Observations: Kentucky sweeps Hofstra
The Wildcats handled Hofstra in a three-game series at Kentucky Proud Park over the weekend
Kentucky completed a three-game sweep of Hofstra, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, this weekend. The Wildcats held off a ninth-inning rally from the Pride on Friday night in a 7-5 win before cruising to wins in the final two games.
Sophomore lefty Ben Cleaver spun a gem during a 6-1 win on Saturday, and the Wildcats used a plethora of free passes from Hofstra’s pitching staff on Sunday during a 9-1 win. Kentucky has won eight straight games since splitting the season-opening series against Lipscomb.
Here are some observations from the weekend series.
Cleaver’s career day
The most impressive performance of the weekend came from Cleaver. In just his third career start, Cleaver carried a perfect game into the sixth inning. The first baserunner of the game came on an 0-2 single with two outs from Hofstra shortstop Michael Brown. Cleaver retired the next hitter to get out of the frame and sat down the side in order in the seventh.
Cleaver’s day came to an end after 7.1 innings. It was a career-high in innings pitched, but he most impressively made it into the eighth inning on just 83 pitches. It was a different type of outing from the week before at Belmont when he struck out 11 batters on just 69 pitches, but it shows how efficient the young lefthander has been early in his sophomore season.
Against the Pride, Cleaver struck out one batter in each of the first two innings but did not record another strikeout until the seventh inning. He produced weak contact throughout the day and attacked the zone, throwing 71% of his pitches for strikes.
Cleaver’s ERA for the season lowered to 0.74 following the outing. In three starts, Cleaver has a team-leading 19 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .109 average.
Hindle’s big swing creates distance in finale
Sophomore DH Ethan Hindle came into Sunday hitting .250/.500/.500 in five games played. As evidenced by his on-base percentage, Hindle has been finding a way to help the offense despite a 2-8 start at the plate. He had one sacrifice, drew three walks and had been hit by a pitch twice.
But his first big swing of the season came in the fourth inning on Sunday. With a 3-1 lead, Kentucky loaded the bases with one out for right fielder Carson Hansen. Hansen, who homered in Saturday’s game, hit a shallow fly ball into left field that was tracked down, keeping second baseman Luke Lawrence on third base. But Hindle stepped in with two outs and crushed a 393-foot homer into the left-center field gap on a 1-2 count. It was his first career homer and came at an important time in Sunday’s game.
“It felt amazing,” Hindle said. “I was able to get my swing off with two strikes and just thankful that the guys ahead of me were able to get on base and give me the opportunity to do that.”
Kentucky relievers continue to produce quality innings
Senior righthander Scott Rouse entered Sunday’s game in the fifth inning for the Wildcats following four innings from starter Ethan Walker. Rouse was excellent, tossing five scoreless innings and striking out seven to lower his season ERA to 0.82.
“He’s been fantastic,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “He’s been a starter his whole career. We decided that we were going to throw the three guys that we picked on the weekends, and basically told him how important it was for him to accept whatever role. And he did. He’s obviously super talented and he’s got a ton of college experience, but his fastball movement, his slider and his changeup were phenomenal. He attacked on so many levels, and when he’s at his best, he’s filling up the zone with those three pitches and he’s getting our defense involved.”
Along with Rouse, Kentucky also got strong relief performances on Friday night from senior lefthanders Evan Byers and Jackson Nove. Indiana State transfer Simon Gregersen entered the game in the eighth inning and had to dance out of danger in the ninth inning. Gregersen was charged with three earned runs given up but he struck out Hofstra’s Sean Lane to end the game.
On Saturday, senior righthander Robert Hogan followed up Cleaver and recorded two outs before turning it over to freshman Bradley Ferrell in the ninth inning. Ferrell, making his collegiate debut, gave up two hits and one earned run but recorded the final three outs to give Kentucky a 6-1 victory.
Up next
Kentucky will make the short trip south down I-75 to Richmond to face Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon at 6 p.m. The Colonels return to Kentucky Proud Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
A three-game series against Wofford is set to begin on Friday evening. After that, Southeastern Conference play begins as Kentucky hits the road for Athens for a series beginning on March 14.