Kentucky Baseball Throttles Southern Illinois for Series Sweep
The Bat ‘Cats brought the brooms to Carbondale. With a statement 21-3 victory over Southern Illinois on Sunday, Kentucky clinched their second consecutive three-game sweep. Nick Mingione’s squad won their 10 consecutive game, improving to 14-2 before a big matchup with Indiana on Tuesday and the start of SEC play on Friday.
After showing signs in Saturday’s 7-2 victory, the Wildcat offense really woke up Sunday afternoon. After what had been a lackluster week for the bats, Kentucky put up 21 runs on the Salukis, their most of the season. All but two Kentucky hitters recorded an RBI, with six of them recording two-plus. Émilien Pitre, Devin Burkes and Hunter Gilliam continued their strong play as of late, combining for eight hits and 11 RBI. Sunday’s outing was the first time UK has scored 20 or more runs in a game since 2018 (Xavier).
RHP Zack Lee started his fourth game of the season for the ‘Cats. Sunday’s start marked his second of the season where the Wildcat offense scored 15-plus runs. Lee has been given some excellent run support, taking pressure off of the senior righty. Lee turned in another solid performance, pitching four innings while allowing five hits and three earned runs. With Sunday’s victory, Lee improves to 3-0 on the season.
Instant Kentucky Offense
Before Lee could even take the mound, he already had a four-run pad. Jackson Gray got things started with a single up the middle, followed by three straight walks from Saluki starter Bonzagni. Bonz was pulled after just four batters faced, an omen for how this one was going to go for Southern Illinois. Hunter Gilliam notched another RBI on a sac-fly to left field which scored Jase Felker from third. “The Captain” has found his groove as of late. With the bases loaded once again, James McCoy drew a walk, scoring Devin Burkes from third. Mental mistakes from Southern Illinois continued when Émilien Pitre scored from third on a passed ball. Before you could blink, the ‘Cats were up 4-0 after one.
The Salukis responded in the bottom of the second with a bounce-back three-run inning of their own. 1B Ryan Rodriguez kicked off the bottom of the inning with a home run down the left-field line, his fourth of the season. Three consecutive singles later and it was just a one-run game.
Boy, would that soon change.
The Calm Before the Storm
The Kentucky offense continued to slowly add to their lead, scoring once in the third inning and twice in the fourth inning. After Émilien Pitre was HBP to start the top of the third, Hunter Gilliam ripped a double to left center field, scoring Petey for his second RBI of the day. Gilly has knocked in two-plus RBI in four of his last five games.
Following a walk and two fielding errors to start the fourth, the bases were loaded for red-hot Devin Burkes. Burkes poked a single to right field, scoring Jackson Gray from third. Burkes’ partner in crime, Pitre, was back up to bat and singled to right field, scoring Burkes to give the ‘Cats a 6-3 lead.
Record-Setting Fifth Inning
Heading into the top of the fifth with a 6-3 lead, the Bat ‘Cats exploded. Kentucky scored 14 runs in the fifth inning, a record number of runs in one inning in the Mingione era. Bring it on, SEC (please don’t submit this to Freezing Cold Takes in a few months).
James McCoy got things started with a single up the middle. Reuben Church drew a walk and Grant Smith then beat out a bunt to load the bases. Jackson Gray grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing McCoy to score the first run of the inning. Jase Felker flied out to center field, scoring Church from third but giving the Salukis two outs with runners on second and third. Kentucky would go on to score 12 runs with two outs against them. You know what they say about hitting… it’s contagious.
With two runners on, Devin Burkes homered to right center field, his third of the season. Suddenly, the ‘Cats had doubled their lead from the beginning of the inning. An offensive avalanche would ensue, with Pitre and Gilliam knocking back-to-back doubles.
With Gilliam on second, Charleston Southern transfer Ryan Waldschmidt hit his first home run of the season and his first in the blue and white. The lineup turned back around, as Jase Felker hit a single to score two more runs. Pitre hit his second double of the inning, bringing in another run. With Pitre and Felker on base, a red-hot Gilliam singled to center field, bringing in another two runs.
This one went from competitive to ugly very quickly.
Up 21-3 through seven innings, Sunday afternoon’s game was called early. This was Kentucky’s first run rule of the season.
14-2 Kentucky will be back in action on Tuesday, as they welcome the rival Indiana Hoosiers to Kentucky Proud Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.
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