By Derek Terry

sports@kykernel.com

UK baseball used a five-run first inning on Wednesday to power its way to a 9-4 win over Morehead State.

UK head coach Gary Henderson said the win was much needed for the Cats after losing Tuesday to Western Kentucky 12-3.

“Anytime you lose it’s important to come out and play well the next day,” Henderson said. “We had a little hiccup in the fourth inning with the two balls that left the yard, but overall it was a positive step forward.”

Storm Wilson and Thomas Bernal each drove in a run, and Zach Arnold singled in two runs off of Morehead St. starter Seth Boyle in the bottom of the first. Bernal later scored off a balk. The score remained the same until Wilson hit his first home run of the season in the third inning over the left field fence to give the Cats the 6-0 advantage.

“I wasn’t trying to do too much with that pitch,” Wilson said. “It was an 0-1 pitch and I got a little bit of wind to help me out. I was just doing what I could do with it and it worked out.”

Everything was going UK’s way until the top of the fourth when Morehead St. designated hitter Nick Newell and Alex Stephens each hit two run homeruns off of UK starter Zach Pop to make 6-4.

Junior Taylor Martin relieved Pop and stranded a runner on first to end the Eagle threat. Martin worked 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball and picked up his first win.

“It feels great to get the win,” Martin said. “I actually didn’t know that I got the win but it feels good.”

Sophomore Connor Heady doubled to score Arnold and Marcus Carson in the bottom of the sixth to extend the UK lead to 8-4. The Cats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Ka’ai Tom singled Heady home to give UK a 9-4 lead.

UK will be back in action on Friday night when it takes on No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge, La.