Kentucky stays hot with 11-3 win over Evansville

Kentucky Baseball scored 11 unanswered runs Tuesday night to down Evansville 11-3.

The Cats notched just one hit through the first four innings, but finally took control in the bottom of the fifth with eight hits and 10 runs over the next two innings.

Emilien Pitre continued his hot streak, going 3-4 at the plate with four RBI. Over the past six games, Pitre is batting 12-23 (.522) with 11 RBI. The Quebec native also notched his 100th career hit in the first inning.

“Honestly, I had no idea,” Pitre said postgame. “But it feels awesome. I’ve been here for three years now and I absolutely love this place, so I’m really happy to get there.”

The Bat Cats improve to 18-3 on the season ahead of their weekend matchup with Missouri.

Pitcher’s duel quiets bats

Evansville left-handed pitcher Kevin Reed and Kentucky right-handed pitcher Drew Lafferty dominated through four innings, allowing just a combined four hits through the first four innings of the game.

Reed, who was rated as the MVC’s #2 “Impact First-Year Freshman” entering the 2024 Season by D1Baseball.com, allowed a combined 10 runs in his last nine innings pitched entering Tuesday’s matchup. He however was getting whatever he wanted against the Kentucky lineup through his first four innings pitched.

Lafferty bounced back from last Tuesday’s less-than-stellar start against Murray State, where he allowed five earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings pitched. He went 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out four batters.

“Last week I struggled with execution a little bit,” Lafferty said postgame. “I was leaving too many pitches down the middle. I was throwing strikes, but I had to hit my spots better. I did that today and it worked well.”

Aces jump ahead in fifth

Evansville broke the seal in the top of the fifth inning on a Mark Shallenberger RBI-double. Shallenberger entered Tuesday’s game batting .406, well on his way to an All-MVC selection at the end of the season.

Lafferty was replaced by right-handed pitcher Cam O’Brien to open the fifth inning, and his struggles continued out of the bullpen. After giving up the RBI-double to Shallenberger, graduate student third baseman Brent Widder hit a deep two-run home run over the left field wall, extending the Evansville lead to three.

Their lead didn’t last long however, as the Cats immediately responded in the latter half of the inning.

Wildcat offense wakes up

The Kentucky rally started quickly in the bottom of the fifth, as Ryan Nicholson and Reuben Church knocked back-to-back singles to open the half inning.

With runners on first and second, Nolan McCarthy blasted a deep line-drive off the left field fence, bringing in Nicholson from second. At last, the Cats were on the board.

Ryan Waldschmidt drew a walk, putting two runners on for the red-hot Emilien Pitre. Pitre continued to deliver as he had all season, roping a two-run double to deep left center field. Waldschmidt and McCarthy both scored standing up, tying the game at three apiece.

Seven-run inning propels Cats to insurmountable lead

Kentucky entered the bottom of the sixth inning tied 3-3. By the end however, they held a seven-run lead.

Evansville right-handed pitcher Ethan Bell quickly loaded the bases after giving up a single to Ryan Nicholson and walking Mitch Daly and Reuben Church, bringing Nolan McCarthy back up to bat.

McCarthy, who drove in Kentucky’s first run of the night in his prior at-bat, hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Nicholson from third base. The Cats had taken their first lead of the game.

Two runners remained on the bases for James McCoy, who was hitless in his first two at-bats. McCoy lifted a flyball deep to left field, which fell out of sight of Evansville left fielder Mark Shallenberger. The ball bounced off the wall, scoring Nicholson and McCarthy to extend Kentucky’s lead to three runs.

The big inning didn’t stop there, as runners were put back on the corners once Ryan Waldschmidt was hit by a pitch. Emilien Pitre continued his hot streak by ripping a two-run single down the right field line, bringing in Kentucky’s fourth and fifth runs of the inning. With the two-run single, Pitre notched his sixth two-plus RBI game of the season.

“I’m just trying to stay consistent at the plate,” Pitre said postgame. “Seeing pitches is my strength. When I go up there I’m really confident and I’m not scared of going down two strikes.”

The big inning was capped off by a Nick Lopez RBI-single and a Mitch Daly RBI sac-fly, cementing the seven run inning for Kentucky. The Cats took a 10-3 lead through six innings.

Kentucky wins fifth game in a row

The Cats tacked on one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning on an Eli Small RBI-sacrifice fly.

RHP Johnny Hummel entered in the top of the ninth to “Real Gone” by Sheryl Crow, sitting down the Purple Aces in order to cement the Wildcat victory.

“I wish we didn’t have comebacks,” Nick Mingione joked postgame. “But I’m thankful for them. Our guys are just competitive. They’re really, really competitive. When someone maybe doesn’t execute or have their best outing or make their best pitch, we just have a series of guys that are just willing to pick each other up and that’s what good teams do.”

Kentucky will now travel to Columbia for a weekend series with Missouri, as they look to open SEC play with back-to-back series victories for the second season in a row.