Kentucky baseball (17-3 3-0 SEC) completed the series sweep over the Georgia Bulldogs (17-4 0-3 SEC) in mercy rule fashion by a score of 12-2 in seven innings on Sunday.
The Wildcat offense remained scoreless and faced a 2-0 deficit going into the bottom of the third but, after two quick outs, Émilien Pitre drew a walk before stealing both second and third.
Devin Burkes was hit by a pitch to put the Wildcats on the corners and Nick Lopez delivered a double into left center field to score two runs and tie the game.
Mitchell Daly then tripled off the right field wall to score Lopez and give the Cats a 3-2 lead.
Ryan Nicholson followed this up with a long home run over the right field wall to score Daly and extend the lead to 5-2 after three.
In the fourth inning Pitre extended the lead further with a two-run home run that also scored Grant Smith.
”I’m growing up, this past summer I’ve gained about 10 pounds,” Pitre said about his power. “I’m not changing my swing or anything, I’m just staying myself and the power is coming.”
The offense wasted no time getting back on the board in the fifth as runners reached the corners before James McCoy singled to bring home Nicholson.
Smith then laid down a sacrifice bunt and Bulldogs pitcher Zach Harris sailed the throw, which allowed Nolan McCarthy to score before back-to-back sacrifice flies by Pitre and Ryan Waldschmidt saw the Cats reach 11 runs.
“He’s a very mature baseball player and understands the game at a very, very high level,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said about Pitre.
In the sixth, Nicholson hit his second home run of the game over the left field wall that extended the lead to the ultimate result of 12-2 Wildcats.
”He’s believed in himself and when you have a guy that’s played that much college baseball, his self belief and confidence did not waver,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said about Nicholson.
On the mound, Mason Moore got the ball for the Wildcats. His lone blemish would come in the second inning when Henry Hunter homered over the left field wall to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
Pitching six total innings, Moore earned the win and improved his record to 4-0 on the season.
“They were aggressive, so it’s kind of easy to just throw all my stuff in there for strikes,” Moore said. “I got a lot of swings and misses.”
Trey Pooser came on in the seventh and pitched a three-up, three-down inning to secure the mercy rule victory for Kentucky.
“I thought it was a really solid atmosphere,” Nicholson said. “I thought it was very competitive between the two squads this weekend.”
The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, March 19, when they will host the Evansville Aces at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
