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Kentucky downs South Carolina 11-5 to take Sunday rubber match

IMG_8756by:Daniel Hager•about 13 hours•

DanielHagerKSR

Kentucky-downs-South-Carolina-take-Sunday-rubber-match
Photo via UK Athletics

After dropping the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Kentucky rebounded and took down South Carolina 11-5 on Sunday in the rubber match. The ‘Cats have now won consecutive conference series for the first time this season.

With the win, Kentucky improves to 25-16 (10-11) and remains one game under .500 in conference play. A win over Mississippi State in next Friday’s series opener would put the ‘Cats at .500 in SEC play for the first time this season.

Eight different ‘Cats notched at least one hit, while six different players were responsible for at least one RBI (Tyler Bell, Kyuss Gargett, Griffin Cameron, Cole Hage, Ryan Schwartz and Luke Lawrence). Bell, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week earlier this season, led the way with three RBIs.

Sophomore left-hander Ben Cleaver made his 11th start of the season for Kentucky on Sunday and allowed three hits and three earned runs with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of work. His ERA rose (slightly) to 3.02 on the season, which ranks seventh among SEC arms.

‘Cats and ‘Cocks trade runs early

Pitching dominated early in Sunday’s rubber match, as Kentucky left-hander Ben Cleaver and South Carolina right-hander Dylan Eskew held both teams hitless through two innings. The Gamecocks finally broke the seal in the top of the third inning, courtesy of catcher Gavin Braland.

Cleaver issued a one-out walk to second baseman Will Tippett, who hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of Saturday night’s loss. Tippett then nabbed second on a wild pitch, putting himself in scoring position with catcher Gavin Braland to bat. Braland jumped on a high fastball thrown by Cleaver for an RBI-single hit to right field, giving the Gamecocks an early lead.

Their lead didn’t hold for long, as the ‘Cats instantly responded in the bottom of the inning. Following a Ryan Schwartz strike out, Luke Lawrence belted a no-doubt solo home run over the right field fence to tie the game at one. Lawrence nabbed his third home run of the season and ninth of his career.

Kentucky explodes for five runs in fourth inning

After tying the game in the bottom of the third, the Wildcat offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to jump out to a five-run lead.

Cole Hage, who doubled and homered in Saturday night’s game, stayed hot and opened the frame with a single up the middle. Although he was soon caught stealing, Devin Burkes drew a walk and Shaun Montoya singled to put two runners in scoring position for freshman Ryan Schwartz.

Schwartz broke the 1-1 tie with a softly hit two-run single over the head of Carolina third baseman KJ Scobey into left field, bringing home both Burkes and Montoya. With one hit, the freshman notched his first career two-RBI game at Kentucky. Schwartz was soon joined on the base paths by Luke Lawrence and James McCoy, who drew a walk and singled (respectively).

This brought heralded shortstop Tyler Bell to the plate, whose .319 average ranks sixth among SEC freshmen. Bell delivered with a bases-clearing three-run double off the left field fence, propelling the ‘Cats to a five-run lead.

He has now reached base safely in 40 of 41 career games and notched his 17th double of the season (third most in SEC).

Hage limits Carolina to two runs in eighth

South Carolina responded in the top of the sixth with an RBI-single from Nathan Hall and an RBI fielder’s choice hit by Dalton Mashore, but the ‘Cats bounced back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

The Gamecocks completely beat themselves up, as Luke Lawrence reached first on a fielding error by left-hander Matthew Becker and was moved to second on a James McCoy sac-bunt. Lawrence then took third on a failed pickoff attempt by Becker which went into center field, and was able to score on a bad throw to third base by center fielder Nathan Hall.

Kentucky clung to a four-run lead heading into the eighth inning, but that advantage was quickly cut in half. Carolina got back-to-back RBI-singles from KJ Scobey and Cayden Gaskin, and nearly scored a third run on a single to left field by Jase Woita. Kentucky left fielder Cole Hage however threw Scobey out at home, limiting them to just two runs in the frame.

Kentucky takes weekend series

With its lead being cut to just two runs in the top of the eighth, Kentucky bounced back and scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead back to six.

The bases were quickly loaded following a Hudson Brown single and walks to Luke Lawrence and Tyler Bell, bringing up Kyuss Gargett. Gargett laced a hard-hit infield single to Carolina shortstop Henry Kaczmar, which he was unable to come up with. Brown scored, and became the first of four runs to cross home plate.

Griffin Cameron drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home run number nine, and Cole Hage put the ‘Cats into double-digits with a two-run single to left field.

Right-hander James McCoy moved from first base to the mound and pitched the final inning for the ‘Cats, where he held the Gamecocks scoreless to cement the series victory.

What’s next for Kentucky?

Following its series win over South Carolina, the ‘Cats will travel to Bowling Green for an in-state non-conference clash with Western Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST Tuesday night and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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2025-04-27