College Softball News

SEC Tournament: Highlights from the first day

Photo/LSU Athletics Bridgette Hogan

Arkansas

In the first SEC Tournament game since 2013, Nicole Schroeder hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth for Arkansas’ lone run of the contest. It was her 16th homer of the season, which set a new program record for home runs in a single season.

Nicole Schroeder on setting the single-season home run record…

“It means so much to me because this is such a great program to be a part of. It’s so awesome to see the success that we are having right now.”

Alabama

Bailey Hemphill was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. She singled in the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning and then homered in the bottom of the sixth. The home run was the first since she hit a ball out and missed home plate against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide will face Texas A&M tomorrow at noon ET.

Bailey Hemphill on touching home plate…

“I didn’t know they were going to point. I figured they were going to do something because they’ve been giving me a hard time about not touching home plate. Rounding third, Murph was like make sure you step with one foot so I made sure I stepped on it and celebrated after.”

Mississippi State

Olivia Golden hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning for the Bulldogs only run of the afternoon. Alexis Silkwood came on in relief and pitched 4.1 scoreless innings.

Olivia Golden on the rest of the season…

“We don’t think one game is bigger than the other. One of our big things this year was to relax and have fun and I think we’ve done a really good job at that. We are going to leave today behind us and we have a lot of season left.”

Ole Miss

Kaitlin Lee earned a complete game victory against Mississippi State. She allowed one run and five hits. Elantra Cox scored the first run of the game after she singled to lead things off for the Rebels. Ole Miss advances to face Florida tomorrow in the second game of the afternoon that will start around 2:30 p.m. ET.

Elantra Cox on being the underdog against Florida…

“That is not a sentence that is in my vocabulary. What people say, I don’t care what they say. We are going to do what we can to win the ball game.”

South Carolina

Alyssa VanDerveer got the scoring started for the Gamecocks in the top of the sixth when she homered to center field. Shannon Plese recorded a RBI that same inning with the bases loaded but the rally was halted by an inning-ending double play. Tiara Duffy added another run in with a home run to center field but it was too little too late for the Gamecocks.

Nickie Blue on pitching in the SEC…

“The SEC is the best conference and anytime you can go up against these hitters and succeed it always feels good. Anytime the best hitters get to step up to the plate against me, it’s fun.”

Kentucky

Abbey Cheek blasted two home runs in a 7-3 victory over South Carolina Wednesday evening. Her first one came in the bottom of the third and the second was in the fifth. Meagan Prince pitched seven innings and gave up six hits, two runs and two walks. The Wildcats move on to face the No. 2 seed Auburn Tigers at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Kentucky head coach Rachel Lawson on the play of Abbey Cheek…

“Abbey is awesome. I think Abbey is one of the most underrated players around. I think she has to get more consistent and I think when she’s more consistent, people will really understand how good she is. That’s something she is going to have to work really hard on but there is nobody stronger and faster than Abbey. Her ballistic raw power is incredible. When she puts it all together, she is going to be something special.”

Mizzou

The Mizzou offense produced 10 hits against LSU on Wednesday night but it wasn’t enough to take down the Tigers from Baton Rogue. Natalie Fleming tied the game at two with a two-RBI single in the top of the fourth inning. Regan Nash started a late rally in the seventh inning when she scored on a double from Cayla Kessinger. Mizzou scored three runs in the inning to bring the score to 6-5.

Cayla Kessinger on the rally…

“I think it was important for us to have that energy and come back. We knew it wasn’t over. They can score all the runs they want to but it’s about the fight that we have and I think we fought really in that last inning. It just didn’t go in our favor.”

LSU

Sydney Springfield launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to give LSU an early 2-0 lead but it was Sahvanna Jaquish’s grand slam that proved to be the difference maker. Jaquish launched a long ball to left-center with two outs in the fourth inning to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead and it was just enough to hand on for the 6-5 win.

Sahvanna Jaquish on her grand slam…

“I didn’t think it was out when I hit it. It didn’t feel like it hit the barrel but I kind of muscled it through. My team had really high energy the whole game. They were just telling me to keep swinging and they had confidence in me so I had to have confidence in myself.”

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