Lexington, (Ky.) ? Kentucky scored five times in the bottom of the fifth inning on its way to snapping an eight-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night in Lexington. Casey Gilvin went 4-for-4 in the game and the Kentucky pitching staff held the Bearcats scoreless over the last eight innings.
Cincinnati got all four of its runs in the top of the first off Kentucky starter Andy Myette. Brian Beltz and Jack Nelson both singled with one out and Steve Pickerell reached base on a Kentucky error. The miscue proved very costly as Jon DeLuca immediately pounded a home run over the wall in left center field to score three runs. Deluca then scored on a single by Drew Saylor.
Myette retired the Bearcats in the second and a combination of six relief pitchers shut UC down the rest of the way. James Rodriquez (1-3) worked a perfect fifth inning to pick up his first win of the season. Craig Snipp worked an impressive third and fourth innings, striking out the side in the fourth.
?We got a great effort from our pitching staff as a whole tonight,? head coach John Cohen said. ?Our guys really competed on the mound and we able to push across a few runs for them.?
The Kentucky scoring started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first as Billy Grace and Spencer Graeter walked to start the inning. Grace scored on a Mike Breyman groundout and Graeter came in on Michael Bertram?s ground ball out.
The score remained 4-2 until the fifth when Graeter and Caleb Stewart drew consecutive walks with one out. Breyman then singled and Graeter came in on another Bertram groundout. Pinch hitter Jake Kungl drove in Stewart and Breyman with a single. Gilvin?s single scored Kungl and the Cats were up, 7-4. Joe Naill drove in Justin Scutchfield in the seventh inning to round out the scoring.
UC starter Brian St. Jean (1-4) took the loss for the Bearcats. DeLuca led Cincinnati?s offense with a pair of hits nad three RBI. Kungl, Bertram and Breyman drove in two runs a piece for UK.
Kentucky next moves on to a weekend Southeastern Conference series with Mississippi State in Lexington. The series gets underway with a 6:30 p.m. (ET) contest on Friday at Cliff Hagan Stadium and continues with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. Sunday?s wrap-up is scheduled for 1 p.m. All the action can be heard on 96.1 FM in Lexington with the voice of the Wildcats, Drew Deener. Friday?s broadcast is on a delayed basis at 10:30 p.m. while Saturday and Sunday can be heard live. Live audio and stats are available all weekend at www.ukathletics.com.
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