Sean Harney dominates as Bat Cats keep season alive

After a roughly 16-hour delay to the start of this one, Sean Harney pulled out maybe his best performance of his Kentucky career with the ‘Cats desperate for a win. The graduate senior dazzled in the 3-1 win over the Auburn Tigers in game one of the SEC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon down in Hoover, AL.

Sean Harney pulls out a gem in a must-win

Facing a do-or-die situation for at least the next few days, head coach Nick Mingione called on Harney to take the mound for their first attempt to keep the season alive. Normally the closer, Harney is not unfamiliar with the starting role, doing so four times already this season.

Like he’s usually done out of the bullpen this season, Harney dominated on way to the win. The righty tossed seven innings of scoreless ball, surrendering only four hits while fanning five in the process. Harney carried his 2.93 season ERA and didn’t disappoint. He’ll obviously be out now for a few games if the ‘Cats make it that far after throwing 97 pitches, but it was a near-heroic effort to keep the season alive.

Airbender by @Harney17. 🇰 pic.twitter.com/J7SD4LmZfr

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 25, 2022

He was also helped out by a few spectacular plays from his defense.

Airbender by @Harney17. 🇰 pic.twitter.com/J7SD4LmZfr

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 25, 2022

Daniel Harper took the ball in the eighth and immediately allowed the game to get tied up at 1-1. He gave up a solo shot to Sonny Dichiara, one of the best hitters in the Southeastern Conference.

Lexington native Tyler Guilfoil finished out the eighth before closing the ninth to grab the save.

‘Cats do just enough at the plate

Sometimes you don’t have to do a lot — just enough to win. Kentucky admittedly struggled at the plate on Wednesday, garnering all of six hits before the final frame.

That being said, the ‘Cats received some juice when they needed it the most from arguably their most potent player. Ryan Ritter lined a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Chase Estep in the process. The star shortstop showed out in the elimination game for Kentucky with a 2-4 day at the plate and the routine spectacular plays in the field.

Advantage Cats.@RyRit47 with RBI single to give UK a 1-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/TKFGNHRwwY

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 25, 2022

Heading into the ninth with the game tied, the reality that the season might be close to ending really started to set in. That was until Oraj Anu and Adam Fogel absolutely demolished balls back-to-back to give the Cats a 3-1 lead.

ANU game!

Cats go BACK-TO-BACK AND BELLY-TO-BELLY as @OrajAnu_Bb and @adamfogel55 answer with solo homers!

3-1 UK, T9. pic.twitter.com/IW8CLnTMcN

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 25, 2022

With the win, Kentucky moves on to face off against LSU on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network in the first game of the day. One win probably won’t be enough for an NCAA bid, but you have to start somewhere, and now the ‘Cats can continue to build its resume.