Observations (3/8): Kentucky secures series sweep over The Citadel 13-5
Kentucky completed the sweep of The Citadel behind 7.2 scoreless innings from the bullpen and a 13-run outburst.
After securing the series win in game two, No. 21 Kentucky completed the three-game sweep over The Citadel 13-5 on Sunday at Kentucky Proud Park. The win moves the Bat Cats to 14-2 on the year.
Below are some things that stuck out from the series finale.
Big innings propel offense
After putting up 12 runs in game two, Kentucky got off to a great start in the first inning as center fielder Jayce Tharnish was hit by a pitch and stole second before shortstop Luke Lawrence drove him home on a double. Ethan Hindle continued to stack up the RBIs with a single to bring home Lawrence. Left fielder Scott Campbell Jr. brought home Hindle on a double before right fielder Ryan Schwartz capped off the four-run rally with an RBI-single.
The Bat Cats went three-up, three-down in the second after The Citadel took a 5-4 lead and were held scoreless in the third. Schwartz and Tharnish singled in the fourth and came around to score after Hindle hit a ball that went all the way to the wall in center for the second inside the park home run this week for Kentucky to cap off a three-run fourth.
Schwartz and catcher Owen Jenkins singled in the fifth, but were stranded. The run production continued in the sixth after Hindle reached on an error and was brought home on a single by first baseman Hudson Brown. Freshman third baseman Caden Cloud hit his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot over the left field wall to finish off the three-run sixth.
"He's a special player, man," UK coach Nick Mingione said. "The job that he's done to just step right in and play. He's another guy who has speed and power, and his athleticism defensively, he can play (third base, shortstop and second base) and have a ton of confidence in him."
The offense continued to roll in the seventh as Lawrence and Hindle executed a double steal to get into scoring position and were brought in by designated hitter Tyler Bell. Tharnish capped off the scoring in the eighth with an RBI-single.
Kentucky accumulated 16 hits, two walks and five hit-by-pitches in the game three win. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and Schwartz led the game with three. The 35 runs scored across the series was the most in series this season.
“I feel like, especially doing this today, the last Sunday before SEC play, I feel like it gives everybody confidence going into it, and definitely what we need,” Schwartz said.
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Nate Harris can’t get out of the second
The starters were tested all weekend as righty Jaxon Jelkin had some pressure for the first time this season and gave up five runs in five innings. Lefty Ben Cleaver labored through three innings in game two, but did not give up a run.
Righty Nate Harris started the series finale and ran into immediate trouble as he loaded the bases on two singles and a walk in the first. After a mound visit, Harris got a pop-out and a double play on some slick defense from the infield to work out of the jam.
The second was not any easier as he walked a batter, hit a batter and gave up a single to reload the bases with no outs. Harris turned a comebacker into one out, but the bases remained loaded. Harris lost the zone and walked the next two batters, making the score 4-2. Sophomore lefty Leighton Harris came in and allowed a double and a groundout that scored three more runs and closed the book on Nate Harris.
The inability to throw strikes chased Harris from the outing as he only threw 24 strikes out of 46 pitches. Overall, he finished with the following final line: 1.1 innings pitched, three hits, five earned runs, four walks, and no strikeouts.
“Just our ability to command the ball was not there today for him. And you know what? He's allowed outings like that,” Mignione said. “He's had a lot of really good ones for us, and he'll bounce back. I know we're confident in him, and he'll get to work, and he'll be better next time."
Bullpen bounces back
Despite the short outing from Harris, the bullpen combined to produce an outstanding game.
Leighton Harris gave up runs to the three inherited runners in the second, but he got out of the inning and came back out for the third and worked around a single for a scoreless frame.
Senior righty Jack Bennett came on in the fourth and tossed the first three-up, three-down inning of the game for Kentucky pitchers. He ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth as he gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning, but struck out the next two and got a pop out to end the inning.
Bennett got into the same jam in the sixth, but with two outs when the singles were hit and he worked out of it once again.
“Leighton was awesome, got us five huge outs. That's him throwing multiple times this week. So he was phenomenal. I loved his energy, loved his attack,” Mingione said. “Then Jack Bennett got us three innings and nine outs, and just allowed our offense to claw back.”
Sophomore righty Tristan Hunter got one out in the seventh before giving up two singles between a strikeout. Hunter struck out another batter to end the frame. Senior righty Ira Austin IV came on in the eighth and tossed a three-up, three-down inning. Freshman righty Jack Sams, making just his second appearance, came on in the ninth and secured the series sweep.
The bullpen finished with 7.2 scoreless innings in game three.
“We got a lot of depth, and maybe some guys didn't pitch the way that they would have liked, but I think it just kind of showed how good our bullpen can be,” Bennett said. “That's going to take us to do big, big, great things."
Kentucky is back at KPP on Tuesday against Ball State at 6:30 p.m. before Alabama comes to town for the SEC opener.
