[FONT=arial]Riley and Joiner blast seventh-inning bombs to rally Wildcats to first win of the year[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]LOS ANGELES – The No. 13/18 Kentucky Wildcats needed late-game heroics to complete a comeback effort and down Pacific, 3-2, in its first game on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. UK smacked a pair of home runs off the bats of senior Rachel Riley and freshman Griffin Joiner to overcome a two-run deficit in the final frame for its first win of the season.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Trailing 2-0 heading into its final at-bat, sophomore Emily Jolly opened the inning by reaching on a fielding error by Pacific’s third baseman. UK’s starting pitcher, Riley, got a hold of a 1-1 offering and drilled the ball over the left-center wall to knot the score at two apiece. After the Blue and White suffered back-to-back outs, the freshman placed a ball just over the left field fence for the game-winning round tripper and her first career hit.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Riley earned the win in the circle to help UK improve to 1-1 on the season. Pacific begins the season with a loss.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]All three of Kentucky’s hits in the game came in the form of extra bases. Sophomore Emily Gaines earned her first career hit with a double in the sixth inning to couple with the pair of long balls.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Kentucky will resume action with its second tilt vs. UCLA at 9 p.m. ET this evening.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]After falling in order to open the top of the first, Kentucky yielded a two-out infield single in the home half of the inning. Riley, however, wasted little time in ending the threat by getting the third out with a strikeout.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]The teams traded outs back and forth over the course of the next three innings with neither team generating offensive opportunities.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Pacific struck first with a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth to grab a 2-0 lead. The Tigers notched four consecutive singles to plate the scores.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Kentucky escaped further damage in the fifth as the Tigers put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs in the inning. Senior Macy Allen teamed up with Joiner and Lauren Cumbess to score the first double-play of the season. Allen robbed Pacific of a hit and alertly tossed the ball toward home where a runner was attempting to tag up. Joiner corralled the ball and found Cumbess who completed the out with the tag.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Gaines broke open the no-hitter effort with her first career hit in the top of the sixth. The sophomore drilled a double into the right-center gap to open the frame. UK would leave her stranded, however, with three consecutive outs to end the frame.[/FONT]
