Kentucky outlasts Jacksonville St. 10-8 in Opening Day barn burner

For all the talk of bringing in high-contact athletes who are going to grind out at-bats, players such as Oraj Anu and Chase Estep still show you why power can be your best asset.

Opening Day, whether it be college or the currently not existent MLB, is an unofficial holiday for many who cherish America’s pastime. There’s just a different sense of serenity and tranquility that comes with stepping out on the diamond for the first time.

For Kentucky, it didn’t go quite as smoothly as they envisioned down in Jacksonville, AL. Cole Stupp had a disastrous start to his 2022 campaign. The offense struck out 12 times as a whole. With all that said, UK still somehow did enough and walked away victorious with a 10-8 win over Jacksonville St. in their season-opener.

Cole Stupp struggles in first outing

The man dubbed “Mr. Consistent” by Nick Mingione at Media Day last week was anything but in his first time on the mound. Being completely fair though, I say that slightly in jest. Cole Stupp’s first outing of the year was ugly, no other way to put it. It doesn’t help that it came against an OVC team that he should theoretically be mowing down.

With that said though, you can’t fully knock the guy for this type of performance in game one. Is it ideal? Not by any means. But there could be some understandable nerves that come with pitching opening day in 40-degree weather. This one outing shouldn’t cause any reason for concern when it comes to Stupp as a No. 1 pitcher. Let’s wait a few starts for that.

The junior only lasted four innings in his initial outing. He allowed nine hits and six earned runs while tossing 80 pitches in the start, which included him allowing a three-run shot to deep center field in the fourth. If there was any positive to take away, Stupp punched out seven while only allowing one walk. It certainly wasn’t any day to boast about, or even remember honestly. Yet, Kentucky still did enough to grab the win and make Stupp’s struggles bearable for today.

Power and transfers leads the way for a Wildcat victory

There’s the reason why nearly every conversation that revolved around Oraj Anu this offseason focused on his defense. We know what he can do with the bat in his hand. He decided to give us a nice little reminder in the top of the second inning. Anu launched a bomb over the right-center fence in his first at-bat to tie the game at two apiece. Along with the two-run shot, the designated hitter had three hits and added another RBI in his first game back.

.@OrajAnu_Bb with a two-run #BigBlueBomb in his first AB of the season!

💻 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/N7AOIlL2ux

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 18, 2022

Chase Estep joined in on the fun the next inning with a solo shot that cleared the minuscule right-field fence. The Corbin, KY native finished the game 3-4 with the home run and an RBI single in the sixth. Coach Mingione threw out a ton of praise for Estep last week and wanted us to know that he could be a completely different player this season.

This right here isn’t too bad of a start.

It's a solo shot for @chasestep12!!!

💻 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/tse59Qo3mD

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 18, 2022

Daniel Harris IV made quite the impact in his first game in a Wildcat uniform. The second-baseman only finished with one hit, but that came as a two-RBI single that tied the game up at six in the fifth inning. He also displayed his value on the base path, dashing for home from third base successfully after Ryan Ritter struck out at a ball in the dirt.

Speaking of Ritter, he might’ve fallen victim to some Opening Day jitters today. The star shortstop finished the day 1-6 with a trio of strikeouts — good thing that lone hit ended up winning the game for Kentucky. In some odd way, his stat line might’ve helped his All-American case. Hear me out, he was his usual gold glove self in the field. But the ability to put all other failures aside and clutch up to drive in the game-winning run is the stuff that has people fawning over the shortstop.

Bullpen helps stop the bleeding

Following Stupp’s exit after the fourth inning, the bullpen showed up, for the most part, to help secure the win. Daniel Harper came in and hurled a scoreless fifth inning before tripping up and allowing two runs in the sixth, including a solo shot.

Tyler Guilfoil and Sean Harney combined for 3.1 scoreless innings in addition. Harney mowed down the Jacksonville St. hitters in order to secure the save in the ninth.

It wasn’t exactly what everyone was expecting, or necessarily even hoping, but Kentucky still walked away with a victory in game one of the weekend series. They’ll be back out tomorrow with the first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET. The game is set to be broadcasted on ESPN+.