Offense Shines as Cats Thump Cards on Tuesday
Kentucky baseball head coach Nick Mingione doesn’t claim that his team plays “small ball” to score runs. Mingione insists that the Cats have a “whatever it takes” offense. On Tuesday night in a 17-5 win over No. 19 Louisville, UK showed the full arsenal of its offensive attack.
The Cats scored early and often, plating runs in each of the first five innings, including four-run innings in the second and fourth innings. UK then exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning
UK walked 11 times in the game and was hit by six pitches. In addition, the Cats racked up 11 hits against U of L pitching. Mingione liked his team’s effort at the plate on Tuesday.
“The offense was just a relentless attack up and down the lineup,” Mingione said. “(Patrick Herrera) was unbelievable, Carson Hanson, can’t say enough about him. It was just production up and down. When you have that many guys putting together go at-bats in a row, it’s going to make it really hard on our opponents and that’s what it’s going to take. That’s what happened today.”
Kentucky scored runs in a variety of ways in Tuesday’s win. UK scored via:
A single (three times);
A sacrifice fly (twice);
A home run (twice);
A hit by pitch with the bases loaded (twice);
A groundout;
A triple;
A walk with the bases loaded;
A wild pitch;
A fielder’s choice.
Herrera had a huge game on Tuesday. In the bottom of the second inning, with the bases loaded, he hit a ball to center field that Louisville center fielder Lucas Moore lost in the sun. It turned into a three RBI triple. In the bottom of the fourth, Herrera hit a monster home run down the left field line. And in the fifth inning, he singled to center, driving in Kyuss Gargett and giving Herrera a career-high five runs batted in. Herrera said his approach is simple.
“Just trusting my ability to do what I do every at bat,” Herrera said. “Whether that’s get on base, pass it to the next guy or get my swing on.”
Mingione is happy that Herrera is getting his opportunity and making the most of it.
“He’s a guy that gives you quality at bat after quality at bat,” Mingione said. “He plays with confidence, the guys love him. He’s waited his turn and he’s taking advantage of it. And he deserves all the success.”
Kentucky notched its second-highest run total of the year, trailing only the 24 runs that the Cats scored against Evansville on Feb. 25. Hansen said that Tuesday night, the Cats showed exactly who they are.
“I think tonight was a great example of what Kentucky baseball is,” Hansen said. “We showed that against Tennessee over the weekend. I think you can expect more of that with how diverse our lineup has been.”
After playing a number of close games, Mingione admitted that winning a game in blowout fashion was a relief.
“It is good to get in a game like this, where you think you can take a deep breath, especially against your in-state rival,” Mingione said. “To not play a nail biter, that felt good, there’s no doubt.”
The Kentucky offense was clicking on Tuesday and it showed in a 12-run win over Louisville.
