Cody Pitches No. 9 Baseball to 3-0 Win at No. 4 Vandy
NASHVILLE — Kyle
Cody fired seven-shutout, four-hit innings and a two-out, three-run double from
Troy Squires provided the difference in a 3-0 win over No. 4 Vanderbilt in the
series finale, on a perfect Sunday afternoon at Charles Hawkins Field.
Kentucky (23-12, 9-6
Southeastern Conference) posted a thrilling win in a pitching duel for the
third consecutive game in the series. Vanderbilt won the opener, 3-0 and then
used an eighth-inning comeback to post a 3-2 win in the middle game of the
series.
With the bases
juiced and two out in a scoreless game in the top of the seventh inning,
Squires yanked a bases-clearing double to rightfield, giving Cody a three-run
cushion. Cody fired a shutout seventh, before turning the ball over to the
bullpen, which wiggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the
ninth.
It marks just the
third shutout at home for the Commodores since 2012 and the second in 2016, as
South Carolina also blanked Vandy 4-0.
A 6-foot-7,
245-pound native of Chippewa Falls, Wis., Cody allowed just four singles and
three walks in seven shutout innings, equaling his career high with eight
strikeouts. It marked the sixth quality start for Cody in nine outings in 2016
and the 16th of his career.
With a three-run
lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, UK turned to freshman righty Justin
Lewis in relief. Lewis worked around a one-out walk in a shutout eighth,
stretching his shutout streak to 20.2 consecutive innings.
Kentucky freshman
righty Sean Hjelle worked the ninth inning for his sixth save of the year.
Hjelle worked around a hit, walk and hit batter in the inning, escaping the
bases-loaded, two-out jam. Hjelle, a 6-foot-11 product of Minnesota, is tied
for 11th in UK single-season history in saves, just 13 games into his UK
career.
The Wildcats
collected seven hits against the talented Vanderbilt pitching staff on Sunday,
with Squires charting a career-high two hits and three RBI. UK also got two-hit
game from Zach Reks and Storm Wilson, with JaVon Shelby drawing a pair of walks
and Tristan Pompey ripping a key double.
Vanderbilt (28-8, 9-6
SEC) starter Patrick Raby worked four shutout, two-hit innings in his first SEC
start. He allowed only a walk and struck out five, before lefty John
Kilichowski (0-1) took over to start the fifth inning in a scoreless game.
Kilichowski worked 1.1 innings, allowing a hit and a walk, striking out one.
With a pair in scoring position and one out, Vandy turned to Matt Ruppenthal in
relief. Ruppenthal got a key strikeout for the second out with the bases
loaded, before allowing a bases-clearing double. Lefty Evan Steele took over in
the eighth inning and closer Ben Bowden worked the ninth.
Kentucky returns
to action on Tuesday, traveling to face No. 6 Louisville in a 6 p.m. ET first
pitch at Jim Patterson Stadium.
The Wildcats opened
the scoring in the top of the seventh inning, with Reks leading off with a
single to rightfield. Shelby then drew a full-count walk and Luke Becker
advanced the pair into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Pompey drew a
walk to load the bases for pinch hitter Riley Mahan, who struck out. Squires
then drilled the first pitch he saw over the head of Jeren Kendall in
rightfield, scoring the trio to clear the bases.
