Kentucky falls again in disappointing 9-3 loss to Xavier

Kentucky dropped its second consecutive midweek game with a 9-3 loss to Xavier Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park.

It was an all systems failure for the ‘Cats, who were outhit by the Musketeers and have now dropped six of their last eight games. The score could have been much worse, but Xavier stranded 10 runners on base.

Kentucky freshman right-hander Nate Harris made his fifth start of the season Tuesday night, where he allowed five hits and two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Eight different relief pitchers were deployed following Harris’ departure, allowing three hits and four earned runs in 4 1/3 combined innings.

With the win, Xavier earns its first SEC victory of the season. Entering Tuesday’s matchup, the Musketeers were 0-5 against the conference and had been outscored 56-9 by Tennessee, Vanderbilt and LSU.

Pitchers duel dominates early innings

Kentucky freshman right-hander Nate Harris and Xavier senior right-hander Logan Schmidt started for their respective teams Tuesday night and dominated the early innings.

The ‘Cats totaled just two hits off Schmidt in the first three innings, which were a two-out double from Cole Hage and a leadoff single from Luke Lawrence in the bottom of the third. Schmidt however got out of both innings unharmed, keeping the Kentucky scoring at bay.

The same could be said for Nate Harris, who allowed a double and a single as well through three frames. However, Xavier was also held scoreless. It was nice to see a bounce back performance early from Harris, as he gave up six hits and four earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings against Murray State last week.

Muskies jump ahead in fourth inning

Nate Harris was close to securing his fourth consecutive scoreless inning, but he made a fatal mistake when pitching to Xavier senior second baseman Nolan Tucker.

With a runner on second base, Harris left a 1-0 pitch right over the plate for Tucker to blast over the right field wall to bring home Xavier’s first two runs of the game. Following Xavier’s score, the ‘Cats have now fallen behind first in four of their last five games.

Nolan Tucker sends it over the right field fence to make it a 2-0 Xavier lead! pic.twitter.com/IujjIMUAca

— Xavier Baseball (@XavierBASE) March 25, 2025

Xavier’s Schmidt continued to hold the Kentucky offense at bay, allowing the Musketeers to extend their lead in the fifth inning.

Third baseman Jason Jelic led off the frame with a triple down the right field line, immediately putting a runner 90 feet away from home for Xavier. Harris recorded a strikeout, but then allowed shortstop Jake Lambdin to hit a sharp grounder to Patrick Herrera at third. Herrera came up with the grab but made a bad throw, allowing Lambdin to be safe.

Jelic would go on to score from third on a fielder’s choice hit by Carter Hendrickson, extending the lead to three. Xavier DH Isaac Wachsmann then blew the game open, as he lifted a two-run double to left field to give the Muskies a five run lead. He was the last batter Harris would face, as he was then replaced by right-hander Nile Adcock.

Xavier tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth inning courtesy of a Lambdin RBI-groundout, making it a 6-0 game.

Wildcats unable to mount comeback

After getting whatever he wanted through six innings, Kentucky finally chased Logan Schmidt in the seventh inning.

Hudson Brown drew an inning opening walk and was followed by a Tyler Bell single, putting two on with no out for the scoreless ‘Cats. Brown was thrown out at third on a Devin Burkes fielders choice, but Griffin Cameron then singled to load the bases.

Second baseman Luke Lawrence, who was moved to the No. 8 spot in the lineup due to recent struggles, came up big and drove in Kentucky’s first two runs of the game with a single to center field. The ‘Cats reloaded the bases with just one out thanks to an Ethan Hindle walk, but Patrick Herrera and Shaun Montoya were retired in back-to-back at-bats to strand the bases loaded.

BOOM 💥@LukeL1019 brings home a pair and the Cats are still threatening in the 7th!#WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/oG5Rl5o0u2

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 26, 2025

After pulling back to within four runs however, the ‘Cats were unable to mount anything resembling a comeback.

Their three batters (Hage, Brown and Bell) went down in order in the eighth, allowing Xavier to tack on three more insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Kentucky was then held to just one run (Luke Lawrence RBI-double) in the latter half of the inning, ending the game.

What’s next for Kentucky?

Kentucky will attempt to win its first conference series of the season this weekend when it travels to College Station for a three-game stand at Preseason No. 1 and now unranked Texas A&M. First pitch for Friday night’s series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.