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Kentucky Storms Back to Hold off Murray State 10-6

IMG_8756by:Daniel Hager•03/12/24•

DanielHagerKSR

Black Unis
Photo by Caleb Bowlin (UK Athletics)

Kentucky dug itself into an early six-run deficit on Tuesday, but scored 10 unanswered runs to hold off Murray State 10-6.

Eight different batters notched at least one hit for the Cats, with Nick Lopez leading the way with five. Ryan Nicholson (three), Devin Burkes (two), Nick Lopez (two) and Mitch Daly (two) all drove in two-plus RBI as well.

Lopez became just the third player in the Nick Mingione era with five hits in a game on Tuesday night. His five hits are the most in a game for Kentucky since 2022 (Jase Felker).

Redshirt freshman RHP Drew Lafferty made his fourth start of the season for Kentucky, allowing the first earned run(s) of his young career. Lafferty lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up a season high five hits and five earned runs. The bullpen smoothed things over however, allowing just two hits and one earned run over the final 6 2/3 innings of play.

Kentucky improves to 14-3 on the season with the victory. The Cats were 15-2 heading into conference play in 2023.

Racers jump on top first in second inning

Kentucky jumped out to a lead first in nine of their first 12 games.

In their last four however, they’ve nabbed an early lead just once.

This continued on Tuesday, as the Racers jumped on Lafferty in the top of the second for his first allowed run(s) of the season.

After a hitless first inning for both teams, Murray State junior third baseman Carson Garner opened the top of the second with a walk. Garner entered Tuesday’s game with nine home runs, which is tied for eighth-most in the nation.

With Garner on first, redshirt junior left fielder Riley Hawthorne lifted an RBI-double down the left field line, driving in Murray’s first run of the afternoon. Three batters later, redshirt senior catcher Ethan Krizen singled up the middle, driving in Hawthorne from second.

Murray State took a 2-0 through two innings.

Murray extends lead to six

A 2-0 lead wasn’t enough for the Racers, so they piled on four more runs in the top of the third inning.

Murray led off the inning with back-to-back singles, quickly putting a runner in scoring position for the red-hot Carson Garner. Garner singled up the middle, driving in their third run of the game. Drew Lafferty was pulled following the at-bat.

He was replaced by grad transfer RHP Cam O’Brien, who immediately ran into even more trouble. With runners still on first and second following Garner’s RBI-single, grad first baseman Taylor Howell lifted a three-run home run over the left field wall, extending Murray’s lead to six in just the third inning.

Kentucky however wouldn’t go away without a fight.

Kentucky cuts into deficit

After digging themselves into an early six-run hole, the Cats responded with four runs in the third inning to pull within two.

Ryan Waldschmidt opened the bottom of the third with a single. Emilien Pitre then reached thanks to an error by Murray’s third baseman, putting runners on first and second for the Cats.

Devin Burkes delivered, driving in Kentucky’s first run of the game. Burkes singled to right field, driving in Waldschmidt from second. Nick Lopez followed Burkes with back-to-back RBI-singles, driving in Pitre this time. Kentucky had cut into the deficit and they weren’t done yet.

The Cats scored two more runs in the inning thanks to sacrifice bunts. Mingione ball at its finest.

With runners on third both times, Mitch Daly and Ryan Nicholson layed down RBI sac-bunts to drive in runs number three and four in the inning. Ty Crittenberger struck out to end the inning, but the Cats weren’t done scoring just yet.

Big Blue Bomb gives Cats lead in fourth

Kentucky put up four runs in the third, making it just a two-run deficit. By the end of the fourth inning however, the Cats led by three.

With one out in the inning, Ryan Waldschmidt reached first on a fielding error by Murray third baseman Carson Garner. Emilien Pitre would make the Racers pay for the error, floating a soft drive down the left field line for a standup double. Devin Burkes stepped up to bat as the go-ahead run.

Burkes delivered with a sac-fly to center field, pulling the Cats within one. The red-hot Nick Lopez followed Burkes in the order and did what’s he’s done all season for Kentucky; deliver.

Lopez singled up the middle, driving in Pitre from third to tie the game. After trailing by six just two innings prior, the Bat Cats had clawed all the way back.

“Knowing that there was going to be a left-handed pitcher, I went up to hit to hit the ball hard,” Lopez said postgame. “I was just looking to get a quality at-bat for the team every single time and it worked out today. I’m really happy with that.”

Mitch Daly wouldn’t settle for a tie however, singling down the right field line to drive in Lopez from second following a successful steal. As a smiling Lopez crossed homeplate, the Cats led for the first time.

The bats continued to stay hot as Ryan Nicholson, who has struggled at the plate this season, stepped up to bat.

Nicholson, who hit 16 home runs at Cincinnati in 2023, blasted a 422-foot home run to drive in two more runs. Nicholson’s home run marked his first at Kentucky.

“He’s a special player,” coach Nick Mingione said postgame about Nicholson. “Sometimes good players struggle, they maybe don’t perform the way they want. But I give him credit. He has worked his butt off, he has not stopped working, he has not stopped believing. And he did one one of my favorite things; he got a bunt down and he hit a bomb.”

Suddenly, Kentucky had scored nine unanswered runs. They led 9-6.

Bat Cats head into SEC play with a win

The Cats scored one more insurance run in the fifth inning on a Ryan Waldschmidt RBI sac-fly. Kentucky has now scored 10 or more runs five times this season.

Grad transfer RHP Johnny Hummel took over in the ninth, sitting the Racers down in order to finish off the win. Murray’s last 12 batters went down in order.

“They won the first part of the game and we won the back half,” Mingione said postgame. “Their fight, their competitiveness, you saw them tonight. They play with that energy, that effort, and that edge, we’re a really good baseball team. And when we don’t, quite frankly, we’re not. We needed that and we needed to be able to come back from a deficit like that.”

The Bat Cats will open SEC play on Friday against Georgia at Kentucky Proud Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.

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2024-12-28