Bat Cats extend win streak to 10 as focus turns to SEC play

Kentucky is riding a 10-game win streak as SEC play begins this weekend.

The No. 21 Wildcats downed Ball State 10-3 on Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park in their final tune-up for the league schedule, and Nick Mingione likes how his team is trending.

“I’ll start with our pitching. Our bullpen has been fantastic,” the UK boss said. “When we’re at our best, the starters are going deep into games, so I would like to see that, to have our pitchers shorten games for our bullpen. Having to rely on your bullpen all the time is not the best thing in the world.

“And I like how we’re scoring a bunch of different ways offensively. We’re hitting homers, we’re getting extra-base hits, we’re stealing bases, being aggressive.”

To wit, Kentucky (15-2) recorded 12 hits and six stolen bases to highlight the offensive side of the latest win. Jayce Tharnish, Luke Lawrence, Ryan Schwartz, and Tagger Tyson each collected two hits to lead the way. Schwartz also drove in two runs, scored two runs, and stole a base.

On the mound, the Cats continued to get strong work from their bullpen, which allowed only one run over the final 6.1 innings. Nile Adcock, Oliver Boone (1-0), Ryan Mullan, Jackson Soucie, and Burkley Bounds combined to surrender only two hits and one walk.

“A-plus,” Mingione said of the UK relief corps, including a feel-good story for a sophomore right-hander battling back from a long rehab after injuring his elbow in the fall of 2024.

“The job for Oliver Boone, getting his first Kentucky win, just so happy for him. You know, anytime anybody has to come back from a (Tommy John) surgery like he had to, and he’s stacking a couple of good outings in a row now, so super-happy and proud of him.”

Said Boone: “I was in some dark places, but now I take every pitch, every inning with confidence, just happy to be out there. I know the hard work’s paying off, and I just love being out there.”

After a slow start at the plate — Kentucky went down in order against Ball State starter Zach Kwasny in each of the first two innings — the Cats started applying constant pressure to the Cardinals.

A leadoff double by Caeden Cloud and an RBI single by Tharnish got UK on the board in the bottom of the third. Lawrence’s sac-fly tied the game at 2.

The Cats took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning after Scott Campbell Jr. drew a leadoff walk, stole both second and third, and came around to score on an RBI single by Tyson.

Ball State tied the game at 3 in the fifth, but Kentucky answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning. The Cats took advantage of a walk, three errors, and a fly ball lost in the dense night sky as part of the big inning, which was highlighted by Schwartz’s two-run double off the left field wall.

Kentucky made it 9-3 in the seventh on a two-out walk drawn by Tyson, who stole second and came around to score on a Tharnish RBI single.

Carson Hansen pushed UK’s lead to 10-3 in the eighth by driving an RBI triple deep off the wall in right-center to plate Lawrence, who led off with a single.

Ball State (7-8) managed just five hits on the night, two of them coming in a scoreless first inning.

Up Next

Kentucky opens SEC play on Friday with the first of a three-game series with Alabama (14-3) at Kentucky Proud Park. Game 1 is slated for a 6:30 ET first pitch.

The Crimson Tide is led by junior All-American infielder Justin LeBron, who comes to Lexington with eight home runs, 16 stolen bases, and a 1.218 OPS. Alabama, however, is hitting just .278 as a team.

The Tide owns a respectable 3.93 team ERA while holding opposing batters to a .237 average. Freshman righthander Myles Upchurch (3-1) owns a 1.93 ERA and has struck out 31 batters in 18.1 innings pitched.

FINAL: Kentucky 10, Ball State 3

Cats extend win streak to 10 games as SEC play opens this weekend. pic.twitter.com/6HQPSfrgwH

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) March 11, 2026