Campbell leads UK baseball to 8-7 victory over IU

By Bill Nigut

Pretty or ugly, all wins count.

Six UK pitchers allowed 14 hits in a hard-fought 8-7 win against preseason Big Ten favorite Indiana. With the grueling Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule beginning Friday, the Cats managed to remain focused and get their 29th consecutive home non-conference victory. It was UK’s first victory over the Hoosiers since 1993.

“As a team we have a lot of talent and there are so many guys on this team that just want to compete every single day,” said junior first baseman William Campbell. “We all come out here with the same goal in mind and that’s to win a ball game. We have that fight that you don’t see in a lot of teams and we’re starting to really grow together.”

IU jumped to a 2-0 lead with runs in the second and third innings, and it looked as though the Cats’ eight-game win streak was in serious jeopardy.

UK designated hitter Braden Kapteyn, however, sparked some offensive momentum for the Cats in the third inning. With two men on base, two outs, and a full count, Kapteyn blasted a hit into right field, scoring both runners and tying the game.

The Cats kept their momentum going in the bottom half of the inning when junior first baseman William Campbell blasted his first career home run over the left field wall.

“It felt really good,” Campbell said. “I can honestly say that I had been struggling. I felt like I wasn’t being aggressive enough and finally it just started to click a little bit. I was just telling myself to get more aggressive up there at the plate and really control the box and it worked out for the best.”

Campbell’s two-run home run gave the Cats a 4-2 advantage and their first lead of the game.

IU answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth to tie the game again, but three different UK players registered RBI in the sixth to take the lead for the final time.

UK head coach Gary Henderson said he was pleased with his team’s ability to come back and then hold onto a lead. He said, though the pitching was not at the level where he wanted it to be, the team fought hard and held on to an impressive win.

“I would like to have seen a little crisper performance out of our bullpen,” Henderson said. “But I thought our kids did a nice job when we fell behind.”

Henderson said although he knew the Hoosiers would be tough and was satisfied with the win, the Cats’ performance did not reflect their potential. He added that with the first SEC game being so soon, it made focusing on IU much more difficult.

“Our kids eventually made the plays,” Henderson said. “Once you get close to conference (play), sometimes concentration can be a little bit of a challenge but I thought the kids hung in there well.”