Winning pitcher Grace Baalman gave Autumn Humes a chest bump after Humes' homer Sunday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
She threw a three-hit shutout in the first elimination game Kentucky faced Sunday and then had the home run in the second elimination game that turned out to be the only run the Wildcats needed.
So what was the bigger moment Sunday for fifth-year senior Autumn Humes?
“I don’t know. Both of them mean a lot to me especially since this is the last time that I’ll ever play here at John Cropp (Stadium). Just having those memories, on this field, is pretty awesome,” Humes said.
While it was her last time to play in Lexington, it was not her last college softball game. She beat Notre Dame 7-0 in the first game and then her home run broke the scoreless tie in game two eventually won 4-0 by Kentucky. The Cats will now play at Alabama this weekend in the Super Regional.
It was quite a turnaround from Saturday when Notre Dame beat UK 12-3 in five innings and Humes was the losing pitcher. Coach Rachel Lawson said Humes was “awesome” Sunday.
“We just tried to forget every single thing that happened in that game yesterday and start fresh. Just because that wasn’t us. That wasn’t Kentucky softball,” Humes said.
“That wasn’t me on the mound. I don’t know who that was, but we just really tried to come back to ourselves and the way that we play the game. When we play the game the way we play the game, we’re going to beat the other team.”
Especially with defensive play like UK got the final three games after the loss Saturday to Notre Dame.
Humes said she liked the way the defense was “totally flying around and making plays” and it gave her even more confidence on the mound.
“The way they were playing gave me way more peace on the mound,” Humes said.
Getting four runs in the first inning also made her job a “lot easier” on the mound but the balls her outfielders tracked down helped her more than anything.
“They were anticipating plays and attacking every ball in their vicinity,” Humes said. “They knew what we needed because of what happened yesterday. Seeing a ball fly through the air and seeing one of our players flying through the air and she bounces off the wall and catches it, that relieves me.”
