[FONT=arial]UK now 0-2 in extra inning contests, Wildcats strand 11 base runners[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]STATESBORO, Ga.– After overcoming 11 stranded base runners and staging a seventh-inning rally to force extra innings the Kentucky softball team suffered a 2-1 loss to Georgia Southern on a walk-off two-out RBI single in the home half of the eighth inning on Saturday evening.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]UK falls to 7-6 on the season and Georgia Southern improves to 8-5 on the season with the win. Despite only yielding three hits on the day sophomore Lauren Cumbess suffers the loss. Georgia Southern plated its score in regulation on back-to-back errors by the Wildcats to earn a lead it would never relinquish.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]With UK trailing 1-0, sophomore Emily Jolly led off the seventh with a single into left field. She promptly swiped second to move into scoring position. Junior Kara Dill shifted the runner to third with a grounder back to second and freshman Griffin Joiner delivered the game-tying RBI single into right-center to knot the score at 1-1.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Georgia Southern had a single and reached on a walk to place two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. Both runners eventually moved into scoring position, but Cumbess escaped the jam with a pop-up to sophomore Krystal Smith at second to force extra innings.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]In the top of the eighth, Cervantes was placed on second. She’d move to third on a Cumbess groundout for the second out of the inning. Sophomore Aubrey Lamar was struck with a pitch to place runners on the corners, but again UK could not push across a score.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Georgia Southern began the home half of the eighth with a runner on second. UK notched two outs with the runner shifting to third on a grounder and it appeared Kentucky would escape the jam yet again. However, the Eagles’ No. 4 batter connected with a 3-2 offering and roped a single through the left side to allow the winning run to come home.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Joiner was the first base runner of the game after getting plucked with a pitch with one out in the top of the first. Senior Rachel Riley followed with a chopper over the third baseman’s head to get two aboard for the Wildcats. UK could not push across a run however as the inning ended with a pair of fly-outs.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Cumbess yielded a two-out walk in the home half of the first, but the right-hander quickly quelled the threat with a fly-out to junior Alice O’Brien in right field.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Kentucky’s starting pitcher began the visitor’s second at-bat with a single into left field. Lamar advanced the runner with a well-placed sacrifice bunt, but UK’s next two batters would fall leaving the runner stranded.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Dill extended her hitting streak to 10 games with a leadoff single in the top of the third. Joiner shifted the runner with a sac bunt and Riley’s deep fly-ball into center moved the runner all the way to third. Senior Brittany Cervantes walked to place runners on the corners, but a foul-out to third ended the stanza with UK stranding two more base runners.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]The Eagles plated the game’s first score as two Wildcat errors kept the inning alive. The first error came on a muffed fielding play and the second on a throwing error that allowed the runner to score all the way from second for a 1-0 home team lead. UK dropped in order in the top of the fourth without getting a single base runner aboard.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Dill reached on a one-out walk and Joiner laced a single through the left-side. Riley kept the inning alive by reaching on a fielder’s choice to place runners on the corners. UK, however, would again end the inning with runners aboard without pushing across a run.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]O’Brien opened open the sixth by slicing a single into right field. A failed sac bunt attempt posted the first out of the inning with a runner still aboard. UK would suffer consecutive outs to end the stanza with another runner still standing.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Cumbess gave up her first hit of the game with a soft rolling bunt back to her on the mound. The throw appeared to have beaten the runner, but the runner was ruled safe. Following a strikeout, Cumbess induced a double-play to end the stanza and keeping the Wildcats within striking distance for a rally.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Kentucky returns to action at the Rajin Cajuns’ Invitational at Louisiana-Lafayette next weekend. UK plays five games in a three-day tournament beginning with Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET[/FONT]
