How Kentucky softball fell to bottom of SEC standings in 2026 season

The 2026 Wildcats had a season rarely seen in SEC history. That's not a good thing

Kentucky head coach Rachel Lawson coaches against Mississippi State in the SEC Softball Tournament Tuesday. May 5, 2026

Every team begins a season hoping it can rewrite the record books. Kentucky did that in 2026. Not the way the Cats would have wanted, though.

Their 1-23 record in regular-season SEC games is the worst in the history of the program by percentage (4.3%). The previous low mark was an 8% win rate (2-23) in 1997 — UK's inaugural season, as well as the first year the SEC sponsored fast-pitch softball as a varsity sport.

The Wildcats had their share of difficult seasons between 1997 and 2026.

From 2003 through 2008, Kentucky won a paltry 16% of its regular-season league games (3-26 in 2003, 6-24 in 2004, 4-25 in 2005, 4-26 in 2006, 4-24 in 2007 and 3-25 in 2008). Still, 1997 had been the low point prior to this season.

And around the SEC, UK's 2026 performance has few parallels. Arkansas also went 1-23 twice, both in 2015 and 2016. But unless the conference adds more games, one team might remain at the top — "occupy the cellar" might be a more fitting phrase, given the subject — forever. In 2010, South Carolina lost 27 of its 28 regular-season league tilts. That's a winning clip of 3.6%.

When the Razorbacks and Gamecocks had their one-win seasons, neither had the opportunity to compete in the SEC Tournament. The bracket was smaller then, as not every team made the tournament. It was an eight-team affair in 2010 and a dozen strong in 2015 and 2016.

With every SEC school now guaranteed to be part of the festivities regardless of their record, 2026 Kentucky had an opportunity those Arkansas and South Carolina outfits didn't.

But as was so often the case this season, UK didn't capitalize.

Kentucky lost to Mississippi State in the SEC Softball Tournament Tuesday. May 5, 2026

1 / 1

Kentucky softball takes on Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky lost to Mississippi State in the SEC Softball Tournament Tuesday. May 5, 2026

1 / 1

Kentucky softball takes on Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky lost to Mississippi State in the SEC Softball Tournament Tuesday. May 5, 2026

Where did things go wrong for the 2026 Cats?

Kentucky finished three games behind the next-closest team in the league standings. So, it tracks that UK would rank among the conference's most woeful groups in numerous statistical categories.

Batting average. Earned run average. Hits allowed per seven innings. On-base percentage. Strikeout-to-walk ratio. Walks. The Wildcats were in the bottom three of the SEC in all of those departments.

Yet longtime Kentucky coach Rachel Lawson said another area in which her team floundered in 2026 was costliest game to game.

Defense.

Specifically, fielding percentage. UK's .958 fielding percentage bettered only Auburn (.948) among conference clubs.

The Cats committed 65 errors this season. Again, only Auburn, with 77 errors, had more in the SEC.

April 18, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Kentucky shortstop Maddy Clark can’t find the handle on a throw as Alabama base runner Jena Young steals second in game 2 of the weekend series at Rhoads Stadium as the Crimson Tide hosted Kentucky.

What's ironic is that Kentucky actually had more errors in 2025, when they led the league with 78.

But Lawson believes her latest bunch would have been much improved if not for another issue: Injuries.

Before the season started, Lawson announced Lauryn Borzilleri, a team captain and starting first baseman, would redshirt after suffering a leg injury. To replace her, catcher Karissa Hamilton shifted to first base.

It was just the beginning of a number of changes wrought by injuries.

Starting left fielder Maddy Anson tore her ACL during practice March 18. That prompted UK to uproot its everyday third baseman, Emory Donaldson, and put her in the outfield. Carly Sleeman, usually the team's designated player (and backup catcher), took over the hot corner.

"We just had so many people out of position," Lawson said. "They just didn't have enough time under their belt to be able to become good at their positions. And when you have great hitters who are hitting the ball as hard as they do at them, they tend to let the game speed up on them."

Injuries also took their toll in the circle.

Hailey Nutter became the first pitcher in program history to twirl two no-hitters as a freshman. And she did so barely two weeks apart in February. But later in the season, the Texan had a foot injury that sidelined her more than three weeks. By the time she returned April 13 against Tennessee, she wasn't the same. In Nutter's final seven appearances, she combined for 18 walks and five strikeouts; prior to the injury, she had nearly three times as many Ks (63) as walks (22).

Junior Sydney Langdon was slated to play a prominent role on the pitching staff. Instead, a back injury limited her to just one game in 2026. A back injury also ailed sophomore Carson Fall, as she appeared in only four contests.

With Langdon and Fall all but unavailable, and Nutter out for an extended period, UK leaned on the trio of Sarah Haendiges, McKenzie Oslanzi and Abby Hammond.

They did what they could.

"I just think in the end ... we were outmatched sometimes," Lawson said.

Is a turnaround in store for Kentucky next season?

Kentucky and Mississippi State didn't play during the 2026 regular season. Samantha Ricketts knew what the Wildcats would bring to the table, though.

"The program that Rachel's built and how they've built a consistent, postseason-quality team? That's the team that we expected to see, and a team that was fighting for their life," said Ricketts, in her sixth season as MSU's coach. "And that's exactly what I thought they did."

That UK pushed her NCAA-bound team to the brink is merely the latest example of the dizzying depth of the league they share. The SEC has three of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, plus three 2-seeds and three other regional hosts among its 12 total bid recipients.

"It's tough in this conference. We talk about it all the time: Anybody can beat anyone on any given day," Ricketts said. "You can't take any game for granted in the SEC. It's the best of the best. That's why we all chose to be here: to compete in this conference. You know, tough schedules happen, but we knew coming into it that they were very capable of coming out and beating us in Game 1, and that we had to come out ready to play."

April 18, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Kentucky players celebrate a homer by teammate Maddy Clark to give the Wildcats a two-run lead in the top of the 7th in game 2 of the weekend series at Rhoads Stadium as the Crimson Tide hosted Kentucky.

Far more often than not, UK came up short. Echoing Ricketts' sentiment, however, Lawson noted it wasn't for lack of trying on her players' part.

"When you're in this kind of a situation, people tend to just fall apart completely," she said. "So from a record standpoint, yeah, it appeared to the outside world that we fell apart. But the fact that we had such a tight culture, we kept it together, and we kept fighting through the whole thing. So everybody in the locker room was all in the entire time."

Looking to next season, that resilience gives Lawson hope. So does the return of this year's injured players — Anson and Borzilleri in the field and at the plate, Fall and Langdon in the circle — to reinforce the roster. Then there's the program's incoming signees.

"They're very, very good," Lawson said. "Now keep in mind, they're freshmen, so they're going to have to learn. But they're very smart."

Add a piece or two from the transfer portal, Lawson said, and her team should be back contending for an NCAA berth in 2027.

Lawson won't lack for motivation, planning "to get the full benefit" of this year's embarrassing SEC record as fuel.

"When you get your teeth kicked in like we did all year, you learn from that, you know?" she said. "It would be a mistake not to."

She demands her players do the same.

"You can't go into a gunfight with a knife, right?" Lawson said. "So you've got to make sure you're results-oriented. You have to be bigger, stronger, faster. And you have to be willing to (do the work). The decisions that my team will make now through the summer — the decisions you make nine months out will affect us next season. So we've got to make sure we're making good decisions over the summer, learn from it, and then move on."

The good news for Lawson's crew?

The only direction they can travel in the SEC is upward.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How Kentucky softball fell to last in SEC after NCAA Tournament streak