Pitching, Defense Lead Kentucky to Win in SEC Opener

For baseball teams to win in the Southeastern Conference, good pitching and solid defense are necessary. And a little offense to go with it doesn’t hurt.

Kentucky checked all three of those boxes in Friday’s SEC opener. The Cats got outstanding pitching, solid defense and plenty of offense as they beat Missouri 10-2.

Starting pitcher Cole Stupp was outstanding on Friday night. He pitched a career-best seven innings, allowing no earned runs, five hits and two walks. He struck out a career-high 10 batters.

“I thought Cole Stupp was the story of the night with his performance,” said UK head coach Nick Mingione. “He was in full-on attack mode. He really landed all three of his pitches. But his fastball command, when he’s good and he’s going, his fastball command, he’s throwing it on both sides of the plate, which makes it really hard on the hitter.”

Stupp did not hesitate when asked what was working for him on Friday night.

“Changeup,” Stupp said. “I threw a lot of changeups.”

Stupp established himself early in the game, striking out two batters in the first inning and another in the second. Meanwhile, his offense got things going in their first trip to the plate.

The Cats got all of the runs they would need in the first inning of Friday’s game. Austin Schultz led off with a single, followed by an Oraj Anu double. A Missouri error on the play allowed Schultz to score. Later in the inning, Trae Harmon knocked Anu in to make it 2-0. Then, Chase Estep’s sacrifice fly scored John Rhodes, giving UK a 3-0 lead.

“Tip my cap to the offense in the first inning,” Mingione said. “It was just a relentless attack.”

Kentucky, which opened SEC play at home for the first time since 2012, would add four more runs in the second inning. Anu knocked in Coltyn Kessler and Schultz with a single, increasing the lead to 5-0. Two batters later, T.J. Collett chased home Anu and Rhodes with an RBI double, giving the Cats a 7-0 lead.

For Stupp, the run support was huge.

“Pitching with a lead is a lot easier than pitching without a lead,” Stupp said. “Pitching without a lead, you feel like you have to be perfect. Pitching with a lead really takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders.”

Checking the third box, Kentucky made just one error on the evening, playing solid defense behind Stupp and the rest of the pitching staff.

“Got our defense involved,” Mingione said. “I thought we played really good defense tonight.”

Stupp was also complimentary of his team’s defense.

“Defense was great,” Stupp said. “A lot of ground ball outs. We’re working nine against one, that’s what it is.”

It all added up to a win in the SEC opener for Kentucky. Winning the first conference game, and doing so at home, made Mingione happy.

“It doesn’t get much better. Just proud of our guys, they’ve put in so much work. It’s a special group that really cares.”

Pitching, defense and offensive support led to Kentucky opening SEC play with a win on Friday night at Kentucky Proud Park.