No. 24 Kentucky baseball (23-8, 6-6 SEC) suffered its first home-series loss to the University of Missouri (19-14, 3-9 SEC) since 2016, falling 5-2 in the series finale.
The Wildcats bullpen performed well in relief after starting pitcher Ben Cleaver turned in a season-high 4.2 innings before being relieved by Ryan Mullan in the fifth inning.
“Yeah, he [Cleaver] threw more strikes, He was in the zone a lot. He got his fastball in there, he threw his cutter, he got the curve on the landing there,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “So he just took more strikes and moved the game along really well for us, obviously got into some trouble there in the fourth, but he was more efficient.”
Cleaver recorded five strikeouts but allowed four hits and four runs, only one earned. With the loss, Cleaver now sits at 1-2 on the season.
Mullan was unable to get Kentucky out of the fifth inning, allowing Jase Woita to advance to second on a wild pitch before issuing a walk.
Blaize Ward extended the Tigers lead to 4-2 with a single to right field. Woita scored an unearned run on the play while Pierre Seals advanced to third on a throwing error.
Nile Adcock entered in relief for Mullan looking to end a difficult fifth inning. After walking the first two batters and allowing another run, Adcock stopped the damage with a flyout from Eric Maisonet to end the inning.
The bullpen held Missouri in check the rest of the game, with Adcock pitching through the sixth inning. Despite allowing an early hit, he retired the next three batters and recorded a strikeout to end the frame.
Jack Bennett entered in the seventh and recorded a strikeout after working through trouble that included a walk and two hit batters.
Chase Alderman pitched the final two innings. He allowed a hit in the eighth and hit a batter in the ninth, Alderman ended both innings with double plays to keep Kentucky within reach.
“Yeah, it was good to see Chase (Alderman) back out there and continue to get better with every outing”. Mingione said.
Offensively, the Wildcats struggled in the series finale, scoring just two runs over nine innings.
Luke Lawrence gave Kentucky a 2-1 lead after three innings with a 412-foot home run to right field to break a 1-1 tie.
After Lawrence’s home run, the Wildcats’ offense stalled. Kentucky had no trouble getting runners on base throughout the game but failed to deliver timely hits, stranding 11 runners and watching several well-hit balls find Missouri gloves.
“We got a lot of guys on base. We hit some balls and crushed some others when you go back, we’re going to meet our quality at bat standard”. Mingione said about the struggles at the plate on the day.