It was said that there is no place like home, and that rang especially true on a beautiful Wednesday evening at Kentucky Proud Park.
Kentucky baseball, just 24 hours after handing Evansville a deafening 24-3 loss, took the field for a makeup midweek contest and defeated Morehead State 8-2.
While a six-run first inning was full of glitz and glamor, the heart of the victory rested on the mound and heavily on the shoulders of three freshmen Kentucky kids.
“Super proud of our pitching staff tonight,” Head Coach Nick Mingione said. “We threw the ball for nine innings and seven and a third of those went from players from the state of Kentucky. All three (freshmen) from Kentucky. I thought the dugout was great, just the way they were behind those freshmen. They were pulling hard from each other.”
It was announced just prior to first pitch that, with midweek starter Nate Harris getting the nod against the Purple Aces, former Frederick Douglass Bronco and Lexington native Leighton Harris would take the mound for the Cats against the Eagles.
Harris, getting his first ever taste of collegiate baseball, got into a bit of trouble in his first inning, surrendering a hit and a walk, but buckled in, relying on his fielders to secure the three outs.
“Shoutout to (Tyler) Bell, he made a great pick on the throw from (Dylan Koontz) after I picked the guy off,” Harris said. “It makes it easy to have confidence and just feel like yourself out there.”
He would go on to pitch four complete innings with the fourth being his best, sending the Eagles three-up, three-down before being subbed from the mound and told to stay ready just in case UK needed him to return.
“That was a long time coming,” Mingione said. “From the time he committed to us to the time he got here and, finally, it seems like we finally got him out there and (I’m) not surprised one bit. (He’s) just a winner in every sense of the word, just competed his heart out and super proud of him. He did so many things well.”
With his hitters giving him the aforementioned six-run cushion after one and a seven-run cushion after two, Harris was able to execute at the level he needed to, finishing with five hits allowed, one walk, four strikeouts and no runs allowed against 17 batters.
“These guys are just so committed to their approaches,” Harris said of his hitters. “(Hitting) Coach (Chase Sloan) and (Recruiting Coordinator Austin Cousino) do a great job of getting those guys prepared for every game and to go out there and have a six-run lead in the second inning is crazy. It’s always nice to have whether you’re in the ninth inning or second inning.”
Taking the mound after Harris, former community college baller Nile Adcock would allow the only two runs for the Eagles of the night in the fifth inning.
Kentucky’s second star freshman from the state would make his presence known in the seventh inning, sandwiching Evan Byers and James McCoy.
Hailing from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Zak Spurrier sought to make a name for himself for the Wildcats and did just that, putting the Eagles down three-up, three-down in his lone inning of work.
Spurrier grabbed two strikeouts in the process before making way for redshirt sophomore Hayden Smith.
The final freshman arm to enter the game was Lawrenceburg’s Logan Grubb, who would make perhaps the biggest statement of the night.
Not only did Grubb make the most of his three batters faced, retiring them in order, he did so exclusively with strikeouts, adding a fine exclamation point to a dominant midweek for the Bat Cats.
“We’re gonna do a lot of special things the next two-three years, especially coming in this year knowing that the leaders on the team help us out a ton,” Harris said. “Spur getting his first college punchy in his first AB and then Grubb striking out the side, I can’t be more fired up for those guys. For (Grubb) to punch out the side like that is just awesome to see, so happy for him.”
Harris would eventually be credited with the win for the Cats, making his career total 1-0 in college ball. Due to the six-run cushion, Grubb was not credited with a save in the contest despite closing the night.
Whether or not the three arms will become consistent pieces for Kentucky is to be seen as two midweek games are atypical, but for a team that made its first ever Men’s College World Series appearance despite pitching depth issues, having young arms that prove they can go at the college level is huge for Mingione and his staff.
“In the last three innings we struck out seven of the nine batters,” Mingione said. “Evan Byers, he came in and settled the game – they had a chance, they had bases loaded. We bring in Evan, he gets us the big hop ground ball. Zak Spurrier, Kentucky guy, man. How about Hayden Smith running up the road? And then Logan Grubb punching out the side. Super proud of them.”
Kentucky baseball will return to action on Friday, Feb. 28, in game one of a weekend series at Kentucky Proud Park against the Hofstra Pride. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network+.
