Pitching is key to UK baseball tournament run
May 2, 2014
By Kevin Erpenbeck
Last week, UK had enough of a cushion in the win column to only worry about improving its seeding in the SEC Tournament.
But after losing three straight games, the Cats’ only concern should be winning one game at a time to secure their NCAA Tournament berth.
Beating Tennessee in a convincing 15-1 fashion on Thursday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium was a step towards earning that berth.
Junior first baseman and pitcher A.J. Reed was solid again as he pitched eight innings of shutout baseball. It was certainly a relief to see Reed return to his dominant self after pitching only three innings against Ole Miss last weekend in the Rebels’ pounding of the Cats.
Reed will have to continue his usual dominance on the mound if UK is to have the best chance at winning down the road. There is very little room for error for the Cats with nine games to go, and the rest of the starting pitching isn’t anywhere near as effective as Reed. His last couple starts in the season are must-wins for the team.
Pitching will certainly be key if the Cats want to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but it’s hard to trust a staff that gives up double digit runs in nearly every game that Reed does not take the mound.
Sophomore pitcher Dylan Dwyer, who starts Saturday’s game against the Volunteers, has shown improvement since being named a weekend pitcher. But with so little experience in that role, it’s unclear how much longer Dwyer can keep that success going.
Thursday, though, the Cats were one win closer to achieving the season-ending goal.
Now UK has to keep the success going one game at a time.
