BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Softball welcomed No. 7 Kentucky to The Hill and left the ballpark with a nine-inning 2-1 walk-off victory over the nationally-ranked Wildcats Wednesday evening. The win was WKU's first over a Power 5 or ranked squad this season as the Wildcats move to 23-3 on the year with their only other losses coming to No. 5 Florida.
Paige Carter struck for a home run to lead off the game for the third time this season for a 1-0 WKU lead that would hold until the seventh inning.
In the circle, Kelsey Aikey drew the start and kept the explosive Wildcat offense quiet. The redshirt-senior allowed just six hits in 6+ innings of work along with just one run while striking out two. While in the circle, Aikey and the Hilltopper defense stranded nine Wildcat runners on base before UK would finally break into the score column.
Kennedy Sullivan would relieve Aikey in the circle, making the move in from centerfield, for 2.0 innings of work. Sullivan allowed just one hit and added a strikeout as well.
Shelby Nunn (6-0) would come in to pitch the ninth frame, facing the top of the Kentucky lineup. After a leadoff walk, Nunn induced a couple flyouts to right field and handled a chopper back at her to get the Hilltoppers back to the dugout.
TJ Webster connected for a one-out single back up the middle to turn over the Hilltopper batting order. Carter followed with her third walk of the night to move Webster into scoring position. Two batters later with two outs, Sullivan stepped into the box and sent the 1-0 pitch to the gap in right-center field to bring Webster around to score for the Hilltoppers' fourth walk-off win of the season.
The last time WKU downed a top-10 team was March 8, 2014 in Knoxville, Tenn., when the Hilltoppers took down No. 2 Tennessee, 3-2.
WKU has now claimed the last two meetings against Kentucky, after winning the 2019 matchup in Lexington, 4-1, over the then-ranked No. 17 Wildcats. The Hilltoppers are now 9-16 all-time against UK and 3-7 in meetings that have taken place on The Hill. The last time WKU downed Kentucky in Bowling Green was April 14, 2004 in a 4-3 decision.
Wednesday's win over Kentucky was the Hilltoppers' first extra-inning affair of the 2021 campaign and was just the second in the all-time series against the Wildcats. The sides also went nine innings in 2015 when UK won 1-0 on a walk off.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
- Tuesday, March 30 – 6 p.m. vs. Lipscomb | Bowling Green, Ky.
- Thursday, April 1 – Noon CT at Marshall | Huntington, W.Va.
TOP STORYLINES
- WKU Softball has faced off against in-state foe Kentucky 24 times in program history. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 16-9 but the Hilltoppers claimed the two most recent meetings between the sides (2019 in Lexington) in a 4-1 decision when UK was ranked No. 17 and Wednesday's 2-1 win.
- Entering Wednesday's game, the Wildcats were featured in all four NCAA Softball Rankings, coming in as high as No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. UK comes in at 10th in the latest ESPN ranks, 11th in the D1 Softball poll and 15th in the most recent Softball America listings.
- This season, WKU has faced four Power 5 squads. The Tops have taken on No. 18 Mississippi State twice (in Starkville), played the Cardinals in Louisville and most recently hosted No. 7 Kentucky. WKU is 1-3 against Power 5 teams in the 2021 campaign.
- WKU Softball has faced 11 different SEC squads in program history and sits at 20-46 all-time in those games. In 2014, the Red and White downed No. 2 Tennessee in Knoxville for the program's highest-ranked win.
- March 13-14 in Louisville, redshirt-senior pitcher Kelsey Aikey added both her 500th career strikeout and 17th career save. She is just the fourth Hilltopper to reach the 500-strikeout milestone and now sits 49 strikeouts away from owning the record. She has owned the program's save record since her junior season and ranks second among all active NCAA Division I pitchers with 17 saves.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball
