Kentucky baseball (22-15, 8-10 SEC) bludgeoned No. 19 Louisville (28-12, 10-8 ACC) by a score of 17-5 in seven innings.
The Bat Cats entered the series looking to build upon a statement series victory on the road against then No. 4 Tennessee. While the arms guided the approach in Knoxville, the offense carried the load in this midweek win.
The last time these two teams played this season; the Cardinals won at home 4-3 in walk off fashion.
“I think pregame, the boys were just locked in,” Carson Hansen said. “After what they did to us last game, it was personal, and we came out with an edge tonight.”
The Wildcats wasted no time being productive at the plate as Kyuss Gargett doubled to left in the second plate appearance for Kentucky.
Hudson Brown and Hansen followed the double with a walk and hit-by-pitch to load the bases.
Ryan Schwartz hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Gargett to open the scoring. The lone run was all the Cats could get in the first.
Tyler Bell added to the early lead with a single to left. However, the second was not a repeat of the first on the scoreboard.
With the bases loaded once again, the Bat Cats got little bit of luck to boost their lead as Patrick Herrera hit a flyball to center that the centerfielder lost in the sun, which resulted in a bases-clearing triple that boosted the lead to 5-0 after two.
After the Cardinals added a run in the third, the Wildcats reloaded the bases once again and Gargett was hit by a pitch to extend the lead back out to five runs at 6-1.
Louisville added another run in the fourth on a solo home run, but Herrera returned the favor by sending a ball 411-feet into the Lexington night.
“He [Herrera] just plays with confidence,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “The guys love him, he’s been a great leader for us, he’s a guy that’s waited his turn and he’s definitely taking advantage of it, and he deserves all the success.”
This was a precursor to a repeat of the second as a sacrifice fly by Cole Hage, a bases-loaded walk by Bell and a groundout by Gargett resulted in another four-run inning that made the score 10-2 after four innings.
The Cardinals slimmed the lead to 10-5 after a three-run fifth, but Kentucky did not slow down at the plate in its chances in the fifth.
After Herrera lead off with a walk, Hansen launched a two-run homer 389-feet over the right-field wall.
With the bases loaded for the fifth straight inning, Raphael Pelletier was hit by a pitch to score another run. Bell reached on a fielder’s choice, but it was good enough to bring home another Wildcat.
After Bell stole second, Gargett singled to bring home Hage, which extended the lead to 15-5.
The Wildcats added two more runs on two singles that extended the lead to 17-5.
Herrera was perfect at the plate as he went 3-3 with a home run, triple and double. On top of that, Herrera recorded five RBIs, which lead the team and set a new single season career high for Herrera with 28 RBIs on the season.
“I think in previous years, maybe doing too much in those RBI situations,” Herrera said. “You always want to drive those runners in but just trusting what I do every at-bat.”
Bell, Gargett and Hansen also all tallied three RBIs apiece in the mercy-rule win.
“It feels good to get in a game like this to where you feel like you can take a deep breath, especially against an in-state rival, ” Mingione said. “They are a great team, they are well coached, but to not play in a nail biter felt good no doubt.”
With the win, Kentucky will look to extend its three-game winning streak when it kicks off a three-game set with South Carolina on Friday, April 25, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
