A mid-week adjustment allowed Ryan Waldschmidt to find his swing in Kentucky baseball’s weekend sweep against Lipscomb.
Waldschmidt finished with a .290 batting average and a .872 OPS in his 2023 sophomore season with the Wildcats, earning postseason accolades by being named to the All-Regional team for the Lexington Regional.
Over the summer, Waldschmidt played in the Cape Cod Baseball League, but his summer ended prematurely after he tore his ACL.
This led to a unique start to the 2024 season, as Waldschmidt made three pinch-hitting appearances in the early going.
He got his first start of the season against Texas State at the designated hitter position, which is different from his normal outfield position.
“Being a designated hitter is new for me,” Waldschmidt said. “I’m used to being out in the field and just being involved all time, so mentally I just gotta stay locked in.”
The first hit of the season eluded Waldschmidt until the following day against Kansas, where he went 1-3 at the plate. He repeated this effort against Western Kentucky University.
This set the stage for the weekend series against Lipscomb when, in game one, Waldschmidt finished 1-3 with an RBI double and also drew a walk.
“I just love his at bats,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “He had five at bats, every single one of them was a quality at bat.”
In game two, Waldschmidt finished 1-3 with a double and two RBIs along with two walks.
Throughout the series, Waldschmidt was constantly finding the barrel of his bat, even if not all of them fell for hits.
He truly shined in the final game of the series, going 3-5 with a single, a double and a long 418-foot home run over the left field wall.
“I was able to get my foot down early and get a barrel to the ball and let him (the pitcher) do the work with his velocity and a good result came from that,” Waldschmidt said.
He finished with three RBIs in the finale, concluding the weekend with a team-leading six RBIs.
“He decided that he was going to take the air out of his stride and he was going to do what he did last year and go more of a no stride, and boy did that pay off, what a weekend,” Mingione said.
Waldschmidt has now locked down the leadoff spot for the Wildcats and will only become more of a factor as he gets closer to returning to the outfield.
“When our team is at our best that guy is going to be standing there in the first inning,” Mingione said. “His presence in our lineup is undeniable.”
Waldschmidt and the Wildcats season rolls on when they take on Eastern Kentucky University on Tuesday, Mar. 4, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
