COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Kentucky infielders Molly Johnson and Natalie Smith had two hits apiece and Sam Demartine smacked a two-run homer as the Wildcats defeated Canisius College 7-0 in the first elimination game of the Columbus Regional Friday afternoon at New Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio. The win allowed Kentucky (33-22) to advance to the loser's bracket final game, while the Golden Griffins saw their season end with a 26-25 overall record.
Kentucky pitcher Rachel Riley improved to 7-8 on the season after she scattered five hits and struck out one. For Canisius, sophomore Emily Helbig went 2-for-3 with two singles, while teammates Rachelle Barrientos, Paige Freiberger and Michelle Fridey also registered base hits in the losing effort. Senior hurler Mallory Aldred took the loss in the circle for the Blue and Gold after she allowed four runs on four hits to go with one strikeout and one walk in two innings of work.
The Wildcats started the game off with a single run in the first and broke the game open with three runs in the top half of the second. The big blow in that frame came off the bat of Smith, who stroked a single to center that knocked in two runs. Demartine blasted her two-run bomb in the top of the third and the Wildcats added a single run in the fifth to close out the game's scoring.
Canisius attempted to make a comeback with two outs in the seventh when Fridey and Helbig singled off Riley, but the freshman pitcher ended the Griffs' chances with a ground out to short.
"It's obviously very tough to end the season this way," Canisius head coach Mike Rappl said. "I think there might have been a little bit of an emotional let down after Thurday's game with Ohio State. I give a lot of credit to our senior class. They stepped up and got us here to the national tournament when it looked like we might not even make our conference tournament at one point. It will take a little time to get over it, but I think when they look back, this group will appreciate what they have accomplished."
Kentucky went on to defeat BYU 4-2 in the loser's bracket final game Friday evening and will play No. 11 Ohio State Saturday at 1 p.m., for the regional title. The Buckeyes defeated BYU 5-4 in eight innings of Friday afternoon and needs just one win to advance to the Super Regional for the first time in program history.
Game Notes: Canisius played its 28th NCAA Tournament game on Friday and fell to 5-23 all-time in the national postseason... The meeting with Kentucky was the second in program history and the series is now tied 1-1... Senior Angela Turrey threw out an attempted base stealer, the second runner she caught stealing in the tournament... Senior Juliette Bowers came on in relief of Aldred and gave up three runs while striking out two in four innings of work... Barrientos finished her career with three hits in the regional, the most for any player on the team's roster... Cameron Norton closed out her collegiate career with 113 career RBIs, which ranks third in school history... Freiberger's base hit in the fourth was her third career hit in the NCAA Tournament.
