Emilien Pitre Leads Charge as No. 8 Kentucky Evens Series

Playing in front of his family live for the first weekend since he arrived at Kentucky Emilien Pitre smacked a pair of doubles and drove in four runs as No. 8 Kentucky defeated No. 2 Arkansas 11-3 at Kentucky Proud Park to set up a Sunday showdown for first place in the Southeastern Conference.

UK improved to 34-10 overall and 17-6 in the SEC while becoming the first team all season to score 10 or more runs against the Razorbacks (40-8, 17-6).

Pitre delivered a two-run double off the wall in the second inning and another two-run double in the fourth. Devin Burkes added two RBI and Nick Lopez socked the Hogs with the knockout blow in the eighth with a three-run double.

Meanwhile, Dominic Niman got back on track with 5.1 terrific innings and the bullpen was nails in evening the series.

NOTES

• Kentucky now is 34-10 in 2024, 17-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
  • Kentucky is 20-7 in day games.
  • Kentucky is 1-1 in May.
  • Kentucky is 8-3 in SEC home games, 18-5 overall at Kentucky Proud Park in 2024.
• Kentucky is 11-5 vs. ranked teams and 15-5 vs. Quad 1 opponents.
  • Kentucky owns the most Quad 1 wins in Division I.
  • This was Kentucky’s eighth straight game vs. a ranked opponent.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 250-160 career record.
  • Mingione needs eight victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 41-42 in the month of May under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione now is 2-9 vs. Arkansas.
• Kentucky scored three runs in the second inning and four in the fourth and eighth, the 56th, 57^th and 58th times this season it has scored three or more in an inning.
• This is the first time Arkansas has allowed 10 or more runs this season.
• Dominic Niman earned his eighth win of the season.
  • He allowed two runs in 5.1 innings.
• Ryan Waldschmidt has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games.
• Nick Lopez went 2-for-5 with a run, a double and four RBI.
  • It was his 17h multi-hit game and 11^th multi-RBI game of the season.
  • He had a bases loaded double in the eighth.
• Devin Burkes went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
  • It was his fifth multi-hit game of the season and 26^th
  • It was his seventh multi-RBI game of the season and 20^th
• Emilien Pitre went 2-for-3 with three runs, two doubles and four RBI.
  • He extended his streak of games reaching base safely to 21.
  • It was his 12^th multi-RBI game of the season and 27^th
  • He had a pair of two-run doubles in the first four innings.
  • He stole his 21^st base of the season and 41^st
    • He now is 11^th on the school’s career list.

ON DECK

The Wildcats and the Razorbacks will settle the series and battle for first place in the SEC on Sunday. First pitch is at 1 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on the SEC Network+, along with an audio broadcast via the UK Sports Network.