Kentucky baseball (11-1) mercy-ruled Wofford (11-3) by a score of 12-2 in seven innings.
“We are at our best when we are scoring early and often and we just continue to add, add, add,” Kentucky Head Coach Nick Mingione said.
Dylan Koontz and Cole Hage led the way offensively by going a combined 6-8 with two home runs and seven RBIs.
Nic McCay shined over six innings as he allowed just one unearned run and struck out six.
McCay’s outing started with some trouble after a single and a walk gave the Terroirs some early runners.
With two outs in the frame, McCay rolled a ground ball and due to some miscommunications in the middle infield, the Terroirs brought home a run to grab the lead.
The lead only lasted four batters into the bottom half as Tyler Bell tied the game with a single and Koontz doubled to score two more and give the Cats’ a 3-1 lead.
McCay settled in the middle innings by working a three-up, three-down frame in the second, working around a single in the third and working around two walks in the fourth.
“A ton, especially when I’m not throwing as good of pitches as I know I can,” McCay said about his offense boosting his confidence. “We got guys that are just finding a way to get on-base and finding ways to touch home plate. I think that is what’s special about this team.”
The righties offense got back on the board in the fourth when Carson Hansen scored on a passed ball and Montoya hit into a double play that plated Raphael Pelletier to bolster the lead to 6-1.
Just like when the Wildcats scored in the first, McCay tossed a three-up, three-down frame to get them right back to the plate in the fifth.
Ethan Hindle crushed a double into left center to score Hage and add on to the lead.
McCay worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless sixth, which served as his final inning of work.
The Bat Cats blew the game open in what turned out to be their final at-bats of the game.
Singles by Patrick Herrera and Montoya set the table for a Hage three-run home run.
Bell followed up the homer with a single that gave way to a two-run homer by Koontz that put the run-rule into effect with the score now 12-1.
“As a team we all lean on each other, and it’s not just one individual, it’s everybody,” Koontz said. “Those runs we score; you can’t do that if no one is on base.”
Leighton Harris came on in the seventh and gave up a run but ultimately secured the run-rule win.
The Bat Cats will go for the sweep on Saturday, March 7, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.
