Kentucky baseball (28-20, 13-14 SEC) completed a series sweep over No. 17 Oklahoma (32-17, 13-14 SEC) with a 7-2 game three win.
The sweep was massive for Kentucky as it continues to try and earn its way into the NCAA Tournament, especially after being swept on the road against Mississippi State in its previous series.
“They needed to go on the attack and just play with freedom,” Head Coach Nick Mingione said. “To our team’s credit, man, did we play with this unbelievable freedom, and we really clicked on all cylinders, and I told them I said, ‘hey this is what University of Kentucky baseball looks like.'”
Ben Cleaver took the hill and set the tone for the game by tossing a three-up, three-down first inning.
Luke Lawrence singled to left for the first Wildcats hit of the afternoon and came around to score on a double from James McCoy as the Sooners centerfielder could not come down with the diving catch.
Cleaver came back to the mound with a 1-0 lead and worked around a single to keep Oklahoma off the board in the second.
Carson Hansen kept the offense rolling with a triple to start off the second and came home to score on a wild pitch that extended the Bat Cats’ lead to 2-0.
Both teams were held off the board in the third before Cleaver ran into trouble in the fourth.
The left-hander hit the first batter of the frame and gave up a single to the next one.
Scott Mudler made it back-to-back singles and a run for the Sooners before Kyle Branch extended the singles streak to three-straight and brought home another run that tied the game 2-2.
After tying the game with no outs, Cleaver prevented further damage to keep the game tied.
Kentucky’s offense got Cleaver off the hook quickly as Tyler Bell untied the game with a two-run home run into the visitor’s bullpen in right.
Bell’s middle infield counterpart Lawrence followed up Bell’s blast with a home run of his own to right that extended the Wildcats newfound lead to 5-2.
Now pitching with a lead, Cleaver tossed a three-up, three-down fifth.
“That’s the biggest thing we preach is putting runs right back on the board after they score,” Bell said. “Then coming back out on defense and getting a shutdown inning and we’ve doing really good with that.”
In his final inning of work in the sixth, Cleaver worked around two singles to keep the Sooners off the board.
“He’s been unbelievable and so steady for us,” Mingione said. “Every Sunday just stands out there and every time I talk about him, I love talking about his heart and doing it from the inside out. He’s just so competitive, another outstanding outing.”
Simon Gregersen took over in the seventh and found himself in similar territory as he also left a single and walk stranded for another scoreless inning.
The offense got on the board for the final time in the seventh as four straight singles resulted in two more runs and RBIs for Hansen and Kyuss Gargett.
Cole Hentschel closed out the massive series sweep with a scoreless ninth.
The series sweep over Oklahoma marked the first SEC sweep of the year for the Kentucky.
“It feels great,” Cleaver said. “Obviously wish we could have done it a little earlier, but as long as we’re doing it now, we still got a chance to keep pushing and make the postseason to put us in a good spot to make a run.”
Following the sweep, Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday, May 13, for a clash with Northern Kentucky at Kentucky Proud Park with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
