Following a week off from Southeastern Conference play, in which Kentucky won four-straight games, all in run-rule fashion, the Wildcats will now set their sights back on Eastern Kentucky for the return trip of a home-and-home with the Colonels on Tuesday night in Richmond.
The game will commence at 6 p.m. ET from Gertrude Hood Field on the campus of Eastern Kentucky and will be streamed live on the OVC Digital Network.
Kentucky got off to a fast start against the Colonels last Tuesday at John Cropp Stadium and got a walk-off home run from Abbey Cheek to blank EKU, 10-0. Tuesday’s win was the first of four run-rule wins for the Wildcats, as UK blanked Louisville 8-0, and then got 12-1 and 10-1 wins over Middle Tennessee State over the weekend.
The Wildcats currently sit at 24-11 overall on the season, 13 games over the .500 mark and are ranked No. 20 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com top-25 poll. Its four-game winning streak is tied for the longest since SEC play began back in March.
Bailey Vick leads the Wildcats offensively with a .429 batting average on the season, coupled with 22 runs scored, 45 hits and eight RBI. Abbey Cheek leads the power numbers with a team-best 10 home runs and 37 RBI.
Eastern Kentucky enters Tuesday’s showdown 22-12 overall and are on a two-game winning streak following last week’s loss to the Wildcats. The Colonels swept an Ohio Valley Conference series with Morehead State, 7-0 and 14-2 over the weekend to pick up their 21st and 22nd wins of the season.
The leading hitter for EKU is Paige Murphy, who is batting .446 on the season with 37 runs scored and 31 runs batted in. As a team, EKU is hitting .284 and is outscoring its opponents by 72 runs this year. In the circle the Colonels have relied primarily on Mollie Paulick who is 8-4 with a 2.25 ERA. Paulick has four complete games this season in her 15 starts and two shutout wins.
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