Observations (4/7): Bullpen comes through in 4-2 win over Louisville
Kentucky picked up a win over its in-state rival on Tuesday night.
After dropping a series to Missouri, Kentucky baseball bounced back to defeat rival Louisville 4-2 at Kentucky Proud Park on Tuesday. The Wildcats improved to 24-8 overall and 75-51-1 all-time against the Cardinals.
"I'm so proud of our team, because exactly what we talked about on Monday, they came out and executed," UK coach Nick Mingione said.
Below are a few takeaways from the game.
Big time lineup shuffle gets it done
Kentucky sputtered at the plate and struggled to get that big knock, which plagued it in the series loss to Missouri. However, the lineup shuffle was related to working around injuries.
The aforementioned changes included catcher Tagger Tyson moving to the two-hole, freshman Caeden Cloud returning to the starting lineup at third base, along with Tyler Cerny, who made his first start at first base. The rest of the names remained the same and Luke Lawrence was slotted in the DH role. The biggest name missing was Hudson Brown, who has been one of the bigger bats in the lineup all season, did not play at all in the rivalry matchup as Mingione said he had not been feeling well.
Kentucky stranded singles from center fielder Jayce Tharnish and Lawrence in the first before being retired in order over the next two innings.
Lawrence led off the fourth by wearing a pitch and that sparked a bases-loaded rally with one out as right fielder Carson Hansen walked and left fielder Scott Campbell Jr. singled. Cerny tied the game with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.
Tharnish walked and stole second, but was stranded in the fifth before another rally was kick-started in the sixth after shortstop Tyler Bell was hit by a pitch and Hansen singled. Campbell Jr. continued his knack for the clutch moment with an RBI single to break the tie. Hansen came home to score on a bunt single by second baseman Ethan Hindle. Campbell Jr. scored on a throwing error by the Cardinals catcher, who was trying to catch Hindle stealing second to cap off the three-run rally.
Kentucky looked to keep it going in the seventh as Lawrence wore a pitch and Bell blooped a single to start the inning. However, Lawrence was thrown out at third and Bell was stranded. The offense was kept off the board in the eighth.
The revamped lineup finished with four runs on seven hits. However, Kentucky did leave eight runners on and only hit 3-13 (.231) with runners in scoring position.
"We're a deep roster," Campbell Jr. said. "We've got a lot of guys that are really talented, so I think we'll make do with whatever, with whoever we have to run out, you know, and guys kind of excited, you know, to get back in there too, it's good for us as a team."
Bullpen bounces back
While the offense struggled against Missouri, the pitching staff bounced back from a rough few weeks prior. Starters Nate Harris and Ben Cleaver had encouraging outings and the bullpen only surrendered two runs (one earned and one unearned) across 10.1 innings of work. That came after giving up 26 runs (19 earned and seven unearned) across the weekend series against LSU and the midweek win against Miami (Ohio).
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Junior righty Connor Mattison got his second straight midweek start and he got into immediate trouble by walking and hitting the first two batters of the game. A groundout moved both runners and Louisville got on the board first on another grounder. Mattison kept the damage to a lone run with a strikeout to end the first.
The right-hander worked back-to-back three-up, three-down frames in the second and third to end his outing. Senior lefty Jackson Soucie came on in the fourth and walked two batters, but got out of the jam unscathed. Redshirt sophomore righty Oliver Boone started his outing with back-to-back strikeouts, but a walk and stolen base put a runner in scoring position. He struck out another batter to end the frame.
Sophomore righty Tristan Hunter came on in the sixth inning and hit the first batter he faced. A fielder's choice swapped the runners at first and the new baserunner immediately stole second. A strikeout was followed by a wild pitch, walk and stolen base to plant two in scoring position, but the righty righty rolled a grounder to get out of it.
Senior righty Ira Austin IV came on after Kentucky rallied to take a 4-1 lead and was helped out by Cloud, who made a diving catch on a foul bunt for the first out. Louisville broke up a combined no-hitter on a single in the seventh inning. A wild pitch and walk brought the tying run to the plate with one out. After a flyout, Mingione played the matchup by calling on Lexington native Leighton Harris and he walked a batter to load the bases but got a deep flyout to end the frame.
Senior righty Nile Adcock took over in the eighth and gave up a one-out walk, stolen base and wild pitch to put a runner at third. The right-hander bounced back with a strikeout before a walk and a stolen base gave the Cardinals an opportunity, but another strikeout ended the frame.
Fellow senior right-hander Jack Bennett was on for the ninth and created a mess by giving up a walk and hitting the first two batters of the inning. A single scored a run for the Cardinals and brought up the go-ahead run. The righty secured the win with a double play and a groundout.
"Coach Roszel, he went out there and talked to JB, he was like, ‘coach, he was so calm.' I was like, that's him," Mingione said. "That's why he's so good in that situation, is because his heartbeat is just so slow. And for a Kentucky kid like Jack Bennett to come here, his dream school, and then to do it against those guys. Happy for JB."
Kentucky used eight different pitchers and finished with two runs allowed on two hits, paired with 12 strikeouts and 10 walks. Wildcat arms also stranded 12 Cardinals in the game.
Kentucky is back on the road for a three-game set against the Auburn Tigers starting on Friday at 7 p.m. ET
