Kentucky hit four home runs and rallied for nine runs over its final two at-bats to beat the Miami RedHawks 9-1 in six innings Friday in an NCAA Regional game in Evanston, Ill.
It’s the second straight year the Wildcats (31-20-1) have defeated the RedHawks (37-19) in an NCAA Regional contest. Kentucky beat Miami 15-1 in the postseason last year.
Miami will play the loser of Northwestern-Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the double-elemination regional. Kentucky will play the winner of that game.
The RedHawks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Karli Spaid’s sacrifice fly scored Allie Cummins. Cummings had opened the game with a double.
Miami right-hander Brianna Pratt (30-11) kept Kentucky off the board until the fifth when Taylor Ebbs hit a three-run home run.
The Wildcats added six more runs in the sixth to end the game via run-rule on Erin Coffel’s three-run homer, a two-run shot by Ebbs and a solo shot by Grace Lorsung.
Cummins, a Lakota West graduate, finished 1-for-2. Holly Blaska had the other hit for Miami.
About the Author