Kentucky Baseball Takes I-65 Matchup over Western Kentucky
Behind stellar pitching, Kentucky shutout Western Kentucky 5-0 Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park.
Kentucky has played Western Kentucky 10 times in the Nick Mingione era, with the Cats now having won nine of those matchups.
The Wildcat pitching staff totally shut down the WKU offense, which entered Tuesday’s game with a team .329 BA. The Hilltoppers did not notch their first hit until the fifth inning, finishing with just three on the night.
Tuesday’s game is one that redshirt freshman Austin Fawley will never forget, as Fawley notched his first career hit and first career home run.
Kentucky improved to 7-1 on the season with the win.
Cats Scratch Across Three in Third
After securing just one hit through the first two innings, the Wildcat offense finally struck pay dirt in the third.
The bases were quickly loaded by WKU LHP Cory Bosecker, due to two walks and a Ryan Waldschmidt single up the middle.
Patrick Herrera had an early opportunity to open the game up early, but was instead hit by a pitch on a 1-2 count. Herrera’s second inning HBP marked the 20th Wildcat batter to be plunked through their first eight games. Three batters were hit on Tuesday, bringing their season total to 22. That is good for sixth in the country.
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With the bases still loaded, redshirt freshman right fielder Lukas Schramm ripped a hard-hit single to center field, which WKU center fielder Caleb Marmo bobbled. Marmo’s bobble allowed two runs to score, extending Kentucky’s lead to three through three.
Austin Fawley Notches No. 1
The Cats added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch, which allowed Waldschmidt to score from third.
The most exciting moment from Tuesday’s midweeker came in the sixth inning, where redshirt freshman catcher Austin Fawley garnered his first career hit and first career home run. On a night where the wind was extremely prevalent at Kentucky Proud Park, Fawley’s long ball had no problems getting out in a hurry.
Fawley’s big hit extended Kentucky’s lead to five.
Pitching Dominates
Nick Mingione employed eight different pitchers on Tuesday, three of which made their Kentucky debuts. Junior RHP Robert Hogan and freshmen RHP Jake Titus and RHP Evan Hart saw their first game action in Wildcat blue, combining to allow just one hit over 2.2 innings pitched.
Redshirt freshman RHP Drew Lafferty made his second career start and impressed once again, allowing no hits and no earned runs in 3.0 innings of action. Lafferty has not allowed a hit over his first 5.0 career innings pitched.
RHP Johnny Hummel entered in the ninth, slamming the door shut on the Hilltoppers.
Kentucky welcomes Lipscomb to Lexington this weekend for a three-game series which begins on Friday.
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