Kentucky baseball (24-16, 9-11 SEC) split its doubleheader against South Carolina (25-19, 5-15 SEC). The Wildcats won game one by a score of 7-3 and lost the second game 5-4.
The Wildcats greatly benefitted from Nate Harris recording his best start of his freshman season. In game one, Harris set a new career-high in both innings pitched and strikeouts, punching out seven in seven innings.
Harris was hit around early but settled in and dominated Gamecocks hitters for more than half the game.
The Wildcats received home runs from Carson Hansen in game one, then Tyler Bell and Cole Hage in game two. These three carried the load for the Wildcats offensively.
Bell was 3-9 on the day with a home run, double and three RBIs.
Hansen struggled in game two, but he went 2-4 in game one with a two-run home run.
Hage went 4-7 including a double and home run. He recorded three RBIs and scored two runs himself. He also reached on a hit-by-pitch.
The Wildcats showed great plate discipline in game one as they only struck out one time.
Kentucky scored in five of the eight innings it hit in during game one, but that was not the case in game two. The Wildcats only scored in three of nine innings, two of these were home runs and the other was a sacrifice bunt.
This dip in production between the games can be attributed to the Wildcats’ struggles to hit in high leverage situations. In game two, Kentucky was 0-7 with two outs, 1-7 with runners on base and 0-4 with runners in scoring position.
Game 1:
Kyuss Gargett reached on a fielder’s choice before Hansen followed with a two-run home run into left field to put the Wildcats up early.
South Carolina led off the second inning with back-to-back doubles that fell just out of the reach of Hansen in center field. This allowed the Gamecocks to cut their deficit in half with four pitches.
Harris settled in and retired the next two batters but allowed a two-out single that tied the game 2-2.
The Gamecocks reached on a walk in the third inning, but the offense went completely dormant afterward. Harris recorded the next two outs to escape the inning, then forced four consecutive three-up, three-down innings from South Carolina.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ryan Schwartz’s two-out double put an end to the Wildcats’ streak of 10 consecutive outs and was the first Wildcat baserunner to reach since the second inning.
Bell reached first on a throwing error on his infield groundball, and Schwartz scored from second on the play to regain the lead for Kentucky.
The Wildcats kept the bats going in the sixth inning as Gargett and Hansen reached base with back-to-back singles before a double steal put both runners in scoring position with one out.
Devin Burkes drove in Gargett with a sacrifice fly, but Hansen remained at second where he was stranded to end the inning.
Hage was hit by the first pitch of the seventh inning. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Luke Lawrence, then to third on a groundout by Griffin Cameron. Hage scored on Bell’s two-out double off the left-center field wall.
Jackson Nove entered from the bullpen to replace Harris before the eighth inning. Harris exited with seven innings pitched, two earned runs and seven strikeouts, allowing just four hits.
The Gamecocks put an end to their streak of 14 consecutive outs with a single to lead off the eighth inning. They followed with a walk and another single to load the bases with no outs.
Nove forced the next batter to ground into a double play, but it did allow a run to score. Nove then recorded a strikeout to escape the jam and prevent further damage.
Burkes led off the eighth inning with a walk before stealing second. Dylan Koontz followed with a hit-by-pitch. Both runners advanced into scoring position with stolen bases.
Hage drove in Burkes with a single through the left side of the infield and advanced to second on the throw.
This forced South Carolina to change pitchers. Lawrence was the first batter to face the new arm and struck out. This was the first Kentucky strikeout of the game.
Cameron laid down a bunt single that scored Koontz that gave the Wildcats the decisive 7-3 lead.
Simon Gregersen replaced Nove on the mound before the ninth inning. Gregersen retired the side in order to end the game.
Game 2:
Nic McCay started on the mound for the Wildcats. He has recorded four wins in his 10 starts this season with no losses.
McCay surrendered a double in the first inning, the runner scored on an infield single that gave the Gamecocks an early 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long as Bell hit a lead-off homerun to even up the game at 1-1.
McCay allowed a single to lead off the second inning, but the runner was caught stealing. The next two batters struck out, resulting in an unconventional three-up, three-down inning.
These two strikeouts brought McCay to 300 career strikeouts.
Lawrence singled in the second inning and scored on a two-run home run by Hage. This gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 3-1.
Back-to-back singles allowed the Gamecocks to put runners on the corners with one out in the third inning. Both runners scored on a double down the left-field line, tying the game again.
The Gamecocks cleanup hitter singled to put runners on the corners with still one away.
Lawrence fielded a hard-hit groundball and turned a double play to escape the inning without further damage.
South Carolina led off the fourth inning with back-to-back walks. This led to McCay being replaced by Nile Adcock.
Adcock recorded three consecutive outs to escape the jam, stranding runners on second and third.
With Hage and Bell on the corners and two outs, the Wildcats attempted a delayed steal, but the pitcher didn’t notice Bell’s intentional fall and delivered the pitch, Hage was called out at the plate to end the inning.
Gargett led off the fifth inning with a double and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Burkes was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with one out.
Hansen scored Gargett with a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt. This gave the Wildcats a 4-3 lead after five innings.
Scott Rouse replaced Adcock on the mound before the seventh inning. Adcock threw a career-high three innings without allowing a run.
Rouse surrendered a single to lead off the top of the eighth. This led Kentucky to make a pitching change, bringing Cole Hentschel in to replace Rouse. The first batter Hentschel faced hit a no-doubt go-ahead home run to left field.
The Wildcats ended the game with 14 straight outs, including four consecutive three-up, three-down innings. This allowed the Gamecocks to take a 5-4 lead in the eighth and hold on to win the game.
The rubber match in the series will be played on Sunday, April 27, back at Kentucky Proud Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be shown live on SEC Network+.
