Late Rally Can’t Overcome Self-Inflicted Wounds in First Defeat

LEXINGTON, KY. – A year ago, Kentucky baseball thrived by playing airtight defense and coming up with timely hits. For a day, both eluded the Wildcats in a 6-4 defeat to Washington State in the first game of the Karbach Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.

UK (4-1) made three errors and several other miscues in an uncharacteristically sloppy defensive game, yet still had the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning as it showed extensive moxie in battling back in the late innings. UK managed just two hits but drew six walks and was hit by six pitches as it had considerable traffic on the basepaths over the back half of the game.

Things actually started well for the No. 24 Cats, as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Emilien Pitre’s two-out RBI double but walks and a couple of fly balls lost in the high afternoon Texas sun allowed the Cougars to go ahead 4-1 before the Cats mounted a rally that fell just short.

UK got within 4-3 in the seventh inning but gave up a pair of runs in the eighth before getting one back. In that seventh inning rally, Ty Crittenberger laid down a perfect bunt and the Washington State pitcher threw to an empty third base but the ball hit the third base umpire instead a careening into left field, which would have scored the tying run, at minimum.

The Cats next take on Texas State on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. locally).

NOTES

• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 220-151 career record.
  • Mingione needs 38 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 40-17 in the month of February under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione is 137-41 in non-conference games overall.
• Kentucky drew six walks and was hit by six pitches.
• Junior INF Patrick Herrera had no official at-bats, but reached three times.
  • Herrera walked twice, was hit by a pitch and drove in a run with a SAC fly..
• Junior C Devin Burkes was hit by three pitches and scored two runs.
  • He tied the record for most HBP in a game since 2007, done seven other times.
• Redshirt Junior OF Nolan McCarthy went 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, a walk and a SAC.
• Junior LHP Jackson Nove struck out four of the five batters he faced.
• The following Wildcats made their debut in blue: IF Kyuss Gargett.

ON DECK

The No. 24 Cats face Texas State on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. locally). The game is on D1Baseball.com, with radio on the UK Sports Network (98.5 FM in Lexington).