Kentucky Wildcats softball

The Kentucky Wildcats softball team represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of softball. The Kentucky Wildcats compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Wildcats play their home games at John Cropp Stadium on the university's Lexington, Kentucky campus, and are currently led by head coach Rachel Lawson. In the history of the Wildcats softball program, the team has made appearances in eleven NCAA Division I Softball Championship, seven Super Regionals, and one Women's College World Series (WCWS).

Kentucky Wildcats
2020 Kentucky Wildcats softball team
UniversityUniversity of Kentucky
Athletic directorMitch Barnhart
Head coachRachel Lawson (13th season)
ConferenceSEC
Eastern Division
LocationLexington, KY
Home stadiumJohn Cropp Stadium (Capacity: 2,117 [1])
NicknameWildcats
ColorsBlue and White[2]
         
NCAA WCWS appearances
2014
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Head coaches
Name Years Record
Beth Pruit 1997–2004 181–297–1 (52–146 SEC)
Eileen Schmidt 2005–2007 61–108 (12–75 SEC)
Rachel Lawson 2008–present 432–277 (140–161 SEC)

History

The University of Kentucky softball team had their inaugural season in 1997.[3]

University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart hired Rachel Lawson in July 2007. Since Lawson's hire she has become the winningest coach in program history. She has also guided UK to seven NCAA Super Regionals since 2011 including an appearance in the 2014 College World Series, the program's first.

Now sitting at 432–277 in her twelve seasons at Kentucky, Lawson is the winningest head coach in school history and already has more wins in SEC play than UK had total as a program when she took over in 2007. UK also finished 2016 in the top 14 of both collegiate softball rankings for the third time in school history with eleven wins over ranked teams.

Another accomplishment since Lawson's hire in 2007 is the integration of John Cropp Stadium. The facility cost $9.5 million, and debuted for the 2013 season. UK hosted the 2013 SEC Tournament as well as an NCAA regional, another first for the program. Since 2013, UK has hosted an NCAA regional in 2014 and 2016–2019.

Year-by-year results
Season Coach Record SEC Record Notes
1997 Beth Pruit 11–44
1998 Beth Pruit 19–43 6–22
1999 Beth Pruit 23–44 6–22
2000 Beth Pruit 36–29 15–13
2001 Beth Pruit 27–34 10–18
2002 Beth Pruit 24–32 6–21
2003 Beth Pruit 16–40 3–26
2004 Beth Pruit 25–31–1 6–24
2005 Eileen Schmidt 20–41 4–25
2006 Eileen Schmidt 21–36 4–26
2007 Eileen Schmidt 20–31 4–24
2008 Rachel Lawson 17–37 3–25
2009 Rachel Lawson 34–23 13–14 NCAA Regional
2010 Rachel Lawson 32–27 13–15 NCAA Tournament
2011 Rachel Lawson 40–16 14–9 NCAA Super Regional
2012 Rachel Lawson 30–30 15–13 NCAA Tournament
2013 Rachel Lawson 41–21 13–11 NCAA Super Regional

Hosted SEC Tournament & Regional

2014 Rachel Lawson 50–19 13–11 Women's College World Series

Hosted Regional

2015 Rachel Lawson 32–26 5–19 NCAA Super Regional
2016 Rachel Lawson 46–14 17–7 NCAA Tournament

Hosted Regional

2017 Rachel Lawson 39–19 12–12 NCAA Super Regional

Hosted Regional

2018 Rachel Lawson 35–21 8–15 NCAA Super Regional

Hosted Regional

2019 Rachel Lawson 36–24 14–10 NCAA Super Regional

Hosted Regional

Reference:[4][5]

All-Americans
Player Year(s) Team Organization Notes
Molly Johnson [6] 2009 2nd Louisville Slugger/NFCA
Kelsey Nunley [7] 2016 1st NFCA
Katie Reed [8] 2017 3rd NFCA
Abbey Cheek [9] 2019 1st NFCA Unanimous

Other Awards
Player Year(s) Team Organization
Molly Johnson [10] 2010 2nd Senior CLASS Award
Griffin Joiner [11] 2015 1st Senior CLASS Award
Kelsey Nunley [12] 2016 1st Senior CLASS Award
Abbey Cheek [13] 2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Softball Player of the Year

References
  1. "UK Athletics John Cropp Stadium".
  2. Primary Color Palette (PDF). University of Kentucky Athletics Brand Identity Guidelines. February 5, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  3. "UK Athletics".
  4. "UK Athletics More Softball Links".
  5. "UK Athletics Rachel Lawson".
  6. "2009 DI All American Teams".
  7. "2016 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS".
  8. "2017 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS".
  9. "2019 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS".
  10. "2010 Senior CLASS Award".
  11. "2015 Senior CLASS Award".
  12. "2016 Senior CLASS Award".
  13. "2019 NFCA Division I National Softball Player of the Year".
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