawson.
Midway of the Southeastern Conference season it looked like Kentucky would be in position to host a NCAA Tournament regional. Then ace pitcher Stephanie Schoonover hurt her arm, the Cats had trouble winning series and UK dropped to the No. 2 seed in the Northwestern regional for NCAA play.
However, Lawson is not complaining.
“It is a good draw because we get to stay close to home and I like that,” said Lawson Sunday. “Northwestern is very good. I think they are underrated. They could have been a top eight seed (instead of No. 12 seed).
“Miami (Ohio) is also very good and I am excited for Eastern Illinois who has a terrific coach. It’s a very competitive pool.”
Kentucky plays Miami Friday afternoon to start the double-elimination pod. Miami beat UK 7-5 in Oxford last season but UK won 15-1 over Miami in a rematch in the Blacksburg regional. In the 2021 Lexington regional, UK beat Northwestern 3-2 and 7-2.
All-American catcher Kayla Kowalik is just glad Kentucky is relatively close to Lexington.
“That is always great. We have some of the best fans in the SEC and this side of the country,” Kowalik said. “It’s a cool opportunity to play close so our fans can come out.”
It’s also “great” to avoid SEC competition. The SEC teams had 11 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
“I think it is fun when you get to play teams from other leagues,” Lawson said. “You have battles in the SEC all the time. The further you advance, you will be matched with SEC teams. I love going across conferences. It adds a lot of excitement for the tournament.”
Lawson hopes her team can play “great softball” based on energy, hitting balls hard and solid defense along with pitching that does not allow a lot of walks.
“I think this is an incredibly tough team. We had had so much adversity … weather all over place, injuries, so many doubleheaders,” Lawson said. “ A lot of things did not go our way. We would get knocked down and they picked themselves up. That’s the coolest thing about this team.”
Lawson was vague about the status of Schoonover, who made two appearances after coming back from her injury. Lawson turned the question about Schooner’s availability into a way to praise other pitchers who had to fill in while she was out.
“We have a complete staff and hopefully that will be the (pitching) depth we need this weekend,” Lawson said.
