She insists she does not go to bat thinking about hitting home runs but just trying to get a quality at-bat.
    However, a quality at-bat often leads to a home run for Kentucky freshman shortstop Erin Coffel. She had 50 homers in three high school seasons in Indiana and has a team-high nine homers in her first 19 games at UK this season.
    “The home runs are not something I think about,” Coffel said.
    The school record for home runs by a freshman is 12 by Amber Janneck in 2004. The school single season home run record is 21 by Brooke Marnitz in 2007 followed by Abbey Cheek’s 20 in 2019 and 18 in 2018. Current UK assistant coach Brittany Cervantes had 15 in 2011. Six others had 13 in one season including current Cat Mallory Peyton in 2019.
    Coach Rachel Lawson had big expectations for Coffel going into the season and the freshman has certainly met them. She is hitting .437 with 27 runs scored and has knocked in a team-high 27 runs. She also leads the team with six doubles.
    “No, I’m not surprised at how well Erin is doing. We targeted Erin very early on and she came into the season in incredible shape,” Lawson said. “We think Erin can do great things at Kentucky, but I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised, no, at what she is doing.”
    Coffel came to a UK softball camp when she was a seventh-grader. She verbally committed to Kentucky as a freshman.
    “I have been waiting for this moment a long time,” Coffel said. “I am excited to get on the field and be playing in the SEC which is obviously the best conference in the nation. There have been a lot of adjustments and I am just excited to step on the field with the girls.”
    Lawson has been impressed with Coffel’s mental approach and how nothing has overwhelmed her.
    “It takes some time to get used to college pitching. Erin has adapted so quickly and taken on the right mindset in the box and in the field of competing every chance she gets. That’s been impressive to me,” Lawson said.
    Coffel says Lawson and her staff have told her to not get upset and continue to work knowing she is playing at one of the “highest levels” in the nation. She says everyone has been “friendly and welcoming” but credits teammate Emily Blaine, a sophomore from Christian County, for being her “lifesaver” this season.
    “She helps me with everything from life in the dorm to softball to friends. She has really helped me get adjusted to campus and has become one of my best friends,” Coffel said.
    On the field, Coffel says junior catcher/outfielder Kayla Kowalik is one player she intently watches.
    “I am right behind her in the batting lineup,” Coffel said. “I know when she goes up (to bat) something good is going to happen. She motivates me to get on base. She is a stud. Obviously I am a freshman and not many people know about me so I just try to crush a pitch and get on base.”
    She says she’s worked to improve her range defensively at shortstop and adjust to the quicker pace of play. Coffee admits former UK All-American shortstop Katie Reed was a player she always enjoyed watching.
    “I just felt like when she was out in the field there was always a calm presence. I kind of took that away from her play,” Coffel said. “She played so calmly and never looked flustered.”
    Lawson has no worries about her defensive prowess as UK gets set to start SEC play this weekend.
    “Erin is going to continue to get better. We wouldn’t have started her at shortstop if we didn’t believe in her,”

Freshman shortstop Erin Coffel is on a record-setting pace with nine homers in her first 19 games at Kentucky. (UK Athletics Photo)

the Kentucky coach said. “She’s going to continue to work on the things that make infielders so good like footwork and glove work. She’ll get better and better with more reps.”
    Coffel says Lawson remains the same person she was when Coffel committed to UK as a high school freshman and the two have always had a “good relationship” that has not changed.
    “It’s easy to be coached by her. I absolutely love the whole coaching staff. That’s one of the biggest reasons I chose to come here,” Coffel said.
    She jokes that teammates have given her a “rough time” occasionally since the season started.
    “They motivate me to do better and the relationship we have with each other is amazing but they can kind of ride me at times in a good way,” Coffel said.

    What kind of impact is Kentucky’s losing season going to have on future recruiting?
    If Kentucky assistant coach Bruiser Flint is right, he thinks recruits will be unaffected by the losses this season.

Kentucky signee Nolan Hickman Jr. is a McDonald's All-American and UK coaches and recruiting analysts don't anticipate a losing season having long-term implications on UK's recruiting.

    “Why wouldn’t they (be unaffected)? That’s my thing. Why wouldn’t they feel good? They see the results that they’ve had with the players. I mean, teams go through stuff like this sometimes,” said Flint about UK's 9-15 record.
    “This is my first year at Kentucky. Believe me I didn’t think it was going to be like this. But people understand what Coach Cal has done, what type of coach he is, what type of program this is. This is as storied of a program as there is in college basketball. So you have a little bit of a hiccup, and you’re having a hiccup for a whole year.”
    Flint said recruits still understand how Calipari has developed NBA talent.
    “I know we’re having a tough season, but anybody that looks at that and thinks this is going to continue they’re out of their minds. I think the kids understand that and they love Kentucky basketball. I think that’s why we’re still pretty good with the recruits,” Flint said.
    Rivals.com recruiting writer/analyst Krysten Peek thinks the pandemic has impacted Kentucky’s season just like it has every program.
    “I am not blaming the pandemic for Kentucky’s season,” Peek said. “I am sure the Kentucky staff is showing recruits that this player or that player will come back and will show growth. That’s why five-star players are still committing to Kentucky.”
    Peek said the pandemic has made recruiting as different for coaches as it has players.
    “These coaches have not been on the road recruiting for a year. It just as hard on them as it is on their team. It’s hard to identify players coming up and what they can and cannot do when you can not go out and watch them play,” Peek said.
    “Coaches want to be out there in the spring and summer getting eyeballs on these guys. You still hear whispers even now about the blue bloods when they got involved with players or are showing interest. It’s just that keeping tabs on a player watching TV or a live stream is not the same as being there. But bottom line everybody is in the same boat and I think a school like Kentucky’s recruiting is going to be just fine.”
    Two UK signees – Nolan Hickman Jr. and Daimion Collins – have both recently been named McDonald's All-Americans.

