Freshmen Lead Cats Past Eagles on Wednesday
The Kentucky baseball team, specifically the pitching staff, figured to have its work cut out for it on Wednesday night. The Wildcats were hosting Morehead State, a team that features one of the nation’s most prolific offenses.
Morehead State entered Wednesday’s game at Cliff Hagan Stadium ranked eighth in the country in runs scored, 10th in team batting average and 11th in home runs. The Eagles scored 10 runs earlier this season against Louisville and beat SIU-Edwardsville 25-3 on April 13. Heading into Wednesday’s game, MSU had averaged 12 runs per game over their last seven contests.
Kentucky countered by pitching freshmen for the first seven innings, and the strategy worked, as the 13th-ranked Wildcats topped the Eagles 7-1.
True freshman Daniel Harper made his 10th start of the season in Wednesday’s game for Kentucky and pitched the first four innings. Harper allowed five hits, walked three batters and struck out three.
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione was pleased with Harper’s effort.
“I was really proud of Daniel Harper because that’s a really good team,” Mingione said. “This is a team that averages a boat load of runs a game. So for Daniel Harper to go four innings and not allow an earned run, I was really proud of the way he kept attacking it.”
Carson Coleman relieved Harper and pitched two innings. The redshirt freshman from Lexington did not allow a hit while walking one and striking out three.
“Carson Coleman did what he’s been able to do,” Mingione said. “To come in that spot with first and second and nobody out, right in the heart of their lineup (was big).”
Coleman knows the freshman are ready when they are called upon.
“We just keep preparing and getting ready for moments like this,” Coleman said. “We had a plan coming in here, we did a good job of executing.”
True freshman Jimmy Ramsey entered the game in the seventh inning and retired the Eagles in order, needing just 16 pitches to get out of the inning.
“Jimmy Ramsey had a really clean, professional inning,” Mingione said.
Catcher Kole Cottam, who helped the Wildcats’ offense effort by getting on base four times, was impressed with his freshman pitchers on Wednesday.
“We’re more than halfway through the season, so they’re no longer freshmen in our eyes,” Cottam said. “They’ve grown so much from the beginning of the year. They’ve worked really hard and it’s really fun to see everything kind of pay off.”
Kentucky’s freshman arms have played a big role in the team’s success this season, but perhaps never more than they did in Wednesday’s win over Morehead State.
