Observations (3/13): Kentucky opens SEC play with 7-4 win over Alabama
Kentucky opened SEC play with a 7-4 win at Kentucky Proud Park on Friday night.
No. 21 Kentucky opened SEC play with a 7-4 win over Alabama. The win moved Kentucky to 16-2 on the year and extended its winning streak to 11 games.
Superstar sophomore Tyler Bell made his return last weekend after missing 12 games and went 6-11 with three walks and four RBIs. However, he was listed as out on the SEC Player Availability Report before the game. UK coach Nick Mingione gave an update on Bell after the game.
“His shoulder was sore, so we'll take him day-by-day and we'll just see,” Mingione said. “Obviously, you know we gotta protect him, so it'll be day-by-day with him."
In other injury news, third baseman Tyler Cerny made his return to the lineup after missing six games with a hamstring injury.
As for the action, below are some things that stuck out.
Big Blue Bombs lead the offense
The offense has been on a hot streak since scoring 35 runs against the Citadel and 10 against Ball State on Tuesday. The Bat Cats have also been scoring in a multitude of ways, which has made them a tough lineup to crack in recent weeks. The offense lived on Big Blue Bombs against Alabama in the SEC opener.
Kentucky came up to bat in the first down 1-0 and center fielder Jayce Tharnish led off the game with a single. The speedy runner did not need to show any of it to score as second baseman Ethan Hindle launched a two-run home run that gave Kentucky a 2-1 lead. A similar situation played out in the second as first baseman Hudson Brown singled and right fielder Ryan Schwartz kept his hot streak going with a two-run home run of his own.
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Alabama helped out the Bat Cats in the third as shortstop Luke Lawrence scored on an error after the left fielder misplayed a pop-up by Cerny. The lone run came in the fourth for Kentucky when catcher Owen Jenkins hit his first collegiate home run over the right field wall. Lawrence and Hindle kept it rolling in the fifth with a single and double to start the inning. Cerny brought home Lawrence on a sacrifice bunt to make the lead 7-1 after five.
Alabama shrunk the lead to 7-4 in the sixth on a three-run homer, and the offense cooled down, going six-up, six-down over the next two innings. Along with Cerny, outfielder Will Marcy made his return in a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth and broke the outs streak with a single to left. However, he was thrown out stealing and the Cats were held off the board in the eighth.
Overall, the offense finished with seven runs on nine hits, two walks and three home runs. After scoring in the fifth, Kentucky only had one hit and one walk from the sixth through the eighth.
“We credit our offense to be able to do everything, hit the gaps, steal a lot of bases and hitting home runs and days like today, when you hit a lot of home runs, you can't defend that,” Jenkins said. “It's really good to see that, and just shows how much our offense can do whatever.”
Jaxon Jelkin has strong outing until sixth inning
All three Kentucky starters struggled against The Citadel, which was the first time Jaxon Jelkin had gotten hit in a Kentucky uniform. The righty worked five innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk. Mingione mentioned that Jelkin was away from the team at least through Tuesday’s game as he recovered from an illness.
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Jelkin took the hill for his first SEC competition and he got one out before Alabama superstar Justin Lebron hit a home run over the left field wall to give the away team an early 1-0 lead. The right-hander got two more outs to limit the damage in the first. He came back to the mound in the second with a lead as his offense plated two in the first.
The junior settled down in the second by tossing a three-up, three-down frame and worked around a single for a scoreless third. Jelkin kept the scoreless streak going in the fourth and fifth by working around a walk and single to strand runners in each inning.
“That's what I'm trying to do every inning, is get a zero, so anytime that you can stack zeros, it's what you're trying to do,” Jelkin said. “It's an accomplishment. But by the time the next inning rolls around, trying to get another zero, that's just my mindset with all of it. Just continue to attack and give my team a chance to win.”
Jelkin ran into trouble in the sixth as he was tagged for back-to-back singles before getting a flyout. John Lemm hit a three-run home run to tighten the score to 7-4 and end Jelkin’s first SEC start. The righty finished with the following final line: 5.1 innings, six hits, four runs, one walk and five strikeouts.
Bullpen gets out of huge jams to secure the win
The bullpen entered the series by stacking some solid outings on the back end of a five-game week last week and this past Tuesday.
Sophomore lefty Leighton Harris has been one of those arms carving out a bigger role as the season rolls on. He entered in the sixth in relief of Jelkin after Kentucky’s lead was cut in half from six to three. He gave up a single and a walk, which brought the tying run to the plate. The lefty rolled a 5-3 double play to get out of the jam and protect the lead.
Harris’ role of late feels similar to Cameron O’ Brien and Jackson Nove in recent years as the “fireman” or the arm that is called upon in jams and could pitch multiple times in a weekend.
“When we watch video of his stuff, it is incredible. The guys are like, ‘ooh’ ‘ahh’, you just watch his stuff, and it is nasty. So it's been fun to watch him,” Mingione said. “I feel like he's grown up this year and just taking another step, just a confidence, he's been just a joy to watch, and we're definitely getting some great mileage out of him.”
Junior righty Connor Mattison is another arm that has been reliable all season and came on in the seventh. He walked the lead-off batter before getting two outs and walking another to bring the tying run up again. The right-hander got a strikeout to get out of the jam. Mattison came back on in the eighth and tossed a three-up, three-down frame.
Senior righty Jack Bennett has also been a prominent arm in late-inning situations and he got the ball in the ninth. Bennett got two quick outs before giving up a double to bring up Lebron. He got the future MLB Draft pick to ground out and end the ballgame.
“It's unreal the guys that we got on our team to come in behind us,” Jelkin said. “We always say the guy on the mound is our best pitcher at that time. I have full belief in every single guy in our bullpen to come out and throw strikes and get people out.”
Kentucky will go for the series win in game two on Saturday at 2 p.m.
