Kentucky baseball (3-0) completed a weekend sweep over the University of South Carolina-Upstate Spartans (0-3).
The Wildcats used big innings to surge past the Spartans in an 11-7 victory in game one.
The first big inning came in the top of the second when Kentucky struck for four runs on four hits.
Travis Smith got the start and cruised through the first inning, but labored through the rest of his four total innings of work.
The only blemish on his ledger came in the bottom of the second when he gave up two runs, which made the score at the time 4-2 Kentucky.
The offenses would remain quiet until the top of the fifth when the Cats tallied four more runs. These runs came from a Ryan Nicholson single, an Émilien Pitre bases-loaded walk and a two-out single by Grant Smith that scored two.
Trey Pooser took the mound in the fifth inning and held the Spartans at bay until the bottom of the sixth when back-to-back doubles and a single made the score 8-4 Cats.
Pitre hit a one-out single in the top of the seventh and came around to score after stealing second, which was followed by a Spartan error, which brought the score to 9-4.
Upstate would get the run back in the bottom half of the seventh with a solo home run, but it was followed by the first home run of the year for Kentucky, which came off the bat of Devin Burkes, who’s two run homer also scored Nick Lopez and brought the score to 11-5.
Pooser remained in the game until surrendering two runs in the bottom of the ninth, which brought the score to 11-7 and put Evan Byers – who promptly closed the game – on the mound.
Pitching was on display in game two as Kentucky shut out the Spartans 3-0.
Kentucky got on the board in the top of the first after Lopez led off with a single and Nicholson drew a walk. Burkes reached on an error after the Spartans got out Nicholson, but a bad throw allowed Burkes to reach and Lopez to score.
Holding a 1-0 lead, Dominic Niman took the mound and gave the Wildcats five strong innings.
Kentucky’s offense scored again in the top of the fourth when James McCoy and Griffin Cameron hit back-to-back singles before another throwing error allowed McCoy to score.
Smith hit a fielder’s choice that brought home Cameron for the Cats’ third and final run of the game and Ryan Hagenow relieved Niman, going three innings before departing for Johnny Hummel in the bottom of the ninth.
Hummel completed the three-pitcher shutout and secured the game two victory.
The “Bat Cats” returned for game three and won by a score of 9-3.
A double in the top of the second off the bat of Mitchell Daly brought home Lukas Schramm. A groundout by Smith scored Daly and a single by Patrick Herrera gave the Wildcats a quick 3-0 lead.
Two innings later, in the top of the fourth, a Schramm solo home run extended the Kentucky lead to 4-0.
Picking back up in the top of the fifth, a single by Pitre scored Burkes before Pitre himself would eventually come around to score to extend the lead to 6-0.
Ty Crittenberger hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to further the lead to 8-0 while Mason Moore got the ball in the series finale, pitching five-and-one-third clean innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Moore gave up a lead off walk and got one out before a two-run home run ultimately ended his day and brought the score to 8-2 Wildcats. Cameron O’Brien came on in relief of Moore and pitched two thirds of an inning.
In the top of the eighth, Eli Small came off the bench and hit a solo home run in his first collegiate at-bat to bring the score to 9-2.
Cooper Robinson was next on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and gave the team one-and-one-third innings, giving up a solo home run as his lone blemish in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Jackson Nove took over in the bottom of the eighth and made it into the bottom of the ninth before running into some trouble, which would get him removed from the game and bring on Colby Freida, who got the last out of the game and the series.
Kentucky returns to action for its home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2024 when it takes on the Morehead State University Eagles at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
