Junior Class Carries Cats on Senior Night

Friday night was Senior Night for the Kentucky baseball team, but it was the junior class that carried the Wildcats to a 9-6 victory over Mississippi State at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Junior Tristan Pompey had two hits, reached base in all five plate appearances, drove in four runs and scored a pair of runs as Kentucky moved to 32-17 on the season and 12-13 in the SEC.

Pompey knows that he has been producing, especially lately.

“I’m just heating up a little bit,” Pompey said. “Last couple of games, I’ve been hitting well, so I’m trying to stay hot and keep it going.”

Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione knows that Pompey is extremely important to the Wildcats’ offensive attack.

“It’s been about a week and a half, two weeks when he has gotten it going,” Mingione said. “When he’s going right, it sets the table for our team. The fact that he’s got it going lefty and righty now makes him really dangerous. When you think about his three walks and four RBIs and he scored two runs, that’s the type of player he’s capable of being. I’m glad he’s playing the way he is right now, this time of year.”

Fellow junior Ben Aklinski had three singles in the game and scored twice for the Wildcats while batting in the eighth spot in the order. Mingione thought that Aklinski and yet another junior, Trey Dawson, were important to the Wildcats’ offensive attack on Friday.

“At one point, he had six straight hits,” Mingione said of Aklinski. “Give him a lot of credit, he’s made an adjustment with his hands, and it’s paid off. Without his contributions, and what about Trey Dawson. Those guys, our eight and nine guys were on base six times.”

Another junior, starting pitcher Sean Hjelle, earned his seventh win of the season, despite not having his best command in Friday’s game. Hjelle surrendered a season-high in both hits (nine) and earned runs (six) against MSU. Hjelle tied his season-high with five walks while striking out three, but was able to get through seven innings.

“I give Sean a lot of credit,” Mingione said. “He gave up four runs early and to keep battling and to get through seven, I thought that was really big. He gave our offense a chance to get our way back in there. That guy is a competitor. As many games as he has pitched, and how many close games over the past two years, I was happy to get him a win tonight.”

But it wouldn’t be Senior Night without a senior making a big play and second baseman Luke Becker did just that in the eighth inning. With Kentucky leading 7-6, the senior second baseman scorched a single up the middle, knocking in Pompey and Kole Cottam and providing an important pair of insurance runs.

“I thought Luke Becker’s hit was absolutely crucial in tonight’s baseball game,” Mingione said. “I think that was the play of the game late that helped seal us a win because one run is one thing, but three is a whole another and that guy is just grinding and grinding.”

While UK celebrated its seniors on Friday night, it was the junior class that gave the Cats a series-opening victory.