Ryan Nicholson and his two home run game propelled No. 17 Kentucky baseball (27-4, 11-1 SEC) to a 10-1 victory over No. 13 Alabama (22-10, 4-8 SEC) to complete a three game series sweep.
Nicholson finished the game going 3-5 with five RBIs.
“This guy has the ability to slow the game down to think calmly, clearly and non defensively,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said.
The first at-bat for the lefty came in the bottom of the second when he dunked a single into right center field over top of a shifted defense.
He came around to score on the next hitter when his teammate Nolan McCarthy doubled to left centerfield.
The Cats plated two more runs in the inning on a James McCoy ground out and an Émilien Pitre single, which gave the Cats an early 3-0 lead.
The Tide picked up a run off Wildcat starter Mason Moore in the top half of the third, which would be Moore’s lone blemish as he tossed seven innings.
Nick Lopez picked his pitcher back up by leading off the bottom of the third with a double and was moved over to third on a Mitchell Daly sacrifice bunt before Nicholson returned to the plate.
After taking a ball, time was called and Nicholson met with Lopez along with the Wildcat coaching staff.
“In that meeting, he literally looked us in the eye with the utmost confidence and said, ‘I got it’,” Mingione said.
Nicholson stepped back into the box and crushed a two-run opposite field home run on the next pitch that extended the lead to 5-1.
“When we have big dudes taking swings like that, it makes it easier on me,” Moore said.
Nicholson stepped back up to the plate in the fifth and grounded out but pitching prevailed in the middle innings as both offenses were held scoreless.
Lopez and Daly both hit one-out singles in the bottom of the seventh to bring up Nicholson, who deposited his second home run of the game over the right field wall to break the game open in the Cats’ favor.
“The first one felt better,” Nicholson said. “The second one I was definitely more juiced for the situation of the game and what we needed at that point.”
The Cats plated two more in the inning on a Ryan Waldschmidt single and a Pitre double, which gave the Cats a 10-1 advantage.
Nicholson’s final at-bat of the day came in the bottom of the eighth and he flirted with a third home run but the wind kept it in the ballpark for a fly out.
As a team, the Bat Cats finished with 16 hits and four doubles along with Nicholson’s two Big Blue Bombs.
“For us to do that we have to have production up and down the lineup and that’s what we did,” Mingione said.
The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, April 9, when they will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for a midweek clash against Samford with first pitch scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
