Courtesy of Kentucky Athletics
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior pitcher/infielder Lauren Cumbess launched her ninth home run of the season in the second inning and followed with an insurance run in the sixth inning on a RBI sacrifice fly, giving sophomore pitcher Kelsey Nunley all the run support she needed as UK posted a 2-0 win over Ohio in its first game of the 2014 NCAA Lexington Regional on Friday night at John Cropp Stadium.
The win advances Kentucky (45-15) to the winner’s bracket of the regional with the Wildcats facing James Madison (45-13) on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET for a spot in Sunday’s regional final. James Madison started the regional with a 6-1 win over DePaul on Friday night. This will be the first ever meeting between UK and JMU.
DePaul and Ohio will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The loser of the UK-JMU game and winner of the DePaul-Ohio game will square off at 6 p.m. ET to determine the second team in Sunday’s regional final.
Live stats and free live video from every game at John Cropp Stadium this weekend will be available on UKathletics.com. A complete schedule of events and ticket information is posted below, while fans can visit www.ukathletics.com/ncaasoftball for complete information on the regional.
Kentucky’s games this weekend will be broadcasted live on local radio with Dick Gabriel on the call. Saturday’s games can be heard live on WWTF-AM 1580 in Lexington, while Sunday’s games will be on WLAP-AM 630 in Lexington.
Cumbess was the star at the plate for Kentucky, driving in both UK runs. The native of Normal, Ill., started the scoring in the second inning when she leadoff the frame with a solo home run to right-centerfield to put UK up 1-0. The homer was her ninth of the season and third all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
The senior added a key insurance run for Kentucky in the bottom of the sixth inning, hammering a sacrifice fly to deep right field that scored sophomore Maisie Steed. The rally started after a leadoff double by senior outfielder Emily Gaines, who was pinch ran for by Steed. The sophomore stole third early in Cumbess’ at-bat and came home to score on the sacrifice fly.
Cumbess ended the game 1-for-2 with two RBI, while Gaines was 1-for-2 with a double. Sophomore infielder Christian Stokes and senior outfielder Emily Jolly each went 1-for-3 in the game with singles.
Nunley was brilliant in the circle for Kentucky, throwing seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and four hits allowed. The shutout was the second for Nunley in her last three outings. The sophomore has seven shutouts on the season, tying former UK great Chanda Bell for second most in a single season in program history. Nunley is 25-7 on the season, ranking second in school history in wins in a single season. The native of Soddy Daisy, Tenn., has seven postseason wins in her young career, leading UK all-time in that category.
The win continues Kentucky’s best season in school history with 45 victories in 2014. The win total surpasses last season’s record of 41 wins. This is the sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Kentucky and its second consecutive year as a national seed and NCAA Regional host.
Ohio started ace Savannah Jo Dorsey in the circle, who went six innings allowing four hits and two runs – both earned – with four strikeouts. Dorsey moves to 25-17 on the year. Offensively, the Bobcats got a multi-hit night from infielder Alexandria Basquez, with all four Ohio hits going as singles.
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