Column: Big inning against Vols could save UK’s season

The eight-run second inning in UK’s marathon victory against Tennessee on Sunday may go down as just one inning in an offensive onslaught, but it just might have been the turning point of the Bat Cats’ season.

UK trailed by four entering the second after two defensive errors had helped the Volunteers open up the game against spot-starter Clint Tilford, who was filling in for injured freshman phenom Alex Meyer.

The inning started off innocently enough.  Junior center fielder Keenan Wiley struck out looking to start the frame.  Junior right fielder Troy Frazier singled to right field before senior third baseman Chris McClendon flew out to right field for the second out in the inning.

That’s when a routine inning became anything but routine.  Junior catcher Marcus Nidiffer walked and freshman outfielder Chad Wright reached base on an infield single to load the bases for the first time for UK, but it wouldn’t be the last. Tennessee repaid the UK defense’s gift of two errors in the first with an error on an Andy Burns grounder to shortstop that allowed Frazier to score.

Sophomore infielder Chris Bisson then cleared the bases with a three-run triple before junior first baseman Gunner Glad drove him home with a single to left field.  A pitching change for Tennessee didn’t stop the UK onslaught as freshman designated hitter Braden Kapteyn walked before Wiley finished what he started with a three-run home run.

“Coach Henderson was talking about it wasn’t over yet,” Bisson said.  “We’d been through this at Mississippi State and South Carolina was the same way.”

After the bleeding stopped, UK had scored eight unearned runs, all coming with two outs.  Five of the nine Cats batters recorded a hit in the inning and only one Cat didn’t reach base in the frame.

The Cats would go on to score nine more runs in the game to defeat the Volunteers 17-11.  UK answered Tennessee’s four-run game-tying fifth inning with a grand slam from Kapteyn that sealed the game in the bottom of the frame.

“We knew we should beat these guys three times,” Bisson said.  “Right now, we’re just trying to fight and stay in there.”

UK received a much-needed strong relief effort from left-handed pitcher Logan Darnell to finally quiet the Tennessee offense that had scored 11 runs through the first six innings.   Darnell surrendered one run on a home run by Volunteer catcher Blake Forsythe, but settled down to limit Tennessee to just the one run on two hits in the final five innings of the game.

“We needed that too,” Kapteyn said.  “Whenever someone can come in with the bases loaded and only give up one run, that’s big.”

But all of the late-inning positives were made possible by that initial two-out rally in the second inning.  The Cats were on the verge of dropping their home series to cellar-dwelling Tennessee and falling two and a half games behind Vanderbilt for the eighth and final spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

“It’s not pretty, but we’ll take a win any way,” Kapteyn said.

To say that UK needed an offensive rally is an understatement.  But that’s just what the Cats got.

“I think the bigger issue is for the club to know you can make something happen when it isn’t given to you,” UK head coach Gary Henderson said.

The Cats take a week off for finals, but welcome Auburn to town next week in a pivotal matchup for the final spot in the SEC Tournament.

“Whoever wins the series is going to have a chance that last weekend,” Henderson said.  “It’s big.  (The media) keep asking me if it’s do or die, and no, it’s not yet, but we’re getting close.”

The Cats are taking their finals in the classroom this week, but they’re right in the middle of the final exam on the field.  A series victory against Auburn next week might give the Cats a chance to escape this season with a passing grade and a trip to the SEC Tournament.
Jon Hale is a journalism senior. E-mail jhale@kykernel.com.