Bat Cats Rolled 10-2, Drop Series to Kennesaw State

For the second day in a row, Kennesaw State strolled into Kentucky Proud Park and dominated the Bat Cats. Kentucky falls 10-2 on Saturday, dropping their first series of the season to the Owls.

Through the first two games of the weekend series, Kennesaw State is outscoring Kentucky 23-3 with 21 hits to Kentucky’s 12 hits. Total domination for the Owls.

Kennesaw State sophomore catcher Aaron Posey shined at the plate for the Owls on Saturday, going 3-4 with a double and five RBI. He entered the weekend with a .143 batting average. After going 3-3 on Saturday, his average jumped .135 points to .278.

Kentucky drops back-to-back games for the first time this season, dropping to 12-3.

Kennesaw offense continues to shine

Just as they did Friday night, the Owls jumped all over the Wildcats early on Saturday.

Senior center fielder Brayden Eidson and senior right fielder Nick Hassan led the game off with back-to-back singles, immediately putting the Owls in business. Senior third baseman Isaac Bouton knocked Kennesaw’s third consecutive single, driving in Eidson from second. Just three batters in, KSU held a 1-0 lead.

It just got worse from there, as Niman loaded the bases on a walk. After forcing a foul-out, Niman walked sophomore left fielder Jamarie Brooks, bringing in another run.

With the bases still loaded, sophomore catcher Aaron Posey roped a two-run double to right field, driving in two more Owl runners. Before the Cats even had a chance to hit, they trailed 4-0.

Kennesaw tacked on another run in the second due to an errant throw from Kyuss Gargett to Ryan Nicholson. Nicholson wasn’t able to scoop Gargett’s throw from short at first, allowing a runner to score from second as the ball bounced into right field. For the second consecutive game, Kentucky had dug itself into an early hole.

Dominic Niman’s first misstep of season

Grad transfer LHP Dominic Niman entered Saturday as Kentucky’s most impressive starter of the season, boasting a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings pitched.

Niman struggled mightily on Saturday, giving up four earned runs before the first inning could end.

Niman’s ERA jumped from 2.81 to 4.74 after Saturday’s outing. He pitched three innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs with two strikeouts.

Owls blow game open in fifth

The Cats finally scratched across a run in the bottom of the second on a Mitch Daly RBI-double, but Kennesaw immediately responded and put the Cats in the dirt (again).

The Owls reclaimed their four run lead with an Aaron Posey RBI-single in the third inning, but really took control with their second four-run inning of the day in the fifth.

Junior LHP Jackson Nove took over for the Cats in the fifth and got rocked. Nove gave up four runs without recording a single out, uncharacteristic for what has been Kentucky’s best reliever of the season.

Nove quickly loaded the bases, bringing Posey back to bat. The red-hot catcher ripped a two-run double to the right center wall, driving in his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game.

Brayden Eidson followed up Posey with a two-run single, completing their second four-spot of the game. Kennesaw’s lead had ballooned to nine through five.

Kentucky drops first series of season

The Cats scored their second run of the game on a Nick Lopez RBI-double in the eighth inning, but that was it.

Sophomore RHP Nolan Silver pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for the Owls, allowing just one hit. Silver sat the Cats down in order in the ninth to end the game.

The Bat Cats will try to avoid the sweep Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST.