Nunley pitches UK record 900th inning in loss to Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Senior pitcher Kelsey Nunley became Kentucky’s most tenured pitcher in program history on Sunday afternoon throwing her 900th career inning, surpassing prior record holder Keary Camunas (1997-2000) for the most innings thrown all-time at UK in a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Alabama on Sunday. Nunley becomes just the ninth player in the Southeastern Conference ever to throw 900 innings in a career.
Nunley pitched 3.1 innings in the loss, allowing just three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out one. The Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native made just two mistakes in the game, allowing two home runs, with one to Leona Lafaele and Chandler Dykes.
Meagan Prince came into the game in the fourth inning and was spectacular, allowing just one hit in 2.2 innings thrown, walking one and striking out three in the game. Nunley and Prince – who are the only tandem in the nation with 16 wins on one staff – both sport ERAs below two, with Nunley in at 1.43 and Prince checking in at 1.83.
Kentucky drops the three-game series to No. 4 Alabama two games to one, and is now just two games ahead of the Crimson Tide in the win column. Kentucky is now 39-11 on the season and 14-7 in the SEC. The 14 SEC wins through 21 games is the most conference wins Kentucky has ever had through this many games in the league.
Alabama with the win goes to 41-9 on the season overall, and is 12-6 in SEC play.
The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday night in the Derby City to face the Louisville Cardinals in the annual “Battle of the Bluegrass” at 6 p.m. ET from Ulmer Stadium in Louisville. The game will be shown live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
Key Stat
Three. In each of the first three innings, Kentucky left a runner on the basepaths.
Key Play
Alabama’s Reagan Dykes hit her second home run of the weekend in the bottom of the first inning to score herself and Haylie McCleney with two outs to give the Crimson Tide the 2-0 lead. Those would prove to be the game-winning runs of the game and the series.
Key Player
Sylver Samuel was the key player for Kentucky in the game, going 2-for-3 and continuing her spectacular weekend at the plate. Samuel on the weekend went 6-for-11 with six singles and a run scored.
Run Recap
Alabama’s Haylie McCleney led off the Tide bottom of the first with a single and was brought home by Dykes on her two-run homer with two outs. ALA 2, UK 0
The Tide would add a third run in the third inning as Leona Lafaele homered to left field off the scoreboard to make it 3-0. FINAL – No. 4 Alabama 3, No. 11 Kentucky 0
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