Kentucky keeps season alive with 7-3 win over USC Upstate
The Wildcats prolonged their season by defeating the Spartans at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kentucky received a stellar relief appearance from junior lefthander Ethan Walker and tacked on insurance runs late to keep its season alive, defeating USC Upstate 7-3 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Walker entered in the fifth inning with the score tied at 3-3. He finished out the rest of the game, holding the Spartans to just one hit and no earned runs while striking out seven batters over five innings. He’s proven to be a revelation for the Wildcats out of the bullpen.
“He started out pitching on the weekends, and we had a freshman in Nate Harris throwing the ball really well and we had a short week, and long story short, Ethan moves to the bullpen and never one time did this guy whine, complain, make excuses,” Mingione said. “Never one time did he feel sorry for himself. Never one time did he ever show any frustration. All he wanted to do, and his message to the coaching staff was, ‘coach, I’ll do whatever the team needs, whatever it takes to win.’
“... I had the utmost confidence to put him in the game, and I didn’t care if the game was tied or we were down or up, Ethan Walker was pitching. For him to be able to do this in that moment, none of us are surprised because of his heart. He threw 62 pitches in five innings and gave us a chance to win that game.”