No. 22 Kentucky broke out the brooms over the no. 11 South Carolina Gamecocks in its SEC opener this weekend in Columbia.

The Cats (15-7), winners of six straight games, never trailed all weekend thanks to a combination of hot bats and a trilogy of outstanding performances by their pitching staff.

The sweep was Kentucky's first in SEC play since it took three straight from Missouri in 2017.

The Wildcats come home to John Cropp Stadium to take on the Miami (OH) Redhawks Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Kentucky 5, South Carolina 0

The Cats were a model of efficiency in the batter's box, five runs on six hits, and rallied during the late innings to win the first game of the series.

Junior second baseman Alex Martens spearheaded the Cats attack with her eighth multi-hit game of the season. Her two-RBI single in the top of the 7th inning put the game out of reach. Martens also tripled in the top of 4th inning.

Autumn Humes proved to be rock-solid in the circle. The junior transfer threw a seven-inning, two-hit shutout, to move her record to 5-4 on the season. Humes also K'ed five Gamecock hitters and walked only two.

The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the 4th on sophomore Mallory Peyton's RBI single.

They hung two more runs in the top of the 5th thanks to Lauren Johnson's solo homer, her second of the year, and a South Carolina wild pitch.

Kentucky 11, South Carolina 2

The Cats exploded for 11 runs on 11 hits, six of which went for extras bases, to clinch the series on Saturday.

Senior slugger Abbey Cheek hit her fifth home run of 2019 in the top of the 3rd inning, a two-run shot. Cheek plated her third run of the afternoon with a double in the top of the 5th.

Alex Martens singled in runs in the 1st and 6th innings.

Senior shortstop Katie Reed, freshman outfielder Kayla Kowalik and Lauren Johnson also had multi-hit games. Reed had an RBI groundout in the 5th. Kowalik singled in two runs in the 7th.

Mallory Peyton hit her team-leading seventh home run in the 4th inning, and Jenny Schaper added a two-RBI double in the 7th.

Grace Baalman (5-3) went the distance and ceded one earned runs on five hits. She struck out two Gamecocks and walked another.

Kentucky 5, South Carolina 1

Freshman Meghan Schorman survived a wild day in the circle as the Cats put in a scrappy effort to seal a series sweep on Sunday.

Schorman (3-0) went 5.1 innings in her first SEC start and seesawed between excellence and calamity. She walked four batters, hit two and tossed two wild pitches.

The Gamecocks put seven runners in scoring position against Schorman but none of them crosse the plate. The Illinois-native escaped several jams by inducing popouts, groundballs and a pair of double plays. The lone run she surrendered was a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning.

Alex Martens fifth home run of the year, a two-run dinger over the centerfield fence was the Cats only lone piece of spectacular hitting.

The Cats scored on a throwing error in the top of the 2nd on a throwing error by the Gamecocks shortstop. Senior Kelsee Henson's SAC fly scored Katie Reed later in the frame. Kentucky's final score came via a rare groundout RBI by Abbey Cheek in the 7th.