Kentucky Baseball Falls to Vanderbilt 9-3 in Forgettable Clunker

Things are getting a little sweaty within the Kentucky baseball program.

Facing yet another lefty pitcher, the ‘Cats mustered nine hits but just three runs in another disappointing loss on Saturday. After entering this weekend on a four-game losing streak, Vanderbilt has won their second game in a row, this one by a score of 9-3. Kentucky has now lost nine of their last 12 games.

Tyler Bosma started on the mound for the ‘Cats and was less than stellar. Bosma lasted just three innings, giving up five hits and four earned runs. Austin Strickland took over in relief and had an uncharacteristically poor performance. Strickland pitched 3.2 innings in relief, giving up six hits and three earned runs. Kentucky dug themselves into a hole that they could not escape from… again.

Friday Night Deja Vu

Vandy LHP Hunter Owen got the start for the Commodores, continuing Kentucky’s nightmare run against left-handed pitching.

After Owen sat down the ‘Cats in order to start the game, the ‘Dores began to build a lead in the bottom of the inning. Enrique Bradfield Jr. kicked off the inning with a single and he of course swiped second to add to his SEC-leading total. With a walk of RJ Schreck and a Jack Bulger infield single, bases were loaded for RJ Austin.

Austin lifted a sac fly into shallow left field, just deep enough to score Bradfield Jr. from third. Schreck advanced to third on the play, putting him in prime position to score on a Chris Maldonado single up the middle. It was 2-0 Commodores early.

Just like Friday night, however, the ‘Cats would respond fairly quickly. Nolan McCarthy struck out to begin the inning, but Kentucky would put two runners on thanks to a Grant Smith drawn walk and a Jackson Gray bunt single. Blink and you would have missed it, but back-to-back RBI singles from Émilien Pitre and Hunter Gilliam knotted this one up at two apiece rather quickly.

Home Run Elevates Vandy to Lead… Again

Where it was an RJ Schreck go-ahead home run in the fifth inning of Friday night’s 6-4 loss, back-to-back home runs from RJ Austin and Chris Maldonado in the bottom of the third inning of this one propelled the Commodores back in front.

Bosma got the first two outs of the inning but allowed brutal back-to-back jacks with both coming in two-strike counts. That’s just the way it’s been for Kentucky baseball as of late. After the ‘Cats failed to respond in the top of the fourth, Vandy tacked on to their lead in the bottom of the inning thanks to a wild pitch. Suddenly, it was 5-2 instead of 2-2.

Kentucky didn’t respond until the seventh inning when a Jackson Gray solo home run brought the deficit to within just two. Gray, a WKU transfer, has quietly blossomed into Kentucky’s most reliable hitter over the past month of action. Saturday’s home run was just his fourth of the season, but that two-run deficit would soon swell again.

Leading just 5-3, the ‘Dores immediately doubled UK’s seventh-inning scoring output thanks to an RJ Austin two-RBI single. Austin had himself a phenomenal game, going 2-3 with a home run and four RBI.

Kentucky’s Slump Continues

The Commodores stuck the dagger into the heart of Bat ‘Cat fans in the bottom of the eighth.

A Jonathan Vastine single and a Bradfield Jr. double immediately put two on with no outs for the ‘Dores. Vastine took home on a Schreck ground out to third and Bradfield darted home on a wild pitch. Vandy’s Ryan Ginther finished things out for the ‘Dores, allowing just one hit in the ninth before slamming the door on the ‘Cats.

Now, let’s flashback to April 4th. Kentucky just defeated Dayton 13-6 at home after winning their first three SEC series. Heading into their Easter weekend series with Georgia, who was at the bottom of the SEC, the ‘Cats could have started their SEC slate an unprecedented 4-0.

After taking game one of the series, Saturday’s game two was rained out, leading to an Easter Sunday doubleheader. The Wildcat bats came out sluggish, leading to losses in both Easter games. Since that doubleheader, the ‘Cats have won just three of their last 12 games. With No. 24 Tennessee and No. 5 Florida still to come, this team may be in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament. That thought was unspeakable just weeks ago when they crawled all the way up to No. 8 in the country, but poor outings down the final stretch just may bring that to fruition.

Game three of the weekend series is scheduled for Sunday at 3:00 p.m. EST. Kentucky fell to 30-12 on the season with the loss on Saturday.