Bat 'Cats no-hit in series-opening loss to Vanderbilt

Well, we all knew that it wasn’t going to get any easier for the Wildcats. We just didn’t know it would be *this* hard.

Kentucky Baseball was no-hit and shut out 10-0 by Vanderbilt for the Bat Cats’ fourth consecutive loss. It’s the first time UK has been shut out this season.

Bats can’t get anything going

In all fairness, Kentucky did have to go up against one of the better pitchers in the conference. Chris McElvain had a 4.05 ERA in nine starts this season and lived up to the billing. The junior right-hander for Vanderbilt threw seven hitless innings, fanning nine in the process.

Christian little finished off the final two innings for the combined effort.

“That’s about as bad as you can do beside a perfect game.” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said somewhat jokingly.

There’s just not much else to say. The ‘Cats just couldn’t buy a hit to save their lives — time to move on and regroup for Saturday.

Split performance on the mound dooms UK

If there’s any solace to take from a season that’s beginning to slip away, the Wildcat pitching staff has generally overperformed compared to their expectations. The combination of Mason Hazelwood and Ryan Hagenow has been productive for the most part.

Hazelwood got the start and, minus a few mistakes, kept the Vanderbilt batting order in check in his five innings of work. The Salvisa, KY native battled through some control issues that are usually uncharacteristic of the lefty, walking five batters. He fanned five however and limited the Commodores to two runs, both coming on RBI singles.

That’s where the good vibes went straight out of the stadium. Hagenow came in and gave up two hits and two earned runs while only recording an out, forcing Daniel Harper to enter.

He didn’t fare much better either, walking two and only recording one out before being taken out, giving Vanderbilt a 6-0 lead after six innings.

Overall it was just another ugly day over at Kentucky Proud Park. It’s probably not an ideal sign when the best crowd pop of the day comes before the game even starts.

Oscar Tshiebwe threw out the first pitch before tonight’s game against Vanderbilt. He may be returning to Kentucky next year just to become an All-American pitcher too pic.twitter.com/OVvUSoggvJ

— Eric Decker (@Edecker17) April 22, 2022

Kentucky (21-17; 5-11 SEC) will be back out Saturday afternoon for the middle game of their series with the Commodores. First pitch is slated for a noon EST start and the game will be shown on the SEC Network.