Seth Logue, Chase Estep shine once again as Kentucky gets back on track

Seth Logue may be competing for a weekend spot sooner than later if he keeps these shenanigans up. The sophomore dazzled once again for the ‘Cats as they grabbed another win, this time over Murray State by a score of 9-1. The win moves them to 11-2 on the year.

Seth Logue leads the charge with an elite performance

Seth Logue is seemingly becoming an elite pitcher right in front of our eyes. He hasn’t gone up against any SEC competition this year obviously, so it’s hard to make a definitive statement like that. Going off of what we’ve seen though, it may not be an unreasonable thing to say.

“Obviously the story of the night was Seth,” UK head coach Nick Mingione said after the game about Logue, who now holds a 2.50 ERA after the win. “He gave us seven innings, only two hits, one earned run and eight strikeouts to only one walk. It was an impressive outing.”

The lone run came in the first inning and really wasn’t even his fault. Logue struck out the first two batters of the day before giving up his only walk to Bryson Bloomer in the three hole. That allowed Brennan McCullough to rip a single down the left field line. Misthrown balls from both Hunter Jump and Ryan Ritter allowed Bloomer to come around and score. Logue was credited with an earned run, but a good relay throw probably would’ve gotten the runner out.

“A lot of quick innings. A lot of weak contact outs and trusting my defense,” Logue said about his performance. ” Letting the offense do the work. I know it kinda took a little bit but I knew that they were gonna put some runs on the board at some point so that gave me a lot of confidence and didn’t put too much pressure on me.”

Kentucky has had some disappointing performances out of Cole Stupp and Magdiel Cotto so far into the early season. If Logue keeps slinging it like he is right now, there really isn’t any reason why he shouldn’t be given an opportunity on the weekend. Especially before conference play begins.

Mason Hazelwood and Tyler Guilfoil each threw a scoreless inning to finish off the game.

Kentucky’s offense comes alive late

The Wildcat offense has been on an absolutely ridiculous tear to begin the year. Coming into today, Kentucky has been averaging 9.4 runs per game through their first 12 games.

Kentucky waited until the third inning this time around to break zeroes on the board. Following two walks from Alonzo Rubalcaba and John Thrasher, Ryan Ritter singled up the middle to load the bases with ‘Cats. That brought up Chase Estep, the reigning SEC Player of the Week. Coming off of the honor, Estep followed it up with a three-RBI, two-run performance against the Racers. The first came way of a sac-fly to deep left field, scoring Rubalcaba.

“Nothing compares to just saying that you were the best player in the conference that week in the best conference in America,” Estep said about the honor. “We’re just trying to go 5-0 this week. I enjoyed it for the day but it’s a new week so we gotta keep playing.”

Rubalcaba and Estep were the lead participants in a three-run seventh inning that gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. With men on first and second, Rubalcaba lined a single up the middle, allowing Michael Dallas to come in from second. Estep later came to the plate with the bases loaded and ripped a two-RBI single down the right-field line, scoring two more. The Corbin product later came in to score after stealing third and scampering home because of an errant throw.

“He picked up right where he left off and I thought it was a huge hit he had, to kinda put the game away,” Mingione said about Estep. “He keeps giving us good at-bat after good at-bat and we want to keep him going. I just try not to say much to him.”

Three more came across in the eighth for the Wildcats. Daniel Harris singled to lead off the inning — two steals and a passed ball later he was across home. Jake Plastiak brought in two more with a double that the Murray St. fielders simply lost in the lights.

The win stops Kentucky from going into their first losing streak of the season. Sitting at 11-2 now, optimism just keeps growing day-by-day here in Lexington for the Bat ‘Cats. They’re back out on Wednesday with a home contest against Ohio University. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. EST and is scheduled to be broadcasted on the SEC Network+