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 Athletic 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 sixteen NCAA Division I Softball Championship, eight 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 (12–75 SEC) Rachel Lawson 2008–present 495–297 (155–173 SEC)

History The University of Kentucky softball team had their inaugural season in 1997.

University of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart hired Rachel Lawson in July 2007. Since her hire, Lawson has guided UK to eight NCAA Super Regionals including an appearance in the 2014 College World Series, the program's first.

In her fourteen seasons at Kentucky, Lawson has an overall win–loss record of 495–297, making her 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 2008. 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 2008 is the construction 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 2013, 2014, 2016–2019, and 2021.

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 2020 Rachel Lawson 20–4 2–1 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Rachel Lawson 43–16 13–11 NCAA Super Regional Hosted Regional2022Rachel Lawson37–1913–11NCAA Tournament2023Rachel Lawson33–22–110–14NCAA Tournament2024Rachel Lawson30–228–16NCAA Tournament2025Rachel Lawson31-287-17NCAA TournamentReference:

All-Americans Player Year(s) Team OrganizationNotes Molly Johnson 2009 2nd Louisville Slugger/NFCA Kelsey Nunley 2016 1st NFCA Katie Reed 2017 3rd NFCA Abbey Cheek 2019 1st NFCA Unanimous Kayla Kowalik 2021 1st NFCA Erin Coffel 2022, 2023 2nd NFCA

Other Awards Player Year(s) Team Organization Molly Johnson 2010 2nd Senior CLASS Award Griffin Joiner 2015 1st Senior CLASS Award Kelsey Nunley 2016 1st Senior CLASS Award, SEC Pitcher of the Year Abbey Cheek 2019 NFCA National Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year

References

External links Official Website