Observations (4/17): Braxton Van Cleave's walk-off grand slam propels Kentucky over Vanderbilt

Braxton Van Cleave crushed a walk-off grand slam as Kentucky baseball defeated Vanderbilt 5-2 in game one of a three-game set. The Wildcats improved to 25-10 overall and 8-8 in league play with the league win.

This is a critical series in Lexington for both teams as it is officially past the halfway point of SEC play. Both teams entered the game with a 7-8 conference record after up-and-down performances in SEC play thus far.

Below are some takeaways from the thriller at Kentucky Proud Park.

Braxton Van Cleave calls game

Kentucky has been shuffling with the lineup all season, and tonight, Van Cleave got the nod at DH after working with the coaching staff and feeling something click in his swing.

“I took a lot better BP rounds throughout the week, and was really prepared,” Van Cleave said. “(Chase) Slone called me in his office. We watched starter video, and he was like, ‘get ready to go today, you're going' and I was like, 'yes sir.' Ready for my opportunity.”

The freshman fouled out in his first at-bat of the game and was snapped off by the pitcher on a rocket up the middle in the fifth. Despite it being an out, the hard-hit ball instilled some confidence in the youngster.

“You get back to the dugout and the teammates just pick me up, they're like, ‘you're hitting the ball hard, that's a good swing,’” Van Cleave said.

The Wildcats entered the bottom of the ninth down 2-1, hoping to avoid dropping its third straight series opener. Second baseman Luke Lawrence singled to open the inning. Center fielder Jayce Tharnish ran out an infield single to put the winning run on with no outs. Third baseman Ethan Hindle reached on a bunt single to load the bases. However, first baseman Tyler Cerny and pinch-hitter Tagger Tyson struck out to put the pressure on Van Cleave.

Before he stepped up to the plate in the ninth, he got some guidance with his approach from Lawrence and shortstop Tyler Bell.

“My teammates in the dugout, Luke and T-Bell, they were like, ‘he's coming inside a lot, he's throwing his heater inside, so they're like, move off the plate. Get ready to get an inside heater and get your swing off and don't cheat yourself,’” Van Cleave said.

With the count sitting at 1-1, Tyler Baird fired an inside fastball that Van Cleave sent into the Lexington night sky that landed behind the right-center field wall for a walk-off grand slam. The huge swing sent the Friday night crowd into a frenzy as Van Cleave was showered with water and his teammates mobbing him. The walk-off grand slam also marked his first collegiate home run.

“Yeah, emotions were definitely really high,” Van Cleave said. “That's probably the most exciting moment of my life, right there. I mean, there's nothing like what I just felt.”

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Jaxon Jelkin tosses a gem

For the offense to even have that chance for the dramatic swing, junior righty Jaxon Jelkin turned in another marvelous performance for Kentucky. The right-hander returned to his home mound looking to bounce back after giving up eight runs (three earned) in a 12-5 loss at Auburn last weekend.

Jelkin faced some trouble in the first as he put runners at the corners with no outs after back-to-back singles. Jelkin got out of it unscathed after a pair of strikeouts sandwiched between a pop-out. The traffic continued on the bases in the second as he was tagged for a leadoff double and the runner scored on a bunt along with a fielder's choice.

Jelkin got out of the second with the lone run allowed, but he was tagged for a solo shot by Brodie Johnston in the third that extended Vanderbilt's lead to 2-0. Kentucky’s ace settled back in for the fourth and fifth innings by retiring six in a row. Jelkin worked around a single in the sixth to keep the Commodores off the board. After his offense plated a run in the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1, Jelkin tossed a three-up, three-down seventh inning.

Kentucky’s ace returned to the hill in the eighth and struck out the first batter he faced before a walk and single put runners on the corners. Jelkin struck out Colin Barczi and Johnston tried to come home, but was tagged out for a frame-ending double play.

That turned out to be Jelkin’s final pitch of the night as he turned in another sensational performance. Overall, he finished with the following final line: eight innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, one walk and nine strikeouts on 105 total pitches.

“It seems like every time we need a big outing or a big pickup, there's Jaxon Jelkin and he was magnificent tonight,” UK head coach Nick Mingione said.

Senior righty Nile Adcock was on for the ninth in relief of Jelkin and worked around a walk to keep it a one-run game before the big swing.

Nick Mingione ejected in the fourth

Kentucky opted to use a challenge in the second inning on the fielder’s choice play at the plate, and came out on the wrong end of it after review. The offense struggled for most of the game outside of the ninth inning, as the first hit did not come until Bell singled into right in the fourth inning. Lawrence smoked a double into the right-center gap and Mingione elected to send Bell home and he was thrown out on a close play. 

The Wildcats used their second challenge on the play at the plate, and again came up on the wrong end. This depleted their challenges for the rest of the game. Moments later, Lawrence was picked off at second on a rough call and Mingione was livid and subsequently tossed from the game. This marked the skipper’s first ejection of the 2026 season.

“It sucks that coach got ejected, it kind of fired us up,” Van Cleave said. “I mean, him showing that he's gonna fight for us like that, and he has our back. We got to have his back right back, and we pulled off the victory.”

Other Notes

• Freshman catcher Owen Jenkins made his return to the lineup after missing eight games due to injury. Kentucky remains without sophomore first baseman Hudson Brown as he recovers from an illness. Jenkins went 0-2 with a sacrifice bunt in his return. 
• The offense finished 9-30 (.300) at the plate in game one, along with going 3-7 (.429) with runners in scoring position. 
• Mingione did not commit to a starter for game two after it was listed as TBA earlier in the week with righty Nate Harris being moved to Sunday. Lefty Ben Cleaver has been struggling all season long and it could lead Kentucky to go in another direction. 

Kentucky will go for the series win on Saturday with a new start time of 11 a.m.