Kentucky baseball run ruled in-state opponent Eastern Kentucky 10-0 after seven innings on Tuesday.
The Cats’ offense dominated with eight hits while drawing eight walks, producing 10 runs in the final four innings of the game.
Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Drew Lafferty earned the win on the mound after starting and pitching five innings.
After two shutout innings, the Wildcats attacked offensively in the third inning. Most notably, first baseman Nick Lopez hit a home run over the left field wall to score Patrick Herrera and Émilien Pitre.
“I haven’t hit it right-handed all year and to come back and bring (switch hitting) back to myself and hit that for my first career Kentucky homer,” Lopez said. “It felt awesome, it was great.”
Two at-bats later, shortstop Kyuss Gargett doubled to right field, which led to another run scored from a triple hit by left fielder Lukas Schramm, who then scored a run via wild pitch.
In the fourth inning, Kentucky continued to find ways to get on base as Herrera walked with the bases loaded before freshman Ethan Hindle doubled to center field bringing in Herrera and junior Ryan Waldschmidt, extending the Cats’ lead 8-0.
In the next inning, Lafferty finished his third career start, going three-up-three-down, only allowing two hits and punching out five Colonel batters.
“(My confidence is) through the roof, not too confident, but through the roof,” Lafferty said. “Confidence is a key part of pitching.”
On offense, redshirt freshman Austin Fawley knocked a solo home run before the sixth inning went scoreless.
To start the seventh, Zach Hise closed out the game for the Cats while senior Reuben Church scored the final run of the day off a fielding error.
“We’ve really pitched and defended the ball at a really good level,” head coach Nick Mingione said. “Our at-bats the last three games continue to get better and better, and it’s really helped us, our ability of late to get some timely hits to be able to execute big innings.”
With the result, Kentucky extended its winning streak to seven straight games.
The Wildcats return to action against Kennesaw State on Friday, March 8, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m. ET and streaming live on the SEC Network.
