Kentucky Wildcats softball

Kentucky Wildcats
University	University of Kentucky
Conference	SEC Eastern Division
Location	Lexington, KY
Head coach	Rachel Lawson (8th year)
Home stadium	John Cropp Stadium (Capacity: 1,500)
Nickname	Wildcats
Colors	Royal Blue and White[1]
WCWS Appearances
2014
NCAA Tournament Appearances
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

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 seven NCAA Division I Softball Championship, four Super Regionals, and one Women's College World Series (WCWS).

Head coaches

Name	Years	Record
Beth Pruit	1997–2004	181–297–1 (52–146 SEC)
Eileen Schmidt	2005–2007	61–108 (12–74 SEC)
Rachel Lawson	2008–present	276–199 (89–117 SEC)

History

The University of Kentucky softball team had their inaugural season in 1997.^[2]

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 four NCAA Super Regionals since 2011 including an appearance in the 2014 College World Series, the program's first.

Now sitting at 276–199 in her eight 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 2013 in the top 14 of both collegiate softball rankings for the second time in school history with nine 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.

Year-by-year records

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 Tournament Participant
2010	Rachel Lawson	32–27	13–15	NCAA Tournament Participant
2011	Rachel Lawson	40–16	14–9	NCAA Super Regional Participant
2012	Rachel Lawson	30–30	15–13	NCAA Tournament Participant
2013	Rachel Lawson	41–21	13–11	NCAA Super Regional Participant
2014	Rachel Lawson	50–19	13–11	WCWS Participant
2015	Rachel Lawson	32–26	5–19	NCAA Super Regional Participant
Reference:[3]

All-Americans

Player	Year(s)	Team	Organization
Molly Johnson [4]	2009	2nd	Louisville Slugger/NFCA
Griffin Joiner [5]	2015	1st	Senior CLASS Award

References

1. "University of Kentucky Athletics Brand Identity". 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
2. "UK Athletics".
3. "UK Athletics History & Records".
4. "2009 DI All American Teams".
5. "2015 Senior CLASS Award".

External links

• Official website