Kentucky baseball (17-9, 4-5 SEC) took down Texas A&M (13-14, 1-8 SEC) by a score of 10-5 to win its first SEC series of the season. The game was called short after the eighth inning due to Kentucky’s travel curfew.
The recipe for success for the Wildcats in game three was high execution on offense and Ben Cleaver being masterful on the mound.
It seemed like the Bat Cats were going to be held scoreless in the first inning for the first time in the series, but Tyler Bell continued his splendid series at the plate with a double that brought home Luke Lawrence to open the scoring.
Cleaver labored a bit in the first as he got into early trouble by surrendering a walk and hit-by-pitch with one out. This gave way to single that tied the game 1-1. Bear Harrison gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly.
Pressure was mounting for the lefty as he gave up a single to put two runners on, but a strikeout ended the inning.
The second inning was textbook Kentucky baseball as it thrived by putting pressure on the defense.
Griffin Cameron singled to open the inning, and he advanced to third on a single by Shaun Montoya. Lawrence laid down a bunt and the Aggies tried to throw out Cameron at the plate, but he beat the throw to tie the game 2-2.
Cole Hage roped a single to left center to break the tie in the Bat Cats favor. Hudson Brown laid down another sacrifice bunt to bring home Lawrence and extend the lead to 4-1.
Cleaver settled in on the mound by pitching a six-up, six-down second and third innings.
The lefty gave up a single to open the fourth, but it was quickly erased on a double play. Cleaver followed up the double play with a strikeout to end the inning.
The Wildcats took all the momentum in the fifth inning by scoring four runs.
The long inning started after back-to-back singles and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Ethan Hindle was plunked to score a run. Cameron brought home another run on a sacrifice fly.
Later in the inning, Lawrence brought home two more runs on a single to finish off the four-run frame.
Cleaver worked around a walk in the fifth to remain scoreless.
The sixth started out very similar to the fourth for Cleaver as he hit a batter, but it was quickly erased on a double play. However, the grounder ended up being Cleaver’s final pitch as Nile Adcock to over and got a strikeout to end the inning.
The seventh made things tense as the Aggies started to get going on offense after not scoring since the first with a one-out double and walk. Both runners came around to score on a triple.
Another runner scored for the Aggies on a single that brought the tying run to the plate with two outs. Jackson Nove slammed the door with a strikeout to prevent any further damage.
In the eighth, Brown added some insurance with a home run. Cameron plated the final run of the game on a fielder’s choice that extended the Wildcats lead to 8-5.
The Bat Cats improved to 3-0 in SEC play when Cleaver is on the mound.
Lawrence led the offense in the series-clincher by going 2-4 with 3 RBIs.
Kentucky will return to action on Thursday, April 3, when it will welcome Ole Miss to Kentucky Proud Park for a three-game set.
