Kentucky softball is surging at the right time, and Tuesday night the Wildcats brushed aside a longstanding rival.
UK (28-9) won its annual in-state matchup against Louisville (21-17) by run rule, 9-0, in five innings at Ulmer Stadium, with Kentucky sophomore pitcher Stephanie Schoonover tossing a no-hitter.
“Doesn’t get any better,” UK head coach Rachel Lawson said postgame. “Starting from the first batter on, our offense was just electric and then a no-hitter against your rival, that’s pretty cool. Stephanie was outstanding on the mound, she controlled her stuff, it was a really cool performance.”
It was Kentucky’s sixth win in seven games, and the first midweek win (on a Tuesday or Wednesday) for the Cats this season after previously going 0-3.
The meeting between UK and U of L was supposed to be last Wednesday night at Ulmer Stadium, but inclement weather forced the game to be rescheduled to Tuesday night.
Perhaps with the delay in mind, Kentucky wasted no time getting to work.
The Wildcats led 3-0 before an out was recorded.
Senior catcher Kayla Kowalik walked then stole second base, and junior outfielder Rylea Smith singled to set up sophomore infielder Erin Coffel, who sent her team-leading 12th home run of the season to left center field.
Kentucky’s first four batters all reached base as part of a first inning that saw UK score five runs, as freshman Taylor Ebbs also sent a two-run home run to left center field.
The Cats made it 7-0 in the second inning as Coffel scored another run on a fielder’s choice and fifth-year player Lauren Johnson had a run-scoring single.
Louisville redshirt senior pitcher Taylor Roby — who entered Tuesday’s game with a 3.06 ERA — lasted just two innings while allowing six hits and seven runs.
Kentucky added two more runs in the fourth inning as Kowalik scored on a sacrifice fly and senior outfielder Renee Abernathy just got enough on a solo home run to left field that made it 9-0.
Schoonover started for Kentucky and didn’t allow a hit across her five innings of work.
“I tried to spin (the ball) away from their bats to help make sure they didn’t hit it,” Schoonover said. “This midweek game win was great, it was exactly what we needed.”
The extent of Louisville’s offense Tuesday night were two batters reaching via walk off Schoonover, and another reaching on a fielder’s choice.
Schoonover is now 5-2 on the season with a 2.98 ERA.
This was Schoonover’s second no-hitter of the season and the 21st no-hitter in Kentucky softball history.
“We didn’t have very many miscues, and the thing that I loved is (Schoonover) seems calm on the mound, the batters seemed calmed in the box, they looked very confident in what they were doing,” Lawson said. “I just thought overall it was a very confident game.”
Coffel — who recorded five RBI in the win to boost her team-leading total to 46 — said Lawson told the team before the game to “assert our dominance.”
“I think we just need to keep riding on this wave that we’re going on right now,” said Coffel, who also entered Tuesday’s game with a team-best .415 batting average.
This dominance came against the backdrop of extreme familiarity between the Kentucky and Louisville softball programs.
Louisville head coach Holly Aprile and UK’s Lawson were teammates at Massachusetts and reached the Women’s College World Series together in 1992.
U of L assistant coach Griffin Joiner played at Kentucky from 2012-15 and was a graduate manager at UK from 2016-17.
Given this, how does Lawson approach a game with so much familiarity on both sides?
“We really have just tried to focus on our own game and getting better ourselves, then taking it to the other team and seeing what happens,” Lawson said.
Kentucky now leads the all-time series against Louisville, 22-20.
UK and U of L meetings this school year
For those keeping track, here’s a look at how the Kentucky and Louisville athletics matchup has played out this academic year.
Cross country: At the NCAA Southeast Regional in November in Louisville, the Kentucky women’s cross country team finished third while the Louisville women’s cross country team finished 23rd. At the same event, the Kentucky men’s cross country team finished ninth while the Louisville men’s cross country team finished 13th.
Football: Kentucky defeated Louisville 52-21 on Nov. 27 at Louisville.
Hockey (club sport): Louisville defeated Kentucky twice in a January home-and-home series.
Men’s soccer: Kentucky defeated Louisville 3-1 on Sept. 7 at Louisville.
Men’s tennis: In January, Kentucky recorded a 4-0 victory over Louisville at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex in Lexington. UK is now 27-0 against Louisville since the Cardinals men’s tennis program reached varsity status in 1982.
Softball: On Tuesday night, Kentucky won, 9-0, in a five-inning game at Louisville. Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Schoonover recorded a no-hitter in the five-inning game, which Kentucky won by run rule.
Swimming and diving: In January, both the Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated by Louisville in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass at Louisville. The Louisville women defeated UK 174-126 and the U of L men defeated UK 208.5-88.5.
Track and field: On Dec. 11, members of the Kentucky and Louisville track and field teams, along with competitors from other schools, competed in the Cardinal Classic in Louisville. The meet featured 33 indoor events. UK athletes won 20 events. Louisville athletes won nine events.
Women’s basketball: Louisville defeated Kentucky 64-58 on Dec. 12 at Louisville.
Women’s golf: Kentucky and Louisville played to a 4-4 match-play tie in January in Florida. Because Louisville won the most recent head-to-head meeting between the schools in 2019, Louisville will retain the Battle of the Bluegrass cup.
Volleyball: Louisville defeated Kentucky 3-2 on Sept. 15 at Louisville.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 8:30 PM.
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program, in addition to other college, high school and professional sports in the area. Drummond is a first-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University in 2020. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper in Austin, Texas.
