Cole Stupp's effort spoiled by errors as Kentucky falls in SEC-opener

Cole Stupp had his second straight encouraging performance, this time against No. 3 ranked Arkansas. Unfortunately, his defense couldn’t help him out as three errors caused Kentucky Baseball to fall 6-2 to the Razorbacks in their first taste of SEC play this season.

Final from Fayetteville. pic.twitter.com/Ddlpr1VeYL

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 19, 2022

Quality outing from Stupp spoiled by defensive errors

It just seems like nothing can go right for those who inhabit Lexington the past couple of days. Friday’s start against the Razorbacks was Cole Stupp’s chance to prove his worth against one of the best teams in the nation after a shaky start to the season. And well, at least he did his part.

The junior pitcher had arguably his best performance of the year, despite what the numbers may show at first glance. Stupp allowed five runs over four innings of work. Only one of those was earned though, and even that one wasn’t his fault at all. Other than that, the Georgia native was fantastic, striking out five while only walking one

A Daniel Harris error kicked off the game for the Kentucky defense. Another single off the glove of Harris gave Arkansas men on the corners with no outs in the first frame. Stupp struck out a pair, but Robert Moore lined a single under the glove of Chase Estep for the first of three RBI on the day as the future first-round pick gave the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead after one.

History repeated itself in the third when another error from Harris gave Arkansas men on the corners with no outs once again. A sac-fly off the bat of Jalen Battles retook the lead. Cole Stupp should’ve been out of the inning with the one run but a poor throw from Estep at third allowed the inning to continue. An RBI double down the right-field line from Zack Gregory gave the Razorbacks a 4-1 lead after four.

A less than preferable angle from Hunter Jump in left field on a fly ball and another misplay from the stud third basemen ultimately resulted in another RBI single from Moore. The run was credited to Stupp, but it really shouldn’t have.

The combination of Tyler Guilfoil, Wyatt Hudepohl and Austin Strickland worked the rest of the game, allowing one run. Guilfoil shined with a brilliant outing, striking out all six batters he faced.

Bat ‘Cats stall in first SEC test

We’ve seen this story before, and we’re just hoping Friday was a one-off. The usually reliable bats just couldn’t come through in the clutch in Fayetteville. They weren’t totally dead, racking up eight hits on the day, but the ‘Cats came up short in nearly every clutch moment possible.

Kentucky was able to put a man in scoring position in five straight innings between the third and seventh innings. Yet, they were only able to capitalize once.

The Wildcats’ run early came from Estep, who extended his hit streak to 17 games. The National Player of the Week ripped an RBI single up the middle that scored John Thrasher in the third inning to tie the game up at the time. Thrasher was one of two Wildcats with multiple hits. The Hartford transfer went 3-4 with a single and a double.

A little too late, but Ryan Ritter launched an RBI double to deep center in the ninth for his second hit of the day.

The Wildcats will be back out Saturday for the middle game of the series. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network+.