Ryan Schwartz delivered a career day as Kentucky baseball (27-20, 12-14 SEC) defeated No. 17 Oklahoma (32-16, 13-13 SEC) 8-5 in a celebratory day at Kentucky Proud Park.
Before play began, the Bat Cats honored their senior class that included Devin Burkes, Jackson Nove, Cole Hage, Robert Hogan, Cole Hentschel, Nic McCay, Simon Gregersen, Evan Byers, Shaun Montoya, Scott Rouse, Patrick Herrera and Raphael Pelletier.
“The impact they have had on not just me, but all the freshman, even the older guys too, they are just true leaders and extensions of the coaching staff,” Schwartz said.
McCay and Burkes left the festivities to prepare for the game, but after the seniors received ceremonial first pitches from their loved ones, the pitcher-catcher battery of McCay and Burkes took the hill.
The righty got into immediate trouble as he gave up a single and walk to the first two batters of the game. Easton Carmichael singled to open the scoring.
The Sooners were not finished as Jaxson Willits grounded out to bring home another run, which gave the Sooners a 2-0 lead after one.
Luke Lawrence and Hage drew back-to-back one-out walks before McCoy was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Kyuss Gargett got the Wildcats on the board with a sacrifice fly to bring up Herrera, who hit a triple down the right-field line to score Hage and James McCoy.
In his first at-bat, Schwartz deposited a single into left that scored Herrera and capped off a first inning that ended with Kentucky holding a 4-2 lead.
McCay gave up a single to kick off the second but picked him off before giving up an infield single. However, a strikeout and groundout got his offense back to the plate.
Hage brought home Burkes on a groundout that extended the Cats lead to 5-2 in the second.
Schwartz returned to the plate in the third and hit line drive to center and Jason Walk tried to dive, but came up short, which resulted in a triple for Schwartz.
McCay tossed back-to-back scoreless frames in the third and fourth before getting tagged for a homer in the fifth that cut the lead to 5-3.
McCoy and Gargett were both plunked to start the fifth before Herrera walked to load the bases for Schwartz.
The freshman continued his impressive outing with a base-clearing double that boosted the Bat Cats lead to 8-3.
“He is super talented,” Head Coach Nick Mingione said. “He has this unbelievable ability to just love the moment and to just be chill and calm, he’s uber competitive, but he’s super poised.”
McCay gave up a single and walk before striking out a batter to start the sixth. The right-hander gave up a walk to load the bases, which ended his afternoon.
Byers came on to try and work out of the jam, but he surrendered a double that scored two runs and thinned the Kentucky lead to 8-5.
The double made it a quick game for Byers as he was replaced by Nile Adcock, who worked out of the jam with the lead in-tact.
Schwartz returned to the plate in the seventh looking to complete his cycle bid, but he was walked in four pitches.
Overall, Schwartz finished the game 3-3 with a single, double, triple and a walk. The freshman led the Bat Cats with four RBIs on the day.
Furthermore, Schwartz was responsible for three of the Wildcats five total hits in the game.
Along with Schwartz and the seniors, the Bat Cats celebrated winning the series of the Sooners and a critical time in the season as Kentucky is fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid.
McCay earned the win in his final home outing on senior day and improved to 5-0 on the mound as a Wildcat.
“Baseball is still fun,” McCay said about what he’s learned from this team. “We got a lot of goofballs and a lot of guys that just love each other, nine innings with those guys every day is the best part.”
Kentucky will go for the sweep over the Sooners on Sunday, May 11, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET.
