Kansas City
Kentucky
?Roos Hang Tough, But Fall 4-0 to Kentucky
3/17/2012 3:48:00 PM | Softball
In the first inning, pitcher Chanda Bell (6-4) struck out all three batters to retire the side for Kentucky. Later in the inning to lead off, infielder Tara Dill doubled to left-center and would later advance to third after a wild pitch by Deanna Friese (3-7). Dill would then score on an illegal pitch to outfielder Alice O'Brien for the first run of the afternoon.
Next inning for the Wildcats with two on and one out, infielder Krystal Smith hit one sharply towards Friese, but she was unable to handle it. As a result, infielder Aubrey Lamar advanced to second and outfielder Brittany Cervantes scored from third to make it a 2-0 ball game. Friese would later answer by striking out O'Brien to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third with one on and two outs, Cervantes RBI-doubled down the left field line as catcher Griffin Joiner came around from second to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead. Next up, infielder Lauren Cumbass lined out to left as outfielder Anna Sokolik made a nice catch to end the inning.
In the next inning, Kentucky increased its lead to four when O'Brien RBI-doubled to right-center as pinch runner Ellen Weaver scored from second.
To lead off the fifth, outfielder Emily Ott singled to center to jump-start the Kangaroo offense. Then, Bell ended the inning by striking out the next three batters to give her 11 for the game.
In the sixth for UMKC, infielder Kaelene Curry singled to third and would later steal second to lead off the inning. But, the Wildcat defense kept the score at 4-0 by retiring the next three batters.
In UMKC's final chance in the seventh, infielder Chelsea Hartwig was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, followed by a single to left by Ott. Next up, catcher Caitlin Christopher flew out to center, preceded by pinch hitter Katie Henning going down on strikes.
To end the game, Bell struck out pinch hitter Megan Vicino for her 12th of the game.
The Blue & Gold (fourth seed) will be in action later today as it will take on UAB (first seed) (14-10, 3-0 C-USA) at 3:35 p.m. in the first game of bracket play action.
Yesterday, the Kangaroos fell 5-1 to the Blazers in their second game of the tournament.
