Chase Estep leads Kentucky to bounce back win against Morehead St.

Riding a four-game losing streak coming into Tuesday night, Kentucky badly needed a win. Especially before seeing the No. 5 RPI team in the country come to Lexington this weekend.

And a bounce back victory against an in-state foe never hurts the soul as the ‘Cats defeated Morehead State 7-5 and moved to 15-7 on the year.

Bats come back to life in return to Lexington

Even when coming back home against an inferior team, the pitching staff had to give their own lineup a challenge. Down three runs before even taking a swing, Kentucky had to pull out another comeback effort.

After seeing his 17-game hitting streak broken over the weekend, Chase Estep came back with a vengeance. He finished the night going 2-3 with a double and a couple of walks. The Corbin, KY native got the offense going by legging out a double in the first inning. A couple of batters later, Jake Plastiak launched an RBI triple off the wall in dead center. Kirk Liebert drove the first basemen in with a single through first and second base to make it a 3-2 game after one in favor of the Eagles.

Kentucky took the lead in the fourth thanks to some clutch hitting from Alonzo Rubalcaba, who continues to make major strides at the plate this year. The catcher lined a two-run RBI single up the middle on a two-out, two-strike count that scored Estep and Plastiak after each reached base on their second hits of the day.

ZOOO!!!

He smacks a two-run, 0-2, bases loaded single up the middle!!!

E3 | UK 4, MSU 3

Watch on SECN+ pic.twitter.com/vmErT2YkjU

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 22, 2022

“I give him a lot of credit because he’s worked extremely hard on his swing,” Head coach Nick Mingione said about his catcher postgame. “He believes in himself. He has competitive at-bats and even at times his outs are good outs.”

Following John Thrasher stealing his fifth base of the season in the fourth inning, Hunter Jump was able to bring him around with an RBI single to right field.

Liebert recorded his second RBI of the day in the sixth with a single up the middle that brought Jump in from second base. The final Wildcat score came by way of Fogel scampering home from second on a single from Thrasher in the seventh frame.

Pitching staff settles down after shaky start

Seth Logue got the nod tonight for the lone mid-week contest the ‘Cats have this week. While impressing overall so far this season, the sophomore admittedly struggled out of the gate on Tuesday.

Following two consecutive singles and a sac-bunt to begin the game, Logue found himself in dangerous waters in the first inning. RBI singles by Alex Jacobs and Chase Vinson gave the Eagles the initial lead. Logue only lasted a couple more innings before being taken out, but was able to limit the damage he let up. He finished the night allowing seven hits in a career-high 3.2 innings while striking out a pair. The three earned runs raised his ERA on the year up to 5.70.

Wyatt Hudepohl entered in the fourth inning and tossed an impressive outing after giving up a home run in his one inning in Fayetteville. The sophomore went 3.1 innings of one hit ball before giving it up to Austin Strickland. Strickland couldn’t make it through the ninth as Tyler Guilfoil had to come in and finish the contest.

Ole Uncle Charlie got 'em!!@WyattHudepohl pic.twitter.com/Dg2oe43ebB

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 22, 2022

“We’ve been working for the last spring about me just attacking the zone and being a dog,” Hudepohl said after the win. “I trust my guys here making those plays, Zo blocking the ball. It’s 9 vs. 1, that’s our motto and I just did that.”

This win was desperately needed, especially since the Wildcats were riding a four-game losing streak coming into it. The sweep in Arkansas was complicated — Kentucky had multiple opportunities to win those ballgames and it just didn’t go their way. They ran out of luck, and Mingione had to convey that to his squad. Especially with the upcoming series against Georgia this weekend.

“The bottom line is we didn’t execute good enough,” Mingione said about the series against Arkansas. “It was a mixture of reasons why. But I challenged this team to look the part, to act the part, to believe in themselves, believe in each other… To have us at our best, and when we’re at our best, we’re doing those things. And we needed to get back to that.”

Kentucky kicks off their series with the Bulldogs this Friday with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcasted on the SEC Network+.