Kentucky Baseball (19-3 4-0 SEC) outlasted the Missouri Tigers (9-13 0-4 SEC) by a score of 9-4 in 11 innings on Friday.
Ryan Waldschmidt wasted no time getting the offense started as he singled on the first pitch of the game and, before long, the Cats had loaded the bases with Emilien Pitre and Devin Burkes.
Nick Lopez hit a grounder to Missouri starter Logan Lunceford, who managed to turn the double play.
In danger of spoiling the bases-loaded, no-out scenario, Mitchell Daly stepped up to plate and singled up the middle to score both Pitre and Burkes to give the Cats a 2-0 lead.
Trey Pooser got the start for Kentucky and he struck out Trevor Austin and Jackson Lovich for two quick outs, but Thomas Curry spoiled Pooser’s quick start with a home run over the left field wall to cut the Cats’ lead to 2-1.
Following the homer, Pooser gave up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases, but Waldschmidt hauled in a line drive to escape the jam.
Lopez led off the fourth with a double and he advanced to third on a balk and, despite Daly grounding out to second, Lopez scored to extend the lead to 3-1.
After the first, Pooser settled in and pitched five scoreless innings, finishing with seven strikeouts across his six total innings, including earning his 200th collegiate strikeout.
With Pooser departing the mound, the Cats gave up two runs to tie the game.
The Wildcats’ offense was shut down until the top of the 11th inning when Lopez singled to open the inning, Daly followed up with a single of his own and Ryan Nicholson was intentionally walked to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, Nolan McCarthy was hit by a pitch to bring home Lopez and give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead before James McCoy hit a sacrifice fly and Reuben Church singled to bring home Daly and Nicholson as well.
Waldschmidt was then hit by a pitch to reload the bases before Pitre deposited a double into left field that brought home Church and McCarthy which made the score 8-3.
Finally, Burkes grounded to second to bring home Waldschmidt to extend the lead to 9-3, capping off a six-run inning for the Bat Cats.
Back on the mound, Johnny Hummel settled into the game after the seventh by tossing three straight scoreless innings, finishing with six strikeouts over his 3.1 innings of work. Hummel also earned the win, bringing his record to 2-0 on the season.
Evan Byers came on in the 11th and surrendered one final Tiger run to reach the final score of 9-4 before he could record a strikeout to seal the victory.
The Wildcats will go for the series victory in game two against the Tigers on Saturday, March 23, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