    Olivier Sarr’s season at Kentucky may not have gone the way he envisioned it when he transferred from Kentucky but he still appreciates the opportunity he’s had to receive an American education after growing up in France.
    “I think for me it’s all about how I was raised. My dad comes from Africa. He comes from Senegal. Basically I’m trying to do what he did. He left for a better life,” Sarr said. “I’m not saying that I had bad conditions back home, but he left for a better life and went to France and studied, earned his degree and he is now living a comfortable life.
    “He built his own legacy, and I think that’s the path I want to choose. Being able to be in this position today, it’s a blessing for me. It’s a way of remembering what my dad taught me and he’s still teaching me to this day. It’s just an honor to be able to do that.”
    Sarr, a communications major, knows those in France will be impressed with his degree.
    “Earning a degree, especially in college in the U.S., is something that not a lot of people are doing back home,” Sarr said. “I know it will be recognized over there, so it’s an honor.”

  Quotes of the Week

    Quote of the Week 1: “He will learn from it and will be better for it. You have to get it fixed with recruiting and make sure you are going after that right guy or two. I think this will be the year that changes what he does going forward. Next year’s roster has to look different,” ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes on changes UK coach John Calipari has to make.
    Quote of the Week 2: “I think just someone who wasn’t thought of as a high recruit or anything, to be able to contribute something and help those guys improve, I guess that’s the way Coach has held me to a high standard,” UK senior walk-on Riley Welch on how coach John Calipari held him to same standards as other players.
    Quote of the Week 3: “We are big up front. We have a running back (Chris Rodriguez) and a number of good backs but specifically I am talking Chris who can run some concepts we like in the run game with the way he gets downhill to where we can mix up the outside stretch game with the inside power run game,” new UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen on how the run game might look next season.

    First-year Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy started her head coaching career by having to suspend All-American Rhyne Howard, a potential national player of the year, for two games for a violation of team rules. However, that did not taint the relationship between the two.
    Elzy said coaching Howard is “pretty special” because of her rare talent.
    “What I love about Rhyne is she wants to be coached, she wants to be pushed, she wants to learn, and the staff does an amazing job with helping her improve,” Elzy said. “She has goals, obviously beyond Kentucky, that we have to help her get ready for. We can't just let her rest on her talent and she knows that we are not.
    “But also, just having great relationships, and really just trying to enjoy her and this team, even though it's March Madness for a reason.”
    Kentucky lost in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last week just a few days after Howard was again named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by league coaches and is only the third player to be SEC Player of the Year twice prior to her senior season. She’s also a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy Women’s National Player of the Year and one of five finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award and Dawn Staley Award given to the nation’s best player along with one of the final 15 on the Wooden Award ballot.
    Howard is the only Power-5 conference player averaging over 19 points and 7.5 rebounds per game with at least 40 steals and 70 assists. She’s the only player in the SEC leading her team in scoring, rebounding and assists.
    “I think where she has grown up from a year ago is she really trusts her teammates to step up and make the play,” Howard said. “The biggest thing for Rhyne is the pace at which she plays. She knows how to come off the screens and change the pace at which she can get open.
    “A year ago, they trapped her and she panicked and didn’t handle that well. Now when they trap her, she knows how to get out of the trap. The biggest leap she has taken is defensively, she is not resting on the defensive end.”

    What kind of player is Kentucky getting in Michigan State transfer linebacker Luke Fulton?
    He was a highly-touted four-star recruit out of Youngstown, Ohio, who expected to be a marquee player at Michigan State. He redshirted in 2019 and was expected to compete for a starting spot in 2020 before an off field issue made him miss preseason workouts. He never returned to the team and now is headed to Kentucky.
    Receiver Tre’Von Morgan is also transferring to UK from Michigan State. Like Fulton, he was a four-star recruit out of Ohio.
    “We were in the same recruiting class. I already knew of him when we got to

Michigan State and then we obviously talked more,” Morgan said. “We got close at school. Once I decided to transfer and UK was one of my schools, I told him to put in a good word for me because he was already committed. It never hurts to have somebody put in a good word, so he talked to them.”
    Morgan is glad he’s going to have Fulton as a teammate again.
    “He is a baller. He is strong as an ox,” Morgan said. “He can run and cover a lot of ground. I am pretty sure Luke was four-star and had a lot of places he could have gone.
    “He is a player. That’s the best way to put it. He is a tremendous athlete and player. Kentucky fans are going to love the way he plays.”