Kentucky baseball (20-4 5-1 SEC) defeated the Missouri Tigers (10-14 1-5 SEC) by a score of 7-6 to win the series on Sunday.
Both teams had hot starts offensively, starting with a solo home run from Missouri’s Trevor Austin off of Wildcat starter Mason Moore in the bottom of the first.
The Cats rallied in the top of the second inning, starting with an error by Missouri that allowed Nick Lopez to reach second before Nolan McCarthy brought him home with an RBI single.
Soon after, Grant Smith singled to left field, bringing in Ryan Nicholson and Nolan McCarthy for two more runs to bring the score to 3-1 Cats.
Missouri cut the lead down to one run in the bottom half of the inning, with an RBI double from Danny Corona.
In the bottom of the third, Missouri tied the ballgame with an RBI single from Javier Hernandez before Kaden Peer singled to right field, bringing in Hernandez to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Cats tied the game with a solo home run from Nicholson, his eighth of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth, Moore found his momentum, giving up zero runs in his last two innings of work and keeping the tie intact. He finished his five innings of work with four earned runs, six strikeouts and four walks.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Cats exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth, which all kicked off with a Devin Burkes RBI double that brought in Lopez. Soon after, a throwing error by Missouri pitcher Ian Lohse on a bunt attempt by McCarthy allowed Burkes to score.
Finally, James McCoy hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Nicholson, making the score 7-4 going into the bottom of the sixth.
On the mound, Evan Byers came on in relief and kept the Tigers at bay, pitching a scoreless sixth inning in which he struck out two batters.
Missouri would get on the board once again in the bottom of the seventh after an error from Ryan Waldschmidt on a single by Austin allowed a run to score, which cut the Cats’ lead to 7-5.
Cooper Robinson came on in the bottom of the ninth and got two quick outs before Austin singled to left field. Robinson walked Tommy Curry, which put the tying run on base, before Hernandez singled to right field, bringing in Austin from first, and cutting the lead to 7-6.
With the game on the line, McCoy came in for Robinson and halted the Tigers’ rally to secure the game and series victory for the Cats.
Kentucky will return to action on Tuesday, March 26, when it will take on Miami (OH) at Kentucky Proud Park at 6:30 p.m. ET.
