Kentucky baseball (26-20, 11-14 SEC) snapped a four-game skid with a 4-3 victory in the first game of its final home series of the season against No. 17 Oklahoma (32-15, 13-12 SEC).
Kentucky relied on two huge pitching outings and a strong performance from a guy who also spends time on the mound.
Nate Harris and Jackson Nove combined to get through the first eight innings of action, four of those innings were spent holding on to a narrow lead. The Sooners only earned runs came from a third-inning home run.
Two-way player James McCoy played Friday’s game at first base, and he was invaluable in the Wildcats victory. Not only did McCoy drive in the Wildcats’ final run of the day, but he also made numerous impressive plays in the field that played a large part in Kentucky holding on to its lead.
Harris started on the mound for the Wildcats. While the freshman’s resume isn’t nearly as impressive as Oklahoma’s starter, Kyson Witherspoon, he still outpitched him.
Witherspoon entered Friday’s matchup ninth in the nation in ERA, also ranking top five in the conference in innings pitched, wins and strikeouts. Witherspoon also earned a spot on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watchlist.
Neither team got anything going offensively in the first two innings; both teams had stranded two runners and failed to get a run across. That changed in the third inning.
The Sooners got on the board first with a single followed by a two-run home run to take a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
The Wildcats responded by jumping on Witherspoon in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Bell led off the inning with a triple off the top of the right field wall, and Luke Lawrence drove in Bell with a double down the left field line. Cole Hage then hit a two-run home run, giving Kentucky the lead after three batters.
Carson Hansen kept the bats alive with a single through the left side of the infield. Hansen advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kyuss Gargett. McCoy followed with a single into left field that scored Hansen.
This was the fourth run of the inning, and the last run that the Cats scored in the game. Strong pitching and impressive defense allowed Kentucky to hold on to its narrow lead and pull out a victory.
Oklahoma cut the Wildcat lead in the fifth inning after Harris quickly retired the first two batters of the inning before a single and a walk allowed runners to reach the corners. This led to a pitching change, Kentucky brought Nove out of the bullpen to replace Harris.
Nove surrendered an RBI-single to the first batter he faced but escaped the inning with a flyout from the next batter.
Nove dominated the Sooners for the next three innings. When he was replaced by Simon Gregersen after the eighth, he exited with 3 1/3 IP scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five.
This dominant stretch was a large reason the Wildcats pulled out the win. Kentucky’s bats went cold after the four-run third inning. Between the fourth and eighth innings, Kentucky had just two hits and went three-up, three-down four times. Thanks to Nove and Harris, the Sooners couldn’t get anything going either.
Gregersen replaced Nove on the mound before the ninth inning. Gregersen looked to be struggling, walking two of the first three batters faced, putting the go-ahead run on first base.
After a mound visit, Gregersen struck out the next two Oklahoma batters to secure the 4-3 victory for the Wildcats.
Kentucky returns to action for game two of the final home series on Saturday, May 10, with first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.
