Kentucky baseball (5-1) dominated offensively in 24-3 beatdown of Evansville (1-6) in its home debut.
“We got a lot of dogs, I mean did you see that right there,” Devin Burkes said. “Young guys, old guys, that don’t matter, everybody’s just ready to play.”
The outburst was the most runs scored by Kentucky since March 9, 2014, when they scored 26.
Burkes and Cole Hage finished a combined 7-9 with a walk, home run, four doubles and five RBI.
Along with those two, 11 other Wildcats recorded an RBI in the game.
The Bat Cats wasted no time getting the offense rolling in the first as Luke Lawrence, Shaun Montoya and Hage singled to load the bases.
Following a strikeout of Tyler Bell, Carson Hansen hit a grounder to first and the first baseman, Jake McGhee, sailed a throw to second base into left field, which allowed Lawrence and Montoya to come home.
Burkes was up next for the Cats, and he roped a double down the left field line to bring home Hage and Hansen.
The offense continued rolling as Dylan Koontz hit a 416-foot two-run home run over the center field fence.
Lawrence capped off the scoring in his second at-bat of the inning with a sacrifice bunt that brought home Ethan Hindle and the score to 7-0 Cats.
After a quiet second, Evansville tagged Nate Harris for two runs on a single and a sacrifice fly.
“He bent, but he didn’t break, that’s huge for the game,” Burkes said. “Who knows how the game goes if he gives up four or five, he put his foot down and kept them at two. He’s a dog.”
The Wildcats added a run after Lawrence reached on an error that scored Burkes.
The onslaught continued in the fourth when Hage led off the inning with a Big Blue Bomb over the centerfield wall.
“Right now, it’s just one of those times where he’s on everything,” Head Coach Nick Mingione said. “When the lights come on and the games have started, there’s no doubt he’s elevated his game and has gotten better on all ends.”
Burkes and Koontz brought home two more runs on a double and sacrifice fly.
The Cats’ topped that three-run frame with a four-run frame in the fifth that started with back-to-back doubles by Hage and Bell. Burkes continued his hot day at the plate with another RBI double. Hansen walked and ended up scoring on balk.
The final run of the inning came on a groundout by Hindle that scored Burkes and brought the score to 15-3.
The sixth inning was the biggest of the night for Kentucky as it plated nine runs with four coming on singles and lone runs, scoring on a balk, walk, error, hit-by-pitch and a passed ball.
“We just always grinding at bats, not making it easy for the pitchers to get us out,” Burkes said.
Following the win, the Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when they will take on Morehead State at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET.
