Kentucky Baseball erupts for 12 in mercy-rule win over Dayton

Oraj Anu and Chase Estep each led the way with three RBI days as Kentucky cruised by Dayton with a 12-1 mercy-rule win in seven innings.

A much-needed outburst for the Bat ‘Cats

Tuesday’s matchup might not have quite been a “must-win,” but it was certainly a “can’t-lose” contest as Kentucky is in the midst of a stretch where they play the next nine out of 10 against conference foes. Beating Dayton won’t necessarily help any postseason resume, but losing to them would have surely hurt their odds.

The Wildcats at least had the decency to not ever let this game become competitive. Kentucky crossed five across the plate in the first inning, highlighted by two RBI hits from Adam Fogel and Anu. The designated hitter was making his first start since March 9th due to a hand injury. Anu had made two pinch-hit appearances in the Vanderbilt series but failed to record a hit.

“Man, he just changes the lineup,” Head Coach Nick Mingione said after the win. “He can beat you in a lot of ways and he had three RBI and got the two hits but I loved his base running. He’s a guy that can really help us… it’s been a long road but thankful that he’s out there.”

Estep launched a three-run shot to left-center in the second to put this game completely out of reach at 8-1. It was the 12th home run of the season for the Corbin, KY native.

That's a dozen!@chasestep12 makes it 8-1 UK, B2.

Watch on SECN+ pic.twitter.com/stoX5liLUX

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) April 26, 2022

Anu added his third RBI of the day with a single in the fourth to cap off a four-run inning, making it a 12-1 game and giving us our final score.

“I was happy that it was back here at home in front of everybody,” Anu said after the game about his return to the starting lineup. “Everyone was cheering me on, guys were excited to see me up there so I was very confident. No butterflies or nothing.”

Bullpen masterpiece on a Tuesday

Looking to get a litany of arms some work during the mid-week matchup, Mingione ultimately decided on giving Magdiel Cotto the starting nod. For someone who’s seen his fair share of struggles while in a Kentucky uniform, Cotto had one of his better outings all things considered.

The South Carolina transfer didn’t go that far into the game, but it was still notable given that he hadn’t reached at least two innings in over a month. Cotto’s day was done after three innings, fanning five while allowing only two hits. His lone mistake came way of a solo home run.

“I thought Mag [Cotto] started us off on the right foot and attacked the strike zone and I thought it carried over to the other guys,” Mingione said.

Wyatt Hudepohl came on after and had a stellar outing. The sophomore faced seven batters, striking out six of them in his two innings of work.

Jackson Nove and Evan Byers each had a scoreless inning to end the game. Overall, the ‘Cats struck out 14 batters on the night.

Kentucky now heads down to Gainseville this weekend for a series with Florida. Game one is set for Friday with a start time of 6:30 p.m. EST. It will be shown on SEC Network+.