RHP Mason Moore excelling through first five career starts

Junior right-handed pitcher Mason Moore is surpassing all expectations through his first five career starts for Kentucky this season.

Moore, a native of Morehead, Ky., spent his first two seasons in Lexington pitching out of the bullpen. In 77.0 innings, Moore boasted a 3.04 ERA with 73 strikeouts.

The righty gained prominence in last season’s Lexington Regional, where he completely dominated en route to Kentucky’s first Regional victory since 2017.

In 10.0 innings pitched, Moore allowed just four hits and no earned runs with seven strikeouts against Ball State and Indiana.

Mason Moore’s Regional numbers:

– 10.0 IP
– 4 H Allowed
– 0 ER
– 7 K
– 2-0 W/L

Him. pic.twitter.com/fOpb7sAQrE

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) June 6, 2023

Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione announced at Media Day back in February that Moore would be making the transition to weekend starter, joining redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Travis Smith and grad transfer left-handed pitcher Dominic Niman in the rotation.

“I’m going to try and approach things the same,” Moore said back on Media Day. “I’m not going to try and think that much about it. Starting is obviously much different than relieving but last year at the end of the year, I was throwing three-to-five innings at a time. I know what I have and I know what I can bring to the team.”

Moore is excelling through his first five career starts, accruing an unblemished 4-0 record with a 2.28 ERA. His ERA ranks fifth in the SEC among pitchers with at least 25.0 innings pitched.

The righty set his career record with eight strikeouts in Kentucky’s 12-2 victory over Georgia on Sunday, capping off the weekend sweep of the red-hot Bulldogs.

In his first SEC start, @MasonMoore_20 already has a career-high 8️⃣ punchouts!

💻 https://t.co/0hevgb3xCT (SECN+)#WeAreUK | @NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/K7InJgsDab

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 17, 2024

“It has been a transition. It’s been a deal where he’s had to learn it all,” Mingione said about Moore on Sunday. “We talked about that at Media Day at the beginning of the year. He had to figure out his routine, his process, all of that. He’s done a great job. Coach [Dan] Roszel has done a great job. The rest of the stuff is just helping him along and he’s super talented. He didn’t need much help, he just needed the experience and starts.”

Moore’s next start will come Sunday in Kentucky’s series finale against Missouri.