The Kentucky softball team opened the season by winning the 2024 Aztec Opening Weekend Kickoff Tournament in San Diego.
The Wildcats finished the event with a 4-1 record. The wins were over UC Santa Barbara, No. 3 Stanford (twice) and Minnesota. The loss was against No. 24 San Diego State.
Following the impressive weekend, the Wildcats entered the top 25 at No. 14 this week:
D1Softball Top 25: Week 1
Texas, Oklahoma State Rise; Virginia Tech Enters
Presented by @NettingPros
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— D1Softball (@D1Softball) February 12, 2024
Kentucky pitcher Stephanie Schoonover was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
Here is a release from UK Athletics:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky Softball’s Stephanie Schoonover was crowned the Southeastern Conference’s Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. It is the second SEC weekly honor for Schoonover, who was also the pitcher of the week once in 2023.
Schoonover was 3-0 on opening weekend with wins over No. 3 Stanford, RV Minnesota and an opening day win vs. UC Santa Barbara. Schoonover outdueled Ni’jaree Canady in an extra-innings affair, throwing 8.0 innings without allowing an earned run as Kentucky stunned the Cardinal 3-2 in extra innings. Schoonover had nine strikeouts in her season debut with just three hits allowed as UK moved to 1-0 with a win over UC Santa Barbara.
To cap off the weekend, Schoonover entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in a tied game vs. Minnesota and got a strikeout, followed by getting two K’s to end the eighth inning without allowing a run in the international tiebreak as Kentucky secured a 4-1 weekend and was crowned champs of the Aztec Season Kickoff.
With Schoonover’s assistance, Kentucky has allowed two runs or less in its first five games of the season for the first time in program history. UK will head south this weekend to Clearwater, Florida to compete in the 2024 Shriners Children’s ESPN Elite Invitational beginning Thursday as it faces North Carolina, Wisconsin, Washington, UCF and Texas.
SEC Awards – Week 1
Player
Rylie West, Tennessee
Pitcher
Stephanie Schoonover, Kentucky
Co-Freshman
Lauren Johnson, Alabama and Olivia Miller, Florida
NEW for 2024 – The Kentucky Softball Designated Players Club
The Designated Players is the Official Booster Program of Kentucky Softball. Financial contributions and community support through The Designated Players program, Kentucky Softball will be able to continue to develop our student-athletes on and off the field. To join The Designated Players, you can join online or click here to download the membership form and mail to the address listed. For more information, email Kristine Himes at [email protected] or Larry Cash at [email protected].
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Kentucky Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
