Resilient Hjelle Leads UK Baseball to Series-Opening Win
Things didn’t start well for Kentucky pitcher Sean Hjelle on Friday. Facing third-ranked Texas Tech, Hjelle allowed three hits and walked a batter in a three-run first inning for the Red Raiders.
While many pitchers might have folded after such a tough start, Hjelle buckled down. Over the course of the next six innings, the junior allowed no runs and just two hits as the fifth-ranked Wildcats earned a 10-7 series-opening victory at Cliff Hagan Stadium, handing the Red Raiders their first loss of the season.
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione knew that Hjelle would recover from the three-run first inning.
“Our team did not panic, and that started with Sean,” Mingione said. “He was not phased one bit, and that just goes to show you the maturity of him.”
Mingione has come to expect Hjelle to step up in big games and tough situations.
“That’s exactly why the guy is the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year,” Mingione said. “He’s pitched in really big games. He never tries to do too much, ever. He set the tone. His poise and his approach to how everything happened bled right over into the rest of our team and that’s why he’s Sean Hjelle.”
Hjelle was not worried after the first inning because he knew his teammates would do their part.
“(Texas Tech is) a top five team, they’re going to put up runs, you just have to accept that going in,” Hjelle said. “I was lucky enough they got their runs in right away off me. I knew that I’ve got the best team in the country behind me playing. I knew that they were going to put up runs and they were going to make the plays. We weren’t really worried at all, we took their punch in the first inning and we punched right back.”
The right-hander from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, seemed to find his groove as the game went on. In fact, he retired the last 10 batters he faced. In seven innings pitched, the right-hander allowed five hits, three runs, two of which were earned. He struck out six batters while walking just one.
“We had to establish the fastball early,” Hjelle said. “Just working off the fastball and that opens up all the other doors for us. You have to stick to that plan and go with it.”
Hjelle improved to 4-0 in 2018 and earned his 19th career victory at UK. That ties him with former National Player of the Year AJ Reed, who won 19 games from 2012-14. Hjelle needs six more wins to become UK’s career wins leader. If he can continue to handle adversity like he did on Friday, that record is likely to be his.
