Observations (3/21): Kentucky comes up short in 12-9 thriller
Kentucky lost the rubber match to Ole Miss in a back-and-forth game on Saturday afternoon in Oxford.
After taking game two of the series 3-1, No. 15 Kentucky fell just short in a series-deciding game three, 12-9 to Ole Miss. The Wildcats fall to 19-4 on the year, and 4-2 in league play.
Below are some takeaways from the loss.
Big swings come up just short
The offense came into game three struggling a bit as Kentucky had only plated three runs in the first two games. The Wildcats were shut out in game one before using some fielding mistakes by Ole Miss to plate three in game two. Kentucky went a combined 2-29 (.068) with runners on and 2-16 (.125) with runners in scoring position coming into game three.
Kentucky got off to a much better start in the series finale as center fielder Jayce Tharnish and shortstop Luke Lawrence drew walks to open the game. First baseman Hudson Brown continued his stellar series with a double that brought home both runners, which gave Kentucky a 2-0 lead.
The bats went quiet over the next few innings as Lawrence was stranded in the second, third baseman Caeden Cloud was left on-base in the third and catcher Owen Jenkins was stranded in the fourth. Kentucky came back to the dugout in the fifth trailing 5-2 but responded once again.
Designated hitter Tyler Bell started the inning with a hit-by-pitch followed by a Brown single. This led to a pitching change before second baseman Ethan Hindle drew a walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, left fielder Carson Hansen smoked a ball 108 MPH and it hooked into the Ole Miss bullpen for a grand slam. The rally continued with Jenkins and right fielder Ryan Schwartz both hitting singles and scoring on singles from Tharnish and Lawrence to cap off the six-run fifth.
The offense went three-up, three-down in the sixth before having another scoring opportunity in the seventh. Schwartz led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a botched pickoff. However, he was caught in a rundown for the second out of the inning, which ended the threat.
Two homers sparked a three-run rally from the Rebels to retake a 9-8 lead in the seventh, but Bell erased that with a solo shot to left to tie the game again. But Ole Miss responded with three runs in the eighth. Kentucky went three-up, three-down in the ninth as they could not hold serve in the slugfest. Despite the eight runs, Kentucky left nine runners on base, but improved to 7-19 (.368) with runners on and 6-13 (.462) with runners in scoring position.
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Nate Harris falters in the fourth
Sophomore righty Nate Harris stepped up in a huge way in his 2026 SEC debut by delivering a six-inning outing to help the bullpen that had to cover 8.2 innings the game before. Fellow starter Jaxon Jelkin had a great seven inning outing that led the way to a game two win over the Rebels.
The right-hander was given a 2-0 lead in game three before he threw a pitch, and he kept it by tossing a three-up, three-down first inning. Harris was tagged for a one-out double in the second and the runner scored on an error from Cloud. A single followed the error, but Harris kept the damage to the lone unearned run. The righty responded in the third by striking out the first two batters and retiring the other for a three-up, three-down frame.
Things got away from Harris in the fourth as he surrendered a leadoff double and back-to-back walks to load the bases. Daniel Pacella made him pay with a grand slam that gave Ole Miss a 5-2 lead. The sophomore walked another batter to end his afternoon. Harris finished with the following final line: three innings, five runs (four earned), three walks and two strikeouts.
Bullpen can’t stop the Rebels
Senior righty Jack Bennett continued to show his versatility in game three as he moved from his closer role to middle relief for Harris with no outs in the fourth inning. He stopped the game from getting out of hand early by getting three quick outs. Bennett gave up a leadoff walk in the fifth, but got the next three hitters in order to end the inning.
The traffic against Bennett continued as he hit and walked the first two batters of the sixth. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners before a sacrifice fly plated a run. Bennett got another out to end the inning with the lone run allowed. The righty finished with one run given up across his three innings of work.
Junior right-hander Connor Mattison was next and things got away from him quickly as he gave up a leadoff home run to make the score 8-7. Mattison followed that with a single and a two-run home run that gave Ole Miss the lead and ended his outing. The righty did not record an out and allowed three runs.
Sophomore righty Burkley Bounds came on and finished the seventh without allowing a run. The Bell homer made it a tie game in the eighth, but Bounds gave up a leadoff double to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third before a four-pitch and intentional walks loaded the bases.
This led UK coach Nick Mingione to call upon senior righty Ira Austin IV to get out of the jam, and he gave up a two-run single to break the tie. A sacrifice fly brought home another run, and ended Austin IV’s day. Senior lefty Jackson Soucie came on and got the final out in the eighth.
Kentucky returns home to take on Murray State at home on Tuesday at 6:30 before heading to LSU for another SEC road series.
