Schultz Shines In Series-Finale Defeat at No. 11 LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – Kentucky’s first foray into Southeastern Conference became an educational experience for a team with 20 newcomers, as the Wildcats dropped the series finale at No. 11 LSU 7-2 on Sunday at Alex Box Stadium.
 
The Cats were competitive and in position to win two of the three games on the road against a traditional power, a lack of timely hits and several defensive miscues were too much to overcome. UK will return home this week to face Xavier in a mid-week affair and then a Texas A&M team that opened league play by winning a series over top-ranked Vanderbilt.
 
On Sunday, freshman left-hander Dillon Marsh got the start and held his own against a potent LSU lineup. He struck out five and allowed one unearned run in 3.1 innings in his second starting assignment of the week.
 
The Tigers did their damage after an error in the fourth inning and a pair of seeing-eye singles through the infield in the fifth. On the contrary, the Cats couldn’t find a hole when they needed it most, leaving 31 runners on base in the series and going 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position.
 
There were bright spots for the Cats, including freshman infielder Austin Schultz. The Nebraska native racked up five hits, including his first two extra-base hits, and reached base in six of eight plate appearances. UK’s rookie arms also performed well in a difficult environment as their learning curve continued.
 
 
SCORING
Bottom 4th – Chris Reid singled to RF. Daniel Cabrera reached on an error with Reid advancing to third. Saul Garza blooped a single to CF, scoring Reid.  LSU 1, UK 0.

Top 5^th – Coltyn Kessler and Austin Schultz singled to start the inning. Both runners moved up on Elliott Curtis’ SAC bunt. Gei laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring Kessler. UK 1, LSU 1.
 
Bottom 5^th – Brandt Broussard reached on an infield single. Josh Smith and Zach Watson singled with Broussard scoring on Watson’s hit. Reid singled to LF, scoring Smith and Watson. LSU 4, UK 1.
 
Bottom 7^th – Smith walked and Watson singled to LF. Antoine Duplantis tripled off the RF wall, scoring Smith and Watson. Cabrera grounded out to 2B, scoring Duplantis. LSU 7, UK 1.
 
Top 8^th – T.J. Collett homered to RF. LSU 7, UK 2.
 
NOTES

• Kentucky has scored in 84 consecutive games and 160 of the past 161 dating to the 2016 season. The lone shutout came in a seven-inning game. The current streak is the sixth-longest in school history.

• Sophomore C/INF Coltyn Kessler extended his reached base safely streak to 15 games.

• Freshman IF Austin Schultz extended his reached base safely streak to 10 games.

  • He finished with five hits in two games this weekend.
• Senior C Marshall Gei has reached base in 10 straight games.
• Junior 1B/DH T.J. Collett has reached base in 10 straight games.
  • Collett blasted his sixth home run of the season.
  • He had three extra-base hits in the series.

 
 
ON DECK
Kentucky returns home to Kentucky Proud Park to face Xavier on Tuesday evening. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will be aired on SEC Network Plus. Audio coverage can be found via UKathletics.com.