No. 18 Kentucky Drubs Evansville in Series Opener

Evansville, Ind. – No. 18 Kentucky used home runs by Ryan Schwartz and Jayce Tharnish and another strong outing on the mound by Jaxon Jelkin to claim a 9-2 victory at Evansville in the first of three games.

Tharnish jumped all over a first pitch in his first inning at bat and gave the Wildcats (4-1) a lead it would never relinquish with a solo home run into the net above the left field wall. Two innings later Schwartz clubbed his first of the year with a three-run blast. The Cats added two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings as well.

It was all more than enough for Jelkin, who was excellent for the second straight Friday. He struck out seven over 5.0 innings, allowing only a solo home run in his final frame. Freshman lefty Will Coleman, who grew up 15 minutes from Evansville’s campus, made his collegiate debut and struck out four in 3.0 hitless innings.

Jack Sams, another freshman making his collegiate debut on the mound, entered with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded as the Aces tried to mount a tepid rally. The Lexington native recorded a strike out on three pitches to end the game.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 4-1 on the season.
  • UK is 121-64 since the beginning of 2023.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his 10th season at the helm and now owns a 297-193 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 57-19 in the month of February under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione is 173-53 in non-conference games.
    • He is 152-24 vs. non-Power Four opponents.
  • Mingione now is 7-0 vs. Evansville.
  • Mingione is 21-4 vs. teams from the state of Indiana.
• Kentucky struck out 13 and now has 67 in 45.0 innings this season.
• IF Hudson Brown went 3-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two doubles.
  • Brown extended his career-long hitting streak to 10 games.
  • The three hits are a career high.
• OF Ryan Schwartz hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot.
• OF Jayce Tharnish went 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBI, a walk, a double and a home run.
  • His solo shot in the first gave UK a lead it never relinquished.
• C/UT Owen Jenkins had two hits.
• IF Tyler Cerny got hit by the 50^th pitch of his career.
• RHP Jaxon Jelkin earned the win.
  • He went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out seven.
  • He has struck out 17 in 9.0 innings this season.
• Freshman LHP Will Coleman pitched three hitless innings.
  • Coleman grew up 15 minutes from Evansville’s campus.
  • His final line: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K
• Freshman RHP Jack Sams struck out his first collegiate batter faced to end the game with the bases loaded.
• Players who made their Kentucky debut: RHP Oliver Boone, LHP Will Coleman and RHP Jack Sams.

ON DECK

UK remains in Evansville for a Saturday doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. ET/Noon local. Game two will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the opening game. There is no live stream on Saturday but the contest can be heard on UK Sports Network.