Kentucky baseball (12-1) came from behind to win the second game of its home-and-home series against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (2-11) by a score of 5-2 on Wednesday.
Early on it appeared as if the Wildcat offense picked up where it left off in Tuesday’s mercy rule victory by loading the bases with no outs after Ryan Waldschmidt and Émilien Pitre both drew walks and Patrick Herrera was hit by a pitch.
Nick Lopez then hit a fly ball to right field deep enough to bring home Waldschmidt and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Devin Burkes was hit by a pitch to reload the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the top half of the inning.
Cooper Robinson got the start for Kentucky on the mound and an error by third baseman Ethan Hindle allowed the leadoff hitter Colby Ott to reach before the next batter, DJ Sullivan, hit a single that allowed him to advance to third.
Conner Davis then grounded into a double play, but Ott scored to tie the game at one.
After the Wildcats’ offense went scoreless in the second, Robinson gave up a leadoff double but managed to escape the inning unscathed.
Robert Hogan came into the game for the Cats and began the pitcher’s duel as both arms tossed three straight three-up-three-down innings.
James McCoy then came on in relief of Hogan in the bottom of the sixth before running into trouble with the bases loaded.
Johnny Hummel entered the one-out-bases-loaded jam and forced a ground ball, but the Wildcat first baseman, Lopez, sailed the throw home, which allowed a runner to score and gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead before the pitcher could get the final out. Hummel shut down the Colonels in the bottom of the seventh.
Eastern Kentucky’s pitching dominated the Wildcats’ hitters as they remained hitless through seven innings before Pitre broke up the streak in the top of the eighth with a single. Thanks to a passed ball and an errant pick-off attempt, Pitre ended up on third with no outs.
Lopez then hit a fielder’s choice that allowed Pitre to come home and tie the game at 2-2 before a single by Burkes and a walk by Kyuss Gargett loaded the bases for Reuben Church, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the seventh.
Church delivered the biggest hit of the game with a double off the left field wall that scored Lopez and Burkes to give Kentucky a 4-2 lead.
The Wildcats added an insurance run in the top of the ninth from a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lopez, scoring Waldschmidt to make the score 5-2.
Trey Pooser entered the game for the Cats in the bottom of the eighth and pitched back-to-back three-up-three-down innings to secure the victory.
The Wildcats return to action on Friday, Mar. 8, 2024 when they begin a weekend series against Kennesaw State at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
