Timely hitting and fielding coupled with a dash of luck sent No. 14 seed Kentucky to the brink of its third straight Super Regional courtesy of a 8-1 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Wildcats (35-22) broke up a pitcher's duel between the ACC Pitcher of the Year, Carrie Eberle and Grace Baalman, with a three-run bottom of the fourth inning.
Freshman center fielder Kayla Kowalik set the table with a single up the middle, which was sandwich between the inning's first two outs. The hot-hitting sophomore Lauren Johnson dropped a blooper near the left field foul line, stretching it into an RBI triple.
Kowalik added two more singles and finished 3-of-4 at the plate with an RBI. The converted catcher also made a spectacular grab at the fence that robbed the Hokies (46-10) of a potential home run. Johnson finished 1-of-4 and is currently batting .666 in the regional.
Eberle (25-7) hit and walked the next two batters, respectively, she faced, loading the bases for the Cats senior catcher Jenny Schaper, and she delivered an RBI single. A Hokie throwing error brought home another Kentucky runner on the same play.
The miscue was an omen of things to come for Virginia Tech in the pivotal 5th inning where a four-run Kentucky rally put the game out of reach.
The Hokies committed back to back errors to open the bottom of the 5th frame. A wild pitch by Eberle scored one Kentucky runner, and a Kowalik single emptied the bags.
Junior left fielder Bailey Vick laid down a two-out bunt with two runners aboard later in the inning, scoring Kowalik from third base. Pinch runner Kennedy Cowden, a freshman, came home on the Hokies third error of the inning.
Baalman (10-9) gave up a home run to Tech's Emma Strouth in the top of the 6th. Despite giving up eight hits, the sophomore ace repeatedly worked out of trouble, never allowing a runner past second base until Strouth's shot. She did not allow any free bases and struck out three Hokie hitters as well.
Kelsee Henson plated the Cats final run with a SAC fly in 6th.
Eberle kept the Cats silent for the first three innings and only allowed two hits before things unraveled for her in the middle innings. She finished with six strikeouts against two walks and was charged with only two earned runs.
The Cats play again with a chance to advance on Sunday at noon. They will play the winner of the Virginia Tech vs. Toledo/Illinois game from Saturday evening.
