LEXINGTON, Ky. — Freshman Kentucky outfielder Keenan Wiley turned in the finest performance of his young career, but it wasn?t enough for the No. 27 Wildcats to overcome a late surge by Morehead State that gave the Eagles a 9-6 upset win at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Wiley, who charted the second multi-hit game of his career, in just his fourth career start, went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored to lead the Wildcats (26-10-1). Wiley, who was the team?s leadoff batter for the first time in his career, entered the game batting .269 and raised his average to .417 by the conclusion of the contest. Wiley was one of three UK players to record multi-hit games as Sawyer Carroll and Matt McKinney each had two hits and combined to drive in four of the Wildcats? six runs.
Kentucky, which tied for its second most errors of the season with four, led Morehead State (9-24) 5-2 heading into the sixth inning, but the Eagles scored seven runs over the next two frames combined to give the Wildcats just their second non-conference loss in their last 38 attempts.
Pitchers Tyler Henry and Dewayne Oxford combined for five strong innings to begin the game, allowing just two runs on three hits. Freshman James Paxton entered the game to begin the sixth inning, facing three batters and surrendering three runs. Brock Baber took the loss to fall to 1-1. Morehead State?s Matt Clark (1-2) notched his first win of the season with 6 1/3 innings in relief of starter Josh Barnes, whom the Wildcats chased for three runs in the opening inning.
Kentucky scored first at its first opportunity, pushing across the games first three runs. Wiley led off the inning with a single to left center and Mike Brown drove him in with a double off the left-field wall. Morehead State starter Josh Barnes struck out Sawyer Carroll, before walking in two runs on four bases on balls.
Morehead answered in the top of the second, plating two runs. Donald Cheney singled to lead off and after a groundout Trent Hanna reached on a field error. Chris McCaslin drove in the pair with a single just out of reach of UK?s shortstop, Ryan Wilkes.
The Wildcats scored one more run in the second, beginning with Wiley?s second leadoff single of the game. After a Brown fly out, Carroll delivered his 44th RBI of the season with a single to right field. Carroll has now hit safely in 21-of-26 (.808) opportunities with a runner on third and less than two out.
Kentucky added a run in the fifth when Sean Coughlin singled to begin the inning and was driven in by McKinney?s single to extend its advantage to 5-2.
The Eagles went ahead 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning as the first four batters in the inning reached base. The inning was highlighted by Hanna?s three-run double to drive in the final three runs of the frame.
The Wildcats knotted the score in the bottom of the sixth when Brown walked with one out and slid into home on Carroll?s SEC-leading 17th double of the season.
The Eagles took the lead for good in the top of the seventh and did all of their damage with two outs, capitalizing on two Kentucky errors and also connecting on two hits.
Wiley earned the start in center field, snapping Antone DeJesus? team-leading streak of 68 consecutive starts at that position.
Kentucky returns to action this weekend when it travels to the Sunshine State for a three-game league series with Florida. The series begins Friday with opening pitch at Gainesville?s McKethan Stadium slated for 6:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be carried live on WLAP 630-AM with Neil Price.
