Bullpen, Balanced Offense Lead Cats Past Cards
Kentucky head baseball coach Nick Mingione is fond of saying that the strength of his team is his team. And on Tuesday, it took a team effort for the Wildcats to earn their 20th win of the season.
No. 9 Kentucky got a strong showing from its bullpen in Tuesday’s 8-5 win over No. 21 Louisville in front of a UK regular season record crowd of 4,798. After starting pitcher Daniel Harper exited the game having pitched 3.1 innings, three Wildcat relievers kept the U of L offense at bay.
“I thought the story of the game was our bullpen,” said Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione. “We went five and two-thirds, zero earned runs, I thought that was the key of the game.”
Redshirt freshman Carson Coleman earned his first career victory, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit and walking one while striking out two. Freshman Jimmy Ramsey also pitched 1.2 innings, giving up an unearned run, while allowing one hit, walking one and striking out two.
“Carson Coleman came in and moved the game along,” Mingione said. “I thought Jimmy Ramsey pitched awesome.”
For Coleman, earning his first win was a special moment.
“It’s exciting, against Louisville, being a hometown kid,” Coleman said. “That’s kind of like the perfect first win.”
Kentucky closer Chris Machamer pitched the final 2.1 innings of the game to earn his second save of the season. Machamer did not allow a hit, while walking one and striking out three.
“I thought Chris Machamer, we brought him in in the seventh there, and that was the game,” Mingione said. “The game was on the line and we went to our best guy and it proved to be the right move.”
Machamer tied his longest outing of the season, but he was up to the task.
“A little bit more than usual,” Machamer said of his outing. “I’m normally a one-inning guy. Two and a third, that’s probably the most I’ve thrown all year.”
The UK offense was not outstanding, but all nine starters reached base at least once. Ryan Johnson had a pair of hits for the Cats, while Tristan Pompey knocked in three runs, as Kentucky manufactured eight runs while collecting just eight hits. The Wildcats took five walks and were hit by five pitches in the contest.
Kentucky was also able to overcome an uncharacteristic five errors in the game by getting key outs when the Cards mounted threats.
Getting a win over a nationally-ranked opponent, while not playing its best, proves how far this program has come in Mingione’s tenure. And with a tough schedule still to come, more team efforts will be needed for this team to reach its goals.
