No. 21 Kentucky baseball (13-2) took game two of the series 12-7 over The Citadel (5-7) in late-game surges from both teams.

The weather affected this game early on, as both The Citadel’s pitcher Bryce Coulter and Kentucky’s Ben Cleaver couldn’t get a true grip on the ball.

Both pitchers experienced wild pitches and some misplacement in the strike zone due to the ball’s condition as rain continued to fall throughout the first few innings.

Jayce Tharnish earned the leadoff spot today after a 3-for-5 previous game and three RBIs, and he continues to rip the ball.

“He’s a premier hitter, he can do a lot of things, and it was on display tonight,” head coach Nick Mingione said about Tharnish being moved up.

In which he did shine again at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a long three-run bomb, icing the game late in the eighth inning, proving Mingione’s decision in successfully bumping him up.

However, early on, Kentucky did what it does best and capitalized on mistakes, scoring on a wild pitch, then an Ethan Hindle infield single gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Nothing was brewing for either team until the sixth inning. Behind quality bullpen work for a fair amount of time, it all blew up with Kentucky’s first strike.

Caedan Cloud benefited from two early walks, punching a single into left field, plating two runs, and then Tagger Tyson added an RBI single of his own.

The way The Citadel was playing, and the quick start to the bullpen for Kentucky, it looked like the Wildcats would run away with this one very smoothly.

However, they found themselves in a situation giving up four runs in the top of the seventh, and then another two from an RBI single in the eighth, surrendering the lead they once had.

“We believe in each other, we trust each other… Everyone in the dugout believes that the guys on the field are going to do their job, everyone trusts their guy next to them,” Tyson said about the resilience the offense showed.

The trust Kentucky’s ballplayers and coaches had was shown in full force, especially in the eighth inning, always having each other’s back on the next play.

“Props to coach Cousy and Sloan, they had their scouting report ready, they told me an approach and what to do,” Tyson said about his two-run RBI double that grabbed the lead back.

Tyson’s spark in the bottom half of the eighth ignited more into the lineup, and the energy never let up when the lineup flipped back to Tharnish and the top of the lineup.

After the Tharnish home run, Hindle touched one off with a home run of his own, showing the resiliency and fight Kentucky has, no matter the time of the game or situation.

“Our ability to keep throwing punches… the guys’ quality at-bat after quality at-bat, just a relentless attack,” Mingione said on behalf of the eighth-inning surge.

The Wildcats continue to get tested heavily by The Citadel in what is by far their toughest out-of-conference matchup of the year so far, with The Citadel’s gritty approach.

A Kentucky team that doesn’t know how to quit puts it in full effect every day, sneaking out of nearly every game.

They will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, March 7, at 1 p.m., and look to extend their current win streak.