Kentucky baseball secures series victory, defeats Missouri 10-0 in eight innings
Kentucky Wildcats pitcher Tyler Bosma (35) pitches the ball during the No. 18 Kentucky vs. No. 25 Missouri baseball game on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 10-0. Photo by Travis Fannon | Staff
April 5, 2023
No. 18 Kentucky Baseball (24-3) slugged its way to a series victory against the Missouri Tigers (19-8) by a score of 10-0 in eight innings on Saturday.
Senior lefty Tyler Bosma got the ball to start game two of the series, opening his afternoon with a strike out as he froze the Tigers’ leadoff hitter before the next batter would send a ball off of the right field wall for a one-out double.
Bosma promptly rebounded with a strikeout and a forced flyout to get out of the inning unscathed.
He would remain consistent in the second, walking one batter but forcing three outs to keep the Tigers scoreless with two strikeouts.
In the third inning he gave up a single down the middle, but three forced outs kept him consistent.
Bosma continued to cruise in the fourth inning as he retired the first batter with a fly out before striking out the next two batters for a three-up-three-down inning. He repeated the feat in the fifth inning.
He faced some trouble in the sixth when two Tigers got on base, but three forced outs would ultimately end his day of work.
Bosma finished the day with six innings of no-run baseball, walking just one batter and giving up four hits. He also recorded six strikeouts and the win for his efforts, which brought his season record to 4-1.
“Our offense has done a great job, really all season, getting us leads early,” Bosma said.
Sophomore Evan Byers began the seventh inning on the mound for the Wildcats where he found some trouble but managed to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Wildcats’ offense wasted no time early on as a leadoff double by senior Jackson Gray got a runner in scoring position early. He was followed by Jase Felker, who was hit by a pitch.
A wild pitch advanced both runners to second and third before sophomore Devin Burkes was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
A ground out by Émilien Pitre got the Wildcats on the board first before senior Hunter Gilliam singled to right field to bring home another run and extended UK’s lead to two.
The Wildcats were not done yet as a double by Ryan Waldschmidt scored one more before another out could be recorded. A single to left field by junior Kendal Ewell kept the scoring going for the Wildcats and extended their lead to 4-0 after one inning of play.
Kentucky scored again in the second inning when Felker was hit by a pitch and Burkes drew a walk before a double by Pitre scored both runners for his third RBI of the day. The runs extended the Wildcats’ lead to 6-0.
“My approach is gap-to-gap early in the count then just battle towards the end,” Pitre said of his strategy at the plate.
Pitre then stole third base before a wild pitch by the Tigers pitcher brought him home and brought the lead to 7-0.
The offense continued the scoring in the bottom of the third inning as a home run over the left field wall by senior Grant Smith extended the Wildcats lead to 8-0 after three innings.
After quiet fourth and fifth innings a double by Burkes led off the bottom of the sixth inning before Pitre drew a walk to give the Wildcats two runners on with no outs.
After a flyout, Waldschmidt hit into a fielder’s choice that brought home Burkes and brought the Wildcats lead to 9-0. The Cats then failed to add to their lead in the seventh inning.
The Wildcats got back into the hit column in the eighth inning as Felker led off the inning with a single. Burkes followed that up with a single to get the winning run into scoring position.
After a flyout, Gilliam sent a game winning double into right center to bring home Felker and secure the run-rule victory for the Wildcats.
“When we have a lead, it’s so hard to beat us, the pitching staff is so good,” Pitre said.
The Wildcats will look to complete the series sweep in the final game of the series against the Missouri Tigers on Sunday, April 2, at Noon EST.
