The Wildcats rally in the 7th inning to knock off the Volunteers 5-3 in front of 6,922 fans
LEXINGTON – April 19, 2024
Emilien Pitre delivered the game-winning hit and Johnny Hummel sent the school-record crowd of 6,922 at Kentucky Proud Park into delirium with his fifth save as No. 3 Kentucky used a three-run seventh inning to rally past No. 2 Tennessee 5-3 on Friday night.
The Wildcats now are 32-5 overall and an astounding 15-1 in Southeastern Conference play, opening a five-game lead in the division with 14 to play.
Trailing 3-1 and looking to break the dam after several scoring chances went unclaimed, UK finally got to AJ Causey in the seventh. After hitting Ryan Nicholson to open the inning, Nolan McCarthy lined a single to left and Devin Burkes walked to load the bases. Ryan Waldschmidt hit an RBI grounder to pull the Cats to within one before Tennessee went to triple digit-throwing reliever Nate Snead. Pitre laced a ball that handcuffed the third baseman and skipped into left, scoring two to give UK a 4-3 lead.
An inning later, McCarthy tomahawked a fastball into the bullpen to make it 5-3. From there, Hummel closed the door with relative ease for his fifth save.
NOTES
- Kentucky now is 32-5 in 2024, 15-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
- Kentucky has won 20 of its past 22 games.
- Kentucky is 13-4 in night games.
- Kentucky is 8-1 in April.
- Kentucky is 7-0 in SEC home games.
- The attendance of 6,922 is the largest crowd in UK history.
- Kentucky is 10-0 vs. ranked teams and 13-0 vs. Quad 1 opponents.
- Kentucky has hit 21 home runs in its last six games.
- Kentucky scored three runs or more in an inning for the 50th time this season.
- UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 248-155 career record.
- Mingione needs 10 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
- UK is 57-55 in the month of April under Coach Mingione.
- Mingione now is 9-10 vs. Tennessee.
- Junior Ryan Waldschmidt was 2-for-4 with a run, two RBI, a double and solo HR.
- He clubbed his third home run of the week.
- For the week he is 5-of-9 with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI.
- It was his 11th multi-hit game of the season and 23rd career.
- It was his 7th multi-RBI game and 18th career.
- Junior Nolan McCarthy was 2-for-4 with two runs and a solo HR.
- It was his 9th multi-hit game of the season and 17th career.
- It was his 6th homer of the season.
- He has reached safely in 10 straight games.
- Senior Nick Lopez walked to extend his games reaching safely streak to 13.
- Senior Trey Pooser allowed just three runs in 6.0 IP.
- Senior Johnny Hummel earned his 5th save.
ON DECK
The Wildcats look to win the series over No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday. First pitch is at 2 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on the SECN+ and there will be an audio broadcast via the UK Sports Network.