Kentucky Claims Series over No. 25 Georgia on Dom Day

Dominic Niman held No. 25 Georgia’s potent offense to just three hits across 6.2 brilliant innings as Kentucky scored a Southeastern Conference series-opening victory with a 9-3 win on Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Wildcats (16-3, 2-0 SEC) will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.

Niman, who struggled in his final non-conference tune-up, was dialed in from the beginning and only a muffed catch on a potential double play ball in the seventh inning kept him from a likely scoreless outing. As it was, he put the clamps on the nation’s leading home run hitting team before turning the game over to fellow lefty Jackson Nove, who earned the save with 2.1 hitless innings.

Meanwhile, UK plated three runs in the first two innings and chased Georgia starter Leighton Finley after four innings. The Cats built up a 6-0 lead through six, saw it cut in half in the seventh, then added on with back-to-back home runs by James McCoy and Ryan Waldschmidt on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning. Waldschmidt now is 6-for-8 with six runs scored in the series.

McCoy, who re-entered the starting lineup on Saturday, went 3-for-4 with two RBI and his 426-foot home run.

NOTES

• Kentucky now is 16-3 in 2024, 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play.
  • Kentucky is 12-3 in day games.
  • Kentucky is 10-2 at home.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 232-153 career record.
  • Mingione needs 26 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 94-36 in the month of March under Coach Mingione.
• Kentucky’s pitchers held Georgia to its lowest scoring output of the season, tying the three it scored versus Georgia Tech.
• UK has outscored the No. 25 Bulldogs 25-13 in the series thus far.
• Junior Ryan Waldschmidt went 3-for-4 with three runs, a RBI, a home run, a steal and a walk.
  • It was his fourth multi-hit game of 2024 and 16^th
  • He has four stolen bases this season.
  • He is 6-of-8 with six runs scored in the series.
• Sophomore INF/OF James McCoy went 3-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a home run.
  • The three hits are anew career best.
  • He now has two multi-hit games this season and eight career.
  • It is his first multi-RBI game of the season and seventh career.
• Senior INF Mitchell Daly went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and walk.
  • It was his third multi-hit game of the season.
• Senior LHP Dominic Niman earned his fourth victory of the season.
  • His final line: 6.2 innings, three hits, three runs (none earned), four walks and five strikeouts.
  • He threw a career-high 116 pitches.
• Junior LHP Jackson Nove earned his second save of the season.
  • He pitched the final 2.1 innings, not yielding a hit and striking out three.
  • He induced an inning-ending groundout in the seventh to extinguish Georgia’s rally.

ON DECK

The Wildcats will try to sweep its SEC opening series on Sunday against Georgia. The contest between the Cats and the Bulldogs will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Friday night and will be streamed on the SECN+, with radio coverage available on 98.5 FM (Lexington) and UKAthletics.com.