Won Mississippi: No. 15 Kentucky Claims Series Opener at No. 22 Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. – Johnny Hummel heard the crowd.

The graduate senior who transferred from Division II Erskine, stood on the mound with the bases loaded, a two-run lead and the game in the balance as nearly 10,000 fans roared.

Then he silenced all of them.

Hummel induced a groundball to end No. 15 Kentucky’s thrill-ride of a 5-3 victory over No. 22 Ole Miss at Swayze Stadium on a perfect night for baseball, giving the Wildcats (22-4, 6-1 SEC) the most true road wins in the Southeastern Conference to this point of the season. UK now has two chances to claim a road series victory over a ranked opponent.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins but the Cats once again found a way. UK scored three runs in the sixth inning without an RBI to claim a 4-1 lead that dwindled to 4-3 in the bottom of the inning after a two-run home run, the only real blemish on starter Trey Pooser’s night. But Jackson Nove caught a Rebel looking to end the inning and Emilien Pitre broke out of his mini skid with a towering solo home run in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.

After Travis Smith threw two strong innings he walked the leadoff batter in the ninth and the Cats went to Hummel. The graduate senior saw the first batter flyout to the warning track and then walked a pair before inducing a shallow fly to centerfield for the second out. A ground ball to third ended it.

NOTES

• Kentucky now is 22-4 in 2024, 6-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
  • Kentucky is 8-0 in night games.
  • Kentucky is 7-1 in true road games and 9-2 away from Lexington.
  • Kentucky is 5-2 on Friday.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 238-154 career record.
  • Mingione needs 20 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 100-37 in the month of March under Coach Mingione.
• Kentucky’s seven road wins are the most of any team in the SEC.
• Junior Emilien Pitre went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and stolen base.
  • It was his second home run of the season.
  • He now is 13-for-16 on stolen base attempts.
• Graduate Nick Lopez went 1-for-3 with a run, double and intentional walk.
  • He now has 11 doubles on the season.
• Graduate Trey Pooser made his second straight Friday night start.
  • He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, striking out five and walking one in 5.2 innings.
  • His line in those two starts: 11.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 12 K
• Graduate Johnny Hummel earned his second save.
  • He stranded the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

ON DECK

The Wildcats will try to win a road series at No. 22 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon. The contest between the Cats and the Rebels will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed on the SECN+, with radio coverage available on 98.5 FM (Lexington) and UKAthletics.com.