Heartbreak on Broadway: Kentucky Suffers Walk-Off Loss at No. 2 Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky stood toe to toe with No. 2 Vanderbilt in a thrilling Thursday night affair but fell victim to one swing, losing 4-2 on Troy LaNeve’s walk-off home run in the ninth at Hawkins Field.
 
Cole Stupp was spectacular for seven innings, matching Vanderbilt ace and potential No. 1 overall draft pick Kumar Rocker, as the Wildcats battled to a standstill. Stupp, a sophomore right-hander, scattered eight hits and one walk, yielding only a solo home run and run on a pair of infield singles.
 
Meanwhile, John Rhodes clobbered a 94 MPH fastball from Rocker onto the roof of Memorial Gym beyond the left field wall. The two-run shot came after Coltyn Kessler drew a two-out walk and erased the two-run deficit in the sixth.
 
In the eighth, UK worked its way out of a bases loaded jam when senior right-hander Daniel Harper coaxed a ground ball to second that Zeke Lewis flipped to shortstop Ryan Ritter, who rifled the relay to first to hip the runner, who was originally called safe but ruled out on review.
 
The Cats (27-21, 11-17 SEC) had their chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth after Kessler and Rhodes reached to open the inning, but a failed sacrifice bunt attempt short-circuited the momentum and a fly ball to the warning track in left field.
 
 
GAME SCORING
Bottom 3^rd – LaNeve singled and Gonzalez reached on an infield single. Bradfield singled through the infield against the shift, scoring LaNeve. Vanderbilt 1, UK 0.
 
Bottom 4^th – Keegan homered to LF. Vanderbilt 2, UK 0.
 
Top 6^th – Coltyn Kessler drew a two-out walk and John Rhodes homered to LF. UK 2, Vanderbilt 2.
 
Bottom 9^th – Kolwyck walked. LaNeve hit a home run to LCF. Vanderbilt 4, UK 2.
 
NOTES

• UK is 28-21 overall, 11-17 in SEC play.
• The Cats are 6-8 on the road this season.
• The Cats are 4-14 vs. ranked teams this season and 3-9 vs. Top 10 foes.
• The Cats are 73-of-78 on stolen base attempts this season.
  • UK’s .936 success rate is the highest of any team with 50 or more stolen bases.

• Senior IF Zeke Lewis went 1-for-3 with an HBP.

  • In 10 games since returning from injury Lewis is 14-for-33 (.424) with four multi-hit games.
  • Lewis is 12-of-13 in stolen base attempts this season.

• Sophomore OF John Rhodes went 2-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a home run.

  • Has reached safely in 14 straight games and 22 of last 23 overall.
  • It was his 11^th home run of the season.
  • Rhodes has 11^th multi-hit game and 10^th multi-RBI game.
  • He has drawn a walk and/or been hit by a pitch in 31 games this season.
• Senior C Coltyn Kessler went 0-for-1 with a run, two walks and an HBP.
  • Kessler has reached safely in 34 of his past 37 games.
  • Kessler has a hit in 15 of past 18 games.
• Sophomore RHP Cole Stupp pitched 7.0 innings, allowing eight hits, two runs, one walk and struck out five.

 
ON DECK
Kentucky begins a three-game series at No. 2 Vanderbilt on Thursday that will complete the regular season. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network Plus. The radio call will be on the UK Sports Network.
 
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.