The University of Kentucky baseball team beats Tennessee on Saturday, May 13, 2017, at the Cliff.
Photo by Britney Howard
Four home runs on Saturday gives Wildcats eight in series; Mahan has three
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Riley Mahan continued his assault on Southeastern Conference pitching over the past two weeks, belting two home runs to lead No. 8 Kentucky to an 8-3 victory over Tennessee on Senior Day at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats will go for a series sweep on Sunday afternoon as they continue to hunt the SEC crown.
Mahan crushed a pair of home runs to right field, the second of which traveled 436 feet and easily cleared the deck in right-center field. With the two round-trippers Mahan now has homered in four straight league games, with five bombs total in those games. The junior infielder is 6-for-8 with a double, three home runs, five runs scored and six RBI in the two games against the Volunteers.
The Cats (35-16, 17-9 SEC) again jumped on the Vols (26-21, 7-17) early with Evan White’s two-run home run in the second inning and a four-run third that gave them a 6-1 lead. With starter Zach Logue fighting himself a bit on the mound, freshman Chris Machamer came on in relief and pitched 4.1 perfect innings to earn his first collegiate victory.
With the 35th win of the season the Cats now have the most wins in a season since the 2014 club won 37 games, and the most SEC wins (17) since the 2012 team finished the year 18-12 in conference play.
Before the game the program honored seven seniors – LHP Colton Cleary, OF Marcus Carson, IF Connor Heady, 1B Gunnar McNeill, OF Zach Reks, LHP Logan Salow and OF Storm Wilson – on Senior Day. The mother of each player took part in throwing out the ceremonial first pitches in recognition of Mother’s Day.
SCORING
Top 1st – Andre Lipcius homered to left field. UT 1, UK 0.
Bot 2nd – Luke Becker singled, then Riley Mahan homered to right field. UK 2, UT 1.
Bot 3rd – Tristan Pompey led off with a double to right-center field. Evan White stepped in and homered to left-center field. Zach Reks singled through the left side of the infield. Mahan homered to right-center field. UK 6, UT 1.
Top 4th – Lipcius and Pete Derkay both walked. Max Bartlett reached on a fielder’s choice that caught Derkay second base, but moved Lipcius to third. Danny Sirven singled up the middle, scoring Lipcius. UK 6, UT 2.
Top 5th – Jordan Rodgers homered to left field. UK 6, UT 3.
Bot 6th – Connor Heady doubled to left-center field. Evan White doubled down the left-field line to score Heady. UK 7, UT 3.
Bot 8th – Marcus Carson homered to right field. UK 8, UT 3.
NOTES
- Kentucky’s 35 wins on the season are the most since the 2014 team won 37 games.
- The 17 SEC wins for Kentucky are the most since the 2012 team won 18 in league play.
- Kentucky has gone 70 games without being shutout, the eighth-longest such streak in school history.
- Junior IF Riley Mahan went 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs and four RBI.
o It was Mahan’s 21st multi-hit game of the season and 38th of his career.
o Mahan hit his 12th and 13th home runs of the season, both two-run shots.
o He now has home runs in four of the past five games and five in the past four SEC games.
- Junior 1B Evan White went 2-for-5 with a double, home run, run scored and three RBI.
o White now has 214 career hits, tying him for 11th on UK’s all-time career hit list with Mike Harris (1989-1991).
o White has a hit in 26 of his last 28 games.
o White has 22 multi-hit games this season and 66 for his career.
o White has five consecutive games of at least two hits.
o He has reached base safely in 18 straight games.
o White now has four game-winning RBI this season and seven for his career.
- Sophomore OF Tristan Pompey 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.
o Pompey now has hit safely in 36 of his past 40 games.
o He has reached base safely in 22 straight games.
- Senior OF Zach Reks went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
o Reks now has 20 multi-hit games this season and 31 for his career.
- Junior C Troy Squires went 2-for-4.
o Squires now has multiple hits in four of his past five games.
- Freshman RHP Chris Machamer pitched 4.1 perfect innings of relief.
o Machamer earned his first career win.