A nightmare first inning and missed opportunities resulted in No. 3 Kentucky baseball (32-6, 15-2 SEC) being defeated by No. 4 Tennessee (32-7, 11-6 SEC) by a score of 9-4 on Saturday.
The largest crowd in Kentucky baseball history record set in game one lasted less than one day as it was broken again in game two when 7,304 fans packed Kentucky Proud Park.
“Just looking around and seeing all the people was truly amazing,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “I’m so thankful for all the fans that came out today.”
The game got off to a rocky start for Dominic Niman when Christian Moore and Blake Burke hit back-to-back home runs to give the Vols an early 2-0 lead.
Things did not get easier for Niman as Billy Amick reached on an error by first baseman Ryan Nicholson and, after that, they went from bad to worse as Kavares Tears, Dylan Dreiling and Dean Curley hit consecutive doubles, making the Vols’ lead 5-0 and ending Niman’s afternoon.
“That guy has just been a warrior for us week in and week out,” Mingione said. “There’s times where you’re not gonna have your best stuff, and give them a lot of credit.”
Cameron O’Brien relieved Niman was able to limit the damage in the first to the five runs.
Ryan Waldschmidt continued his hot streak in the first inning with a lead off home run before Mitchell Daly cashed in another run for Bat Cats to bring the score to 5-2 after one.
The Vols added to their lead in the second when Tears hit a home run off of Robert Hogan, who relieved O’Brien.
The Wildcats were able to load the bases with two outs in the second and Émilien Pitre represented the tying run, but he flew out to end the inning.
Both offenses were kept at bay in the third and fourth innings, but Dreiling led off the fifth with a home run. Moore plated another run on a single that extended the Vols’ lead to 8-2.
The Wildcats cashed in two runs of their own in the fifth on a Pitre double and a single by Grant Smith, which cut the deficit to 8-4. Nick Lopez singled to keep the rally alive, but Daly hit into an inning-ending double play.
Another run scoring opportunity for the Wildcats presented itself in the bottom of the seventh when Devin Burkes and Waldschmidt hit singles with no outs, but the next three Cats were retired in order, leaving the runners stranded.
“We had multiple chances to get that to a one run game or a two run game and we didn’t get the big hit,” Mingione said.
The Vols plated another run in the top of the eighth when Dreiling hit his second home run — the fifth in the game for UT — that made the score 9-4.
“We played the score 4-4 after that for the rest of the game,” Mingione said. “They had the big inning in the first; it was just too much for us to overcome.”
With the series now even, the Wildcats and Vols will take the field for the series-deciding game three on Sunday, April 21, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
