Cats comeback from 8 down to sweep Buffalo

Third basemen Javon Shelby laughs with his teammates after the game against the Buffalo Bulls at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington, Ky. on Sunday, March 6, 2016. Photo by Michael Reaves | Staff.

Chris Angolia

UK Baseball swept its weekend series Sunday with a 9-8 come-from-behind, extra-inning victory over the Buffalo Bulls.

Kyle Cody struggled in his first home start of the year, going just two innings while giving up eight runs on seven hits. The Bulls had four hits and pushed across five runs in the first inning.

The Bulls scored three more runs off of Cody in the third and chased him from the game. Logan Salow replaced Cody and stopped the bleeding.

After Zach Arnold and Storm Wilson moved up to second and third on a wild pitch, both were drove in after White roped a two-RBI single, bringing the score to 8-5.

JaVon Shelby then drew a walk, and, after a Riley Mahan fly-out, Gunnar McNeill stepped in with two outs and ripped a two-out double cutting the Bulls’ lead to 8-7. Zach Reks stepped in and, after nearly missing a home run, doubled to right field, scoring McNeill and tying the game at 8.

Right-hander Justin Lewis replaced Salow in the seventh. Lewis struck out the final batter of the inning to keep Salow’s record clean.

After the Bulls went down in order in the tenth, the Cats were finally able to break through — Arnold singled to left field to score Becker and give the Cats the 9-8 victory.

Arnold finished the day 3-5 with two runs scored and one clutch RBI, making his first big impact at the plate this year for the Cats.

“I was comfortable in the box for the first time this year,” Arnold said. “My rhythm got better. I think the most important thing is to find that rhythm and today I actually found that rhythm, and it was the first time so hopefully I can carry that into next week.”

Not only did Arnold have a nice breakthrough performance for the Cats, but so did Salow and Lewis. The two combined for eight innings of work, striking out 12 and allowing just two hits. It was crucial that Salow and Lewis were able to keep the Bulls at bay for the Cats to come back.

“I think Salow and Lewis did a really good job of mixing in their off-speed and keeping the ball down,” Arnold said.

The Cats (7-3) are back in action when they host the Cincinnati Bearcats 4 p.m. Tuesday at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Cincinnati is 1-10 this season.