Kentucky Baseball Rallies for Comeback Win Over Morehead St.

Kentucky Baseball overcame an eighth inning two-run deficit to take down Morehead State 9-5 in its home opener Tuesday night.

The Bat Cats scored seven of their nine runs and notched four of their eight hits in an electric bottom of the eighth inning that kept them undefeated on the young season.

A loss to Morehead would have been a detrimental hit to Kentucky’s RPI, which Nick Mingione has repeatedly stressed is extremely important when it comes to possibly hosting a Regional. Kentucky was 10-1 in mid-week games in 2023 and begin the season 1-0 in 2024.

The Cats employed seven different pitchers, who combined to give up three earned runs and seven hits. Redshirt freshman RHP Drew Lafferty made his first career start, giving up no hits and no runs while striking out two in two innings.

“I give our pitchers a lot of credit,” head coach Nick Mingione said after the game. “They kept us in there and they allowed us to be able to come back.”

Kentucky improves to to 7-1 in home openers under Mingione.

Early Offensive Woes

Things looked promising for the Kentucky offense early, as the first three Wildcat batters reached base.

Following Nick Lopez’s third double of the season to lead off the game, Ryan Nicholson and Devin Burkes were walked. This set Émilien Pitre up perfectly to drive in the Wildcats’ first run of the day, but Pitre instead hit into 1-2-3 double play.

Ty Crittenberger then grounded out, squandering a bases loaded, no out opportunity. This was just the beginning of Kentucky’s offensive woes.

The next 12 Wildcat batters were retired in order, with 10 in a row coming from groundouts. After notching a hit in the first at-bat of the game, it took until the bottom of the fifth for Kentucky to notch hit number two, a single courtesy of Nolan McCarthy.

Repeated Missed Opportunities

After reaching first thanks to his inning-opening single, Nolan McCarthy advanced to second on an Austin Fawley ground-out. McCarthy then swiped third on a wild pitch, putting a runner on third for Grant Smith.

Smith, who entered the game with a team-leading 4 RBI, ripped a single up the middle to score McCarthy from third. Kentucky had finally scored its first run.

Kentucky’s first run seemed to light a bit of a spark in the Wildcat offense, as Ryan Nicholson and Mitch Daly loaded the bases after drawing back-to-back full count walks. For the second time in the game, bases were loaded for the Cats.

Devin Burkes, arguably Kentucky’s most dangerous offensive weapon, stepped up to bat with a chance to do some serious damage. Burks hit a rocket liner to right field, which was caught by RF Hayden Robbins. As Grant Smith took off from third, Robbins threw a bullet to catcher Ryan Grabosch, who tagged out Smith at home.

Kentucky loaded the bases twice in the first five innings and failed to score both times.

Cats Running out of Time

Morehead put two more runs on the board in the top of the sixth, pulling ahead 5-1. Unfathomable for Wildcat fans in attendance.

The Cats rebounded this time however, using Nick Mingione patented small ball to scratch across their second run. Émilien Pitre led the bottom of the sixth off with a double and eventually headed to third on a throwing error by Morehead’s catcher Grabosch. With Pitre on third, Nolan McCarthy layed down a picture-perfect bunt, allowed the Quebec native to scamper home.

Kentucky trailed 5-3 after seven, six outs away from an unwanted result.

Seven-Run Eighth Inning Leads to Comeback Win

You can never count out the Comeback Cats.

After a quick Devin Burkes fly-out to kick off the bottom of the eighth, the Morehead pitching staff imploded.

Pitre and freshman Eli Small reached on back-to-back singles, putting two runners on with just one out. The Cats were then gifted a run thanks to back-to-back drawn walks by Ty Crittenberger and Nolan McCarthy, keeping the bases loaded for pinch-hitter Patrick Herrera. Herrera was plunked on the arm, allowing another Wildcat run to trot home. The Cats now trailed by just one.

Nick Mingione small ball then reared its head once again, as Grant Smith layed down a bunt that allowed Crittenberger to score from third. Much to the disbelief of the Eagle dugout, this game was tied.

Texas transfer Mitchell Daly, who replaced 3B Nick Lopez in the fourth inning, was up to bat next. In his first game at Kentucky Proud Park, Daly snuck a sharp grounder past the glove of Morehead’s Colton Becker at short, driving in Kentucky’s sixth run of the game.

Kentucky Proud Park was rocking, setting the scene for Cincinnati transfer Ryan Nicholson. With Kentucky ahead by one with the bases loaded, Nicholson hit a line shot over the head of Morehead’s Preece in center field, clearing the bases and giving the Cats a comfortable 9-5 lead. Crisis averted.

B8 | UK 9 | MSU 5

CLEAR THOSE BASES, @RyNicholson25! #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/F1bRHs3ZpJ

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 21, 2024

“It just shows that we can really come back against adversity,” Nicholson said after the game. “We haven’t really fallen behind at all, so that was our first time being behind. We were like, screw it, let’s go out there and just hit the ball.”

Victory, Kentucky

RHP Johnny Hummel entered in the ninth and sat the Eagles down in order, closing things out for his second save of the season.

The Cats now look towards this weekend, when they travel to Round Rock, Tx. as they participate in the Round Rock Classic.