Rachel Lawson and all-American catcher Kayla Kowalik signed autographs for fans after a game with Tennessee last weekend. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Rachel Lawson is optimistic about how the rest of the season could go for her Kentucky softball team but also realistic.
Kentucky is 25-13-1 overall and 7-8 in Southeastern Conference play after being swept by Tennessee last weekend. The Cats are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the SEC with series remaining against Arkansas (9-6 SEC), Florida (8-7) and Mississippi State (3-11).
Lawson knows it is probably unlikely that Kentucky will host a NCAA regional based on its current record.
“It’s hard to say. We still have three conference series. If we could run the table, we might be in a pretty good position,” Lawson said. “There is a lot of the season left to play but I don’t think about that stuff right now.
“We just talk about how to be a better softball team to be honest. If you play good softball, you get to host. If you don’t play good softball, you don’t host. That’s kind of how it is.”
Short, sweet and simple. That’s how Lawson operates.
It would obviously help Kentucky to get ace Stephanie Schoonover back. She has been out three weeks with an arm injury and probably missed six starts. Kentucky was 4-2 in SEC play with her and is 3-6 without her on the mound. Schoonover is 12-1 with a 1.45 earned run average and has 146 strikeouts in 96 innings.
Lawson appreciates how other pitchers have “had an opportunity to step up” with Schoonover out and says that will be “essential” in postseason play. However, the veteran coach also admits it is a “big deal” not having Schoonover on the mound.
It would also be a big deal to get a player or two batting behind all-American shortstop Erin Coffel to be a more consistent hitter. Teams are frequently walking Coffel — she had nine in a three-game series at Ole Miss and now has 46 walks this season.
Coffel still leads UK with 14 homers and 46 RBI’s but is not getting many chances to drive in runs.
“We are moving her around in the lineup. We have an excellent short game. I think our slappers are doing a great job but we need that extra pop. We have had people come up big in key moments but we are just looking for somebody to do it consistently. That is what we are reaching for right now,” Lawson said about finding a way to protect Coffel.
“With Coffel, wherever she is in the order the person in front of her is going to get some good pitches and the person after her will get some good pitches. We just have to make sure who is hitting after her capitalizes on those pitches. That would really help us a lot.”
