Kentucky Opens SEC Play with Series Victory over Georgia
The Bat Cats thrashed Georgia 9-3 on Saturday, preserving a series victory to open SEC play.
The Kentucky offense stayed hot, notching 10-plus hits for the second consecutive game. Four Wildcat batters finished with two-plus hits on the day, while Ryan Waldschmidt and James McCoy both finished with three and a home run apiece.
Kentucky has won their opening SEC series for the fourth time in the Nick Mingione era. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament and hosted a Regional in two of those three prior seasons.
The Cats improve to 16-3 (2-0) on the season with the win.
Kentucky offense stays hot
After failing to grab an early lead in four of its last five games, the Cats jumped on top early on Saturday.
The Wildcat offense picked up right where they left off on Friday, as Ryan Waldschmidt led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle. He advanced to second on an Emilien Pitre groundout, then moved over to third on a wild pitch. After a Devin Burkes full pitch walk, runners were put on the corners for the red-hot Nick Lopez.
Lopez delivered once again for the Cats, blasting a sacrifice fly to left field. The pop out was deep enough to score Waldschmidt from third, putting the first run of the game on the board. Lopez was followed by Mitch Daly, who poked an RBI-single through the left side to score Burkes from second.
Kentucky tacked on more run onto their lead in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Devin Burkes hit a chopping groundball up the middle. The ball hit the pitcher’s mound and deflected to third base, allowing Reuben Church to score from third.
A little luck had handed the Cats a 3-0 lead through three innings.
Ryan Nicholson continues to surge
Dominic Niman continued to hold the Bulldogs scoreless through five innings, giving the Cats a prime spot to add onto their lead in the fifth. That they did, courtesy of the surging Ryan Nicholson.
Nicholson notched just seven hits through his first 13 games as a Wildcat, but has four in Kentucky’s last three games.
Nick Lopez and Mitch Daly opened the fifth with back-to-back walks, setting Nicholson up with a runner in scoring position.
The grad transfer delivered, lacing a two-run double to left center field to tack on two more Wildcat runs.
Dominic Niman bounces back on Saturday
LHP Dominic Niman lived up to his Preseason All-American moniker on Saturday.
Niman bounced back nicely from last Saturday’s nightmarish start against Kennesaw State, allowing just three hits and no earned runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched against the Bulldogs.
Niman allowed four runs before recording an out a week ago, but just held one of the best scoring offenses in all of college baseball at bay on Saturday. The lefty will be a key factor in SEC play for the Cats.
When asked what was working for him, he revealed that he had been working on a new pitch. “The cutter; I started throwing it today and it’s been really effective so far,” Niman said. “My pitches were a little flat last week so I’ve worked on staying on top of them and driving them down to the zone.”
Bulldogs cut into deficit in seventh
An Emilien Pitre RBI-single in the sixth extended Kentucky’s lead to six, but the Bulldogs cut that in half in the top of the seventh.
Due to an error and back-to-back walks, the bases were loaded for college baseball’s premier power hitter, Charlie Condon.
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Condon, who has yet to make his mark on this series, stood in the box as Kentucky Proud Park rose to its feet. Niman walked Condon on five pitches, bringing in Georgia’s first run of the game. Slate Alford followed Condon with a two-run double, cutting the deficit in half.
Finally, Niman’s stellar day was over. LHP Jackson Nove entered and got the Cats out of the jam, preserving the three-run lead.
Back-to-back Big Blue Bombs in eighth slams door shut
The Cats slammed the door shut on the Dawgs in the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back home runs, courtesy of James McCoy and Ryan Waldschmidt.
Nolan McCarthy led off the inning with a single to right field, putting a runner on first with McCoy up to bat. The sophomore right fielder, who came up to bat with two hits on the day, blasted a 426-foot home run to left center to extend the Wildcat lead back to five runs.
“I didn’t see anything,” McCoy joked postgame. “I just hit it and it felt good. From there, I don’t remember any of the bases. I just remember getting to the dugout, getting water, and thinking ‘that just happened.'”
Not to be one upped by McCoy, Ryan Waldschmidt roped the second pitch he saw 422-feet over the left field wall for back-to-back Wildcat home runs. The lead was safely back to six.
Emilien Pitre was up to bat next and was thrown behind on the first pitch by Georgia RHP Josh Roberge, which led to his ejection.
A fiery afternoon in Lexington concluded as LHP Jackson Nove ended the game with a 1-2-3 inning, preserving the series victory for Kentucky.
“Anytime you can start out 2-0 obviously that’s a good thing,” Nick Mingione said postgame. “They’ve been a real team. A real team. It’s been a pleasure to coach so far. A lot of baseball to go and we’ll enjoy this win today, but gotta be back at it tomorrow.”
The Cats and Dawgs will run it back for the final time this weekend Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Kentucky will look to begin SEC play with a sweep of one of college baseball’s hottest teams.
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