Healthy White Makes UK Baseball Offense Even More Potent

The 2017 season has not gone the way that Kentucky first baseman Evan White hoped it would. White, named a preseason All-American by a number of outlets, has missed 13 of the Wildcats’ 26 games due to a variety of ailments.

White was back on the field on Friday night, and had a pair of hits as No. 16 Kentucky beat 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt 10-3 to take game one of a three-game SEC series at Cliff Hagan Stadium. White is now hitting .417 on the season, which would be second in the SEC if he had played in the required number of games to be eligible. If eligible, White would also be 24th in the country in batting average. After scoring 10 times on Friday, the Wildcats have now scored 10 or more runs in 11 games this season.

Even without White, the Kentucky offense has been potent this season. The Wildcats currently lead the SEC in batting average, runs, doubles, total bases, slugging percentage, hits, on-base percentage and runs batted in. But adding White into the lineup makes the Kentucky offense that much better.

“He continues to have professional at-bats,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said after Friday’s game. “There’s a sense of confidence with our team when he’s in there. It’s nice to have him at first base and back in our lineup.”

During his current four-game hitting streak, White seems to have found his stroke at the plate. He admits that, after missing a few games, he’s seeing the ball better.

“Definitely, it’s definitely a little funky coming in, when you haven’t seen a pitch in a couple of weeks,” White said. “It’s good to get that timing back and to see some balls and to put good swings on them.”

White also reached a career milestone on Friday night, as he notched his 174th career base hit, tying him with Kyle Barrett for 19th place on Kentucky’s career hits list.

“It’s special,” White said. “There’s been a ton of talent to come through Kentucky. To be a part of that is incredible. To be a part of that forever is pretty special.”

With his two hits in Friday’s win, White now has seven multi-hit games this season and a whopping 51 games with more than one hit in his career.

Kentucky (20-7, 6-1 SEC) plated five runs in the second inning of Friday’s game to establish control of the game early. White knocked in the third run in that rally with a single, driving in Tyler Marshall. It was White’s 11th RBI of the season.

The Wildcats and the Commodores return to action on Saturday for game two of the weekend series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on