Kentucky Baseball (13-3) won one out of three games against Kennesaw State University (9-7) over the weekend.
In game one, Kentucky was defeated via mercy rule by a score of 13-1 in eight innings.
After two scoreless innings, Kentucky starter Travis Smith ran into trouble and, following errors on the field and the mound, the Cats trailed 4-0.
The Wildcats’ offense was dormant outside of a solo home run in the fifth inning off the bat of Kyuss Gargett that resulted in the Cats’ lone run.
Moving on to the seventh, Smith allowed further runners on base before a double plated another run for the Owls and made the score 5-1.
The top of the eighth is when the game really got away from the Wildcats.
Colby Frieda came on in relief of Smith and got two quick outs before allowing runners on base. After an error, Frieda gave up a two-run homer before hitting the next batter, ending his evening.
Hayden Smith then came into the game and gave up a double as well as a walk to load the bases.
Smith gave up a single that scored two more runs before another single reloaded the bases and a double unloaded them again for the Owls.
Another double scored the eighth and final run of the inning, making the Kennesaw advantage 13-1. The Wildcats were unable to bring the score within 10 runs, so the mercy rule was enacted, ending the game.
“We just didn’t do enough good things in the game,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said after game one.
Game two saw Kentucky fall again, this time by a score of 10-2.
The pitching struggles continued early, as pitcher Dominic Niman allowed four runs on four hits in the first inning.
In the second inning, the Owls scored off a throwing error by Gargett that extended their lead to 5-0, but the Wildcats were able to shorten this lead to 5-1 after an RBI double from Mitchell Daly.
The Owls extended their lead once again in the third inning after an RBI double that made the score 6-1.
They exploded once again in the fifth inning, with two runners scoring off a double. Two more Owls then scored on a single before another four-run inning made the score 10-1.
“We just have to do a better job minimizing,” Mingione said. “When we are at our best, that’s what we are doing, and obviously weren’t able to do that today.”
The score remained stagnant until the bottom of the eighth inning due to both teams’ bullpen pitching, which included a scoreless outing from relief pitcher Carson Applegate, who made his collegiate debut for the Wildcats.
“I brought him up in front of the team and the team was happy for him, because he waited his turn and he took advantage of it,” Mingione said.
In the eighth inning, Nick Lopez hit an RBI double to shorten the Kennesaw lead to just eight runs, but the Cats’ offense stalled once more and they were unable to complete the comeback.
Finally, the Wildcats bounced back in game three with a 5-2 victory.
Wildcat starter Mason Moore pitched seven strong innings en route to the win, setting the tone early with a three-up, three-down first inning.
”They smacked us in the mouth twice,” Moore said. “My job was to go out there in the first inning and get a shut down for us to give us some momentum for today.”
The Owls were able to tie the game at 1-1, but largely struggled to get any kind of momentum against Moore.
The arm would surrender a double in the seventh, with it being the first hit he surrendered in the game.
When it was time for relief, Evan Byers came on and struck out the first batter he faced before giving up back to back singles. A fly out ended Byers’ afternoon.
Troy Pooser came on and gave up a double that scored a run for the Owls, but otherwise got out of the inning and pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the victory.
As far as the offense went, Émilien Pitre hit a two out double to score Nick Lopez and give Kentucky its first lead of the series at 1-0 before the offense returned to the scoreboard in the fourth after Patrick Herrera singled to left field to score Pitre.
Nicholson laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Herrera and make the score 4-1 Kentucky after four innings.
Finally, Daly grounded out in the eighth to score Pitre and give Kentucky a 5-2 lead.
The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, March 12, when they take on Murray State at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
