LIVE UPDATES: Kentucky takes on Cincinnati at Prasco Park in first exhibition

MASON, Ohio – The first of four exhibitions for Kentucky baseball begins at noon at Prasco Park. Follow along at Bat Cats Central for live updates throughout the afternoon.

This page will be updated either every half inning or when a run is scored. Kentucky was the away team for both scrimmages.

GAME 2

SEVENTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 11, Kentucky 3

TOP HALF: May flew out to center field for the first out. Cincinnati made a pitching change to right-hander Tucker King. Czarniecki drew a one-out walk. Lee flew out to deep center field for the second out. Peltier grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Ansell struck out Joe Dusell to begin the inning with a nasty slider in the dirt. Cloud made a nice play on a hard-hit ball at him for the second out. Ansell finished off the scrimmage three straight changeups to strike out Landyn Dykes.

SIXTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 11, Kentucky 3

TOP HALF: Cloud struck out to begin the inning, followed by another strikeout to Ellis. Ryan Foscolo received his first at-bat of the day and hit a knuckler to short that was fielded and tossed to first to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Joey Ansell is in for the Wildcats. A throwing error (charged to Owen Lee, though I would've given the error to Powell at first) started the frame. He responded with a fly out and two strikeouts. Ansell's looked good in the times I've seen him.

FIFTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 11, Kentucky 3

TOP HALF: Lee grounded out to second to begin the inning. Tharnish drew a one out walk. Kaden Powell struck out swinging for the second out. Hindle struck out to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Alderman returned for his second inning of work. Gavin Brewer reached on a throwing error from Ellis at third base. Kosko roped a 105 mph single over the glove of Powell at first base to put runners on the corners. Dylan Fairchild lined a single into left field to score a run. Alderman struck out a batter for the second out, then walked Dykes to load the bases with two outs. Alderman walked another to bring in a run. A groundout to the third baseman ends the inning.

FOURTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 9, Kentucky 3

TOP HALF: Lee Ellis opened the inning with a fly out. Chrisman struck out. Carson May was hit by a pitch. Kelsey struck out looking to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Logan Hastings is in for Kentucky. He allowed a leadoff single to begin the frame, but the runner moved up to second when Rob Czarniecki overran the ball. A double from Sefcik brought home a run. A bunt just stayed fair to put runners on the corners, and a single made it 3-2. With the bases loaded, Hastings walked a hitter to make it 3-3. That was followed up with a two-RBI single into right field. Rough outing for Hastings.

Alderman entered and walked the first hitter he faced, followed by a grand slam from Landyn Dykes. He followed that with another walk. The second out of the inning came on a groundout to Kaden Powell at first base, and the final out was on a groundout to Lee at second base.

THIRD INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 3, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Tharnish hits a leadoff double to right center field. With his speed, I thought he might've ended up with a triple. Still, a loud start to the inning for Kentucky. Brown followed with a 108 mph double of his own to bring in Tharnish. Brown got greedy on a fly ball to center field and tried to tag up, but he's thrown out for a double play. Jackson struck out looking.

BOTTOM HALF: Cleaver stayed out for another inning, and what an inning it was. He struck out the side to, presumably, end his outing.

SECOND INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 2, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Riley Jackson drew a walk, followed by a double to right center by Lee Ellis. Jackson and Ellis scored on a single down the first base line by Brody Chrisman. Carson May struck out for the first out. During Alex Kelsey's at-bat, Chrisman stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by the catcher. With the infield in, Kelsey struck out on a breaking ball. Owen Lee, playing second base to start the second scrimmage, flew out to center field to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Luke Sefcik led off the inning with a single into left field. A pitch clock violation on batter Gavin Michaels resulted in a strikeout. Parker McDaniels flew out to left field for the second out. Gavin Brewer lined a single just over Lee's glove for a two-out single to place runners on the corners. Luke Kosko flew out to center to end the inning.

FIRST INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 0, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Chad Brown, a right-hander, is the starter for Cincinnati. Jayce Tharnish led off for Kentucky and struck out. Hudson Brown ended up with a fluky double as the infielders could not locate the ball on an infield pop-up. Ethan Hindle chased a slider out of the zone for the second out. Riley Jackson was at the dish when Brown tried to take third on a pitch in the dirt but was thrown out to end the top half.

BOTTOM HALF: Cincinnati lead-off hitter Dylan Fairchild flew out to short center field to open the inning. Ryan Morel drew a one out walk. Cleaver bounced back to strike out Jackson Reardon and Landon Dykes to end the inning.

FINAL FROM THE FIRST SEVEN INNINGS: Cincinnati 2, Kentucky 1. Here's the box score on the Kentucky side:

SEVENTH INNING

TOP HALF: Cincinnati has a new pitcher. Adam Buczkowski, a right-hander, is in for the final frame of the first scrimmage. Cloud led off for Kentucky but struck out in three pitches. Kelsey bounced out to first base on a full count for the second out. Peltier struck out on a check swing to end the first game.

BOTTOM HALF: Ryan Mullan entered the game for Kentucky. The first batter was retired on a sensational diving grab by Kelsey in left field. Vogele hit a liner into center field for a one-out single. Pitts, Cincinnati's leadoff hitter, hit a liner right back at Mullan that he caught and threw to first to double up the runner.

SIXTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 2, Kentucky 1

TOP HALF: Niehaus made a great diving snag at shortstop to rob Tharnish of a hit to lead off the inning. Brown struck out in three pitches. Hindle got Kentucky on the board with a solo homer to right center field. Jackson drew a walk to put a two-out base runner on. Ellis followed that with a liner into left field for a hit. Chrisman grounded out to second base to strand two runners.

BOTTOM HALF: McIntyre returned for his second inning of work. He issued a walk to Pitts, the leadoff hitter for Cincinnati. He retired Jackson Smith on a fly out to center. Infelise was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Quinton Coats singled into center field on a 115 mph exit velo to bring in the Bearcats' second run of the day. McIntyre retired Dusell on a 95 mph fastball for the second out. However, Daniel walked on four pitches to load the bases. But a groundout to second base ended the threat.

FIFTH INNING

SCORE: Cincinnati 1, Kentucky 0

TOP HALF: Robinson remained in the game for the second inning. Cloud struck out in three pitches to lead off the inning. Kelsey got ahead in the count 3-1 before flying out to center field. Peltier flew out to right field for the third out. Seven straight Kentucky hitters retired.

BOTTOM HALF: Dylan McIntyre entered the game for Kentucky. Joe Dusell led off the inning with a double down the left field line for Cincinnati's first hit. Conlan Daniel dropped down a bunt and beat the throw to put runners on the corners. McIntyre sat down Luke Kosko on a 93 mph fastball for the first out. Daniel stole second, and the throw from Jackson sailed into the outfield to bring in the first run of the scrimmage. Daniel moved up to third on the throw. With one out, McIntyre ran it up to 96 to strike out Niehaus swinging. Ben Vogele also fanned on a 96 mph fastball.

FOURTH INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 0, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Cincinnati went to the bullpen and brought in Zach Robinson, a right-hander. Jackson, making his first at-bat in place of Ricketts, grounded out to third base to open the inning. Ellis struck out swinging for the second out. Chrisman put a ball in play at first, but the first baseman made a diving play, got up and flipped it to Robinson to end the inning.

BOTTOM HALF: Willoughby returned for his second inning of work, facing 2-3-4 in the order for Cincinnati. He struck out the first batter he faced on a 93 mph fastball, then got an easy fly out to center field. Willoughby then got a weak fly out to left field to make it a 1-2-3 inning.

THIRD INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 0, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Wright State transfer JP Peltier watched a 95 mile per hour fastball clip the corner for the first out of the inning. Tharnish struck out on an 89 mph cutter for the second out after working the count full. Brown, who was plunked in the first, hit a two-out double off the top of the left field wall. However, Blue froze Hindle with a 95 mph fastball to end the threat.

BOTTOM HALF: Freshman Grayson Willoughby entered the game for Kentucky. He touched 96 mph with the fastball on the first batter he faced before getting a weak groundout to Hindle at second for the first out. Ricketts, who tried to block a pitch in the dirt, injured his throwing hand and was removed from the game for Houston transfer Riley Jackson. Willoughby issued a one-out walk to Charlie Niehaus. Niehaus stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Willoughby then plunked the next hitter on a 3-2 count to put two on with the leadoff man back up for the Bearcats. Pitts flew out to right field, but the play resulted in a double play as the baserunner was trying to steal third, rounded the base and did not retouch when going back to second.

SECOND INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 0, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Brayden Ricketts collected Kentucky's first hit on a chopper down the third base line. The third baseman tried to make a play on it, but it was a single for Ricketts. Ricketts was retired at second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Ohio State transfer Lee Ellis. There's been a lot of buzz for Ohio State transfer Lee Ellis as a base stealer, and he swiped second to put a runner in scoring position with one away. Akron transfer Brody Chrisman struck out for the second out. Caeden Cloud worked the count full and laid off a close pitch for a walk. With runners on first and second, Saint Joe's transfer Alex Kelsey flew out to center field to end the threat.

BOTTOM HALF: Harris struck out the side in an impressive second inning. He got the second hitter on a 94 mile per hour fastball and came back with an 87 mile per hour slider to finish the inning.

FIRST INNING

SCORE: Kentucky 0, Cincinnati 0

TOP HALF: Fifth-year outfielder Jayce Tharnish led off the game for the Wildcats and grounded out to shortstop for the first out. Hudson Brown was hit on the first pitch he saw to give Kentucky a one-out baserunner. Ethan Hindle hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the first for the Wildcats.

BOTTOM HALF: Nate Harris opened his afternoon with a strikeout of Derrick Pitts. Jackson Smith flew out to right field on the first pitch. Enzo Infelise struck out looking. The ABS challenge system is being used, and he challenged the call but was unsuccessful. A couple of strikeouts for Harris to begin his day.

Here's how the Wildcats are lining up to start:

Junior right-hander Nate Harris will get the ball to begin the afternoon.

As noted by the Kentucky baseball social media account, expect plenty of shuffling throughout the afternoon. The top three hitters in the order – Jayec Tharnish, Hudson Brown and Ethan Hindle – were among the best offensive players on the 2026 team. Indiana transfer Brayden Ricketts will be the first catcher, and transfers Brody Chrisman and Alex Kelsey will man the corner outfield spots. Caeden Cloud, who started 29 games at third base as a freshman, opens as the DH.