Kentucky Baseball Downs Dayton for 22nd Win in Last 23 Games

Baseball fever has officially swept the Bluegrass.

In what was Kentucky Proud Park’s largest crowd of the season so far (3,274 fans), the now No. 10 ranked Kentucky Wildcats held off a pesky Dayton Flyers team 13-6 for the program’s 22nd victory in 23 games. Clocking in at four hours and one minute, it was officially the longest game of the season. Chalk that up to 17 (!) pitching changes on the night. Props to all of the Kentucky fans who stayed for the entire game. On to Athens.

Redshirt sophomore Travis Smith made his seventh start of the season for the Wildcats, but it’s safe to say it wasn’t his best. Smith made it just 1.1 innings before being replaced by Ryder Giles in the top of the second. In his short time on the mound, Smith walked three batters, gave up two hits and two earned runs. Tuesday’s outing was definitely one to forget about for the young righty. Tuesday’s outing was also one to forget for the Dayton pitching staff, as the Flyers finished with nine walks and six hit batters on the night.

Electric Start For Wildcats

As they have most of the season, the ‘Cats got on the board first in this one. The Flyers were threatening in the top of the first, but an unassisted double play by Hunter Gilliam shut that down very quickly. After Jackson Gray led off the game with his 16th HBP of the season (fifth most in the country), Jase Felker ripped a double to right center field to score Gray from first. Felker swiped third on a wild pitch before making his way home on a fumble from Flyers catcher Nolan Watson.

Before you knew it, the ‘Cats were on top 2-0.

Two batters, one run!@4_jase with the gapper and @jacksongray23 races home from 1st!

1-0 UK pic.twitter.com/zB2OGZ3teS

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) April 4, 2023

It looked like this one may be over quick, but the resilient Flyers responded in the top of the second. After UK’s Smith loaded the bases on a hit batter and back-to-back walks, Dayton’s Keagan Calero singled to left field to drive in two Dayton runs.

After failing to respond to the Flyers’ resurgence in the bottom of the inning, the Wildcat offense re-emerged in the bottom of the third inning. Émilien Pitre led off the half inning with a walk, followed up by a single from Hunter Gilliam. With the single, Gilliam extended his hitting streak to a staggering 22 games. He has reached base in every single game he has played in this season. After a failed pickoff attempt allowed Petey and Gilly to take an extra base, a Ryan Waldschmidt sac-fly to center field was deep enough to score Pitre from third. Ryan Steinhauer took the mound for the Flyers after this and immediately balked, which allowed Gilliam to trot home for the score.

Kentucky Uses Four-Run Sixth Inning to Pull Ahead

After nearly an hour of scoreless baseball from both teams, the ‘Cats broke the drought in the bottom of the sixth.

Grant Smith opened the inning with the first Wildcat hit in two innings, doubling to left center to inject some life into the Kentucky lineup. Jackson Gray drew a walk, putting two runners on for a slumping Devin Burkes. Burkes was plunked on a full count, but it was ruled that the sophomore leaned into it, ruling him out.

Have no fear, however, as Émilien Pitre singled through the right side to score both Smith and Gray, breaking the tie. Nolan McCarthy added to the inning with a single down the right-field line that scored Hunter Gilliam and Pitre. Waldschmidt was thrown out trying to take home.

OUI OUI!@emilien_pitre with a two-run, two out, go-ahead single and KPP is going bonkers!

B6 | UK 6, Dayton 4 pic.twitter.com/3FfUr2CuSV

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) April 5, 2023

But down four through six innings, the Flyers just wouldn’t go away.

Dayton found immediate success off of Seth Logue to kick off the top of the seventh, as Jay Curtis and Nolan Watson reached on a single and double, respectively. Magdiel Cotto entered for Logue and immediately gave up a RBI single to Eddie Yamin IV. After giving up the run, Cotto shut down the Flyers’ next three batters to keep it a three-run game through six and a half innings.

22 of 23 for the Smoking Hot Wildcats

Having the lead cut to just three in the top of the seventh, Kentucky put this one away for good in the bottom of the inning. Chase Stanke led off the inning with a HBP and advanced to second on a Grant Smith sac-bunt. Jackson Gray then hit a deep fly that Dayton CF Calero couldn’t hold on to, moving Gray to second and Stanke to third.

With bases loaded after a HBP of Jase Felker, Devin Burkes was walked to score a Wildcat run. With bases still loaded, the Flyers tried to pull a hidden ball trick, but it backfired as Gatti balked in what was truly a wild moment. Felker trotted home on the balk. The Flyers then gifted the ‘Cats a third run in the inning after plunking Waldschmidt, allowing Burkes to score from third. The ‘Cats scored its fourth and fifth runs of the inning on a Nolan McCarthy two-RBI single to left field.

Christian Howe entered in the top of the ninth and finished things off for the ‘Cats. With the victory, Kentucky improves to 26-3 on the season. At long last, this one was over.

The Bat ‘Cats will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Athens for a weekend series against the Georgia Bulldogs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.