Kentucky Wildcats
Overall Rank: #14
Conference Rank: #5 SEC
Kentucky put together a strong 2019 season as the Wildcats won the Lexington Regional in impressive fashion and advanced to the Seattle Super Regional where they lost to the Washington Huskies in two games. The Wildcats have a nice foundation in place as a program that is consistently in the mix to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The next immediate step for Kentucky is to get themselves in a position where they won’t have to travel way out west in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
2019: 36-24, 14-10
2019 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Rachel Lawson
Key Departed Players:
Abby Cheek, UTIL, .428 BA, 20 HR, 53 RBI, 8 SB
Katie Reed, INF, .361 BA, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 15 SB
Jenny Schaper, C, .303 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI
Key Returning Players:
Kayla Kowalik, C, .357 BA, 0 HR, 25 RBI, 14 SB
Lauren Johnson, OF, .345 BA, 3 HR, 21 RBI
Alex Martens, INF, .310 BA, 13 HR, 66 RBI
Mallory Peyton, INF, .243 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI
Bailey Vick, OF, .205 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 10 SB
Grace Baalman, P, 3.49 ERA, 10-10 W/L, 141.2 IP, 66 BB, 102 SO
Autumn Humes, P, 4.14 ERA, 15-11 W/L, 150.0 IP, 38 BB, 84 SO
Larissa Spellman, P, 3.48 ERA, 2-0 W/L, 20.2 IP, 19 BB, 13 SO
Projection:
The task of replacing the production of Abby Cheek, Katie Reed, and Jenny Schaper won’t be easy as this trio hit over .300 with Cheek hitting over .400 last season. They also provided a ton of power as they were responsible for 38 homeruns and 151 runs batted in. Alex Martens and Mallory Peyton are back to lead the way as the primary power sources for the Wildcats in 2020 as both players have the capability to hit 15-20 homeruns apiece. Kayla Kowalik has some great speed and stole 14 bases and her 25 runs batted in proved that she can drive in that timely run as well. Grace Baalman and Autumn Humes will be back in the circle for head coach Rachel Lawson this season. Baalman had a 3.49 earned run average and struck out 102 batters in 141.2 innings of work in 2019. Humes won 15 games, had a 4.14 earned run average and, if she can lower the opponents’ batting average against her by about 20-25 points, that will be a huge bonus for Kentucky. The schedule will have plenty of tests with games against Oklahoma, Boise State, Minnesota, Arizona State, Ohio State, and Louisville to highlight the nonconference slate. Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas A&M will be critical home SEC series for the Wildcats. If they can win the majority of those series, they will be in the mix for the SEC title and have a shot to host another regional.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Softball Tournament
