Kentucky walks off against Bellarmine in wild home-opener

“Just find a way.” Jake Plastiak put it pretty simply after his two-run home run was a huge part of Kentucky Baseball coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the ninth to beat Bellarmine.

It was an ugly one for Kentucky, but a win is a win in the end.

Offense nearly falls flat in return to Lexington

Whether it was still just the nerves or the 30-degree weather, it was not a fun time at Kentucky Proud Park for most of the day. Coming back undefeated after a weekend sweep at Jacksonville State, the Wildcats were looking for another confidence booster in what people could essentially see as a buy-game against Bellarmine. That turned quickly as Kentucky couldn’t get a hit to save their collective lives.

As a team, the Wildcats only struck out four times all game. They were making consistent contact for the most part. Nearly everything that was hit hard, went straight into the glove of a defender who exerted a rather minimal effort.

“I think it’s just a learning experience that we need to be full-go from the start,” Jake Plastiak said after the walk-off win. “We were kinda asleep in the first part of the game but we’re a competitive group and we found a way to win.”

It wasn’t nearly as quick as people wanted, but that all changed in the final frame. Hunter Jump led off with a single into right field. That brought up Jake Plastiak, who seems to be taking this leadership role pretty seriously. Plastiak tied the game with a two-run shot that barely cleared the right-center fence. A few batters later, Oraj Anu ripped a walk-off double back into the right-center gap to give the Wildcats a wild 3-2 victory.

Oraj Anu walks it off for Kentucky with a double into the right center gap. A win is a win pic.twitter.com/yh6mL66qhg

— Eric Decker (@Edecker17) February 23, 2022

“Some guys hit home runs when it’s 8-1. Both of his home runs have been meaningful,” Nick Mingione said about Jake Plastiak’s hot stretch to begin the season. “These are meaningful at-bats when it matters most and it’s what you need your leaders to do. He’s an alpha male, I’ve said that over and over and his presence makes us better.”

Seth Logue impresses in his first career start

For all the hoopla and discourse over the offseason regarding the pitching staff and who would be getting innings, we glossed over the idea that one of the returners out of the bullpen might step up into a longer role. Kentucky returned every single SEC win and brought in more than a few transfers. Yet, they’re giving a veteran the first crack at the spot.

I don’t really know if you can consider him a veteran, but sophomore Seth Logue got the nod from Mingione today. Logue logged in time as a starter during the summer but was used exclusively out of the bullpen in his freshman campaign. Coming in with a resume containing a 6.43 ERA over 12 appearances, Logue looked like a completely transformed pitcher. The Mason, OH native threw a pretty good game, all things considered.

“He did great, he had the one walk but we didn’t make a couple plays behind him. I think if we make those plays I feel like his stat line is even a tad different,” Mingione said about Logue after the game. He gave us a chance to win the game no question, I’m happy for him. Another Logue doing good for the ‘Cats.”

Logue threw five innings of two-run ball, only one of them being earned. He looked locked-in all game, allowing only one walk. Logue was able to work around his defense letting him down a little tonight. In the second inning, a botched scoop at first by Plastiak helped give Bellarmine another scoring opportunity. He worked around the trouble, striking out Jack Ockerman to end the frame.

The sophomore gave up a leadoff double in the third to Clayton Mehlbauer, who eventually came around to score. It was his lone earned run. In the same inning, Daniel Harris dropped a pop-up in short right-field that allowed the bases to fill up, eventually giving Bellarmine men on second and third with no outs. Another run came in but Logue limited the damage.

“He’s a dog man, he threw well,” Plastiak had to say about his starter “We didn’t really help him out defensively but he was able to battle through it, proud of him for sure.”

The combination of Tyler Guilfoil, Darren Williams and Austin Strickland went scoreless over the last four innings.

Kentucky returns to action this weekend when they see Western Michigan come to town for a weekend series. First pitch on Friday is slated for 4 P.M. EST and the contest is scheduled to be broadcasted on the SECNetwork+.