Autumn Humes got her 21st win Friday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
I can still remember the first time I interviewed Autumn Humes after she transferred to Kentucky from Division II Harding University in Arkansas. She joked about adjusting to a city the size of Lexington and how senior teammate Abbey Cheek was having to drive her around town to keep her from getting lost.
Those memories flashed through my mind as I watched Humes strike out four, give up six hits and allow only one earned run in a 3-2 victory over Northwestern in NCAA Tournament regional play in Lexington Friday.
Kentucky will play Notre Dame, a 3-2 winner over Ball State, in the winner’s bracket final today at noon.
Humes opted to come back to UK for a fifth season after COVID cut her 2020 season short. She’s been terrific for Kentucky and now Friday’s win was her 21st of the season
I asked Humes what it meant to her to have the chance to pitch in the NCAA again and win.
“I don’t even believe I have the words to say what it means to play another game on our field, especially after what happened last year, not being able to finish the season,” Humes said as a few tears trickled out of her eyes.
“Just a wave of emotions that I had when I figured out that my season was over and that I might never pick up a ball again. It’s amazing, and I’m just so grateful to have another opportunity to play on that field out there in front of our fans.”
Humes said giving up a second-inning leadoff homer to Maeve Nelson also inspired her, especially when her team responded with three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
“I don’t ever want to let the other team score first but definitely, I think that had something to do with the way that we performed in the bottom of the second inning,” Humes said. “I definitely felt more motivated to get up there and get the job done at the plate and on the mound.
“I was kind of nervous in the first inning, just got the jitters. It’s the postseason, every game means more. Oddly enough after the home run was hit, I felt better. I know that doesn’t make sense because you think I’d feel more pressure, but I felt more motivated to just go at the hitters and give them my best pitches.”
So will she be trying to give up an early home run to Notre Dame if she is on the mound to start today’s game as expected?
“No, no more freebies,” she laughed and said. “Oddly enough, after the home run was hit, I felt better. I guess I felt more motivated to go after the hitters and give them my best pitches.”
Lawson liked what Humes did but was not surprised.
“I thought Autumn was tremendous on the mound,” Lawson said. “They started off with that big home run and she was able to calm everything down and when they would put people on base, and they had quite a few, she was able to come up with some big pitches.”
