Kentucky drops game two of series to Florida 10-1
Following an emotional 12-11 win Friday night, No. 4 Kentucky came out flat and fell to Florida 10-1 on Saturday.
Florida right-hander Liam Peterson dominated the Wildcat lineup on Saturday, allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out six in six innings. After allowing at least four earned runs in six straight starts from March 2 to April 6, Peterson has now allowed just four earned runs in his last 16 2/3 innings pitched (2.22 ERA).
In the loss, Kentucky made headlines around the college baseball world. Nick Mingione made the decision to intentionally walk Florida phenom Jac Caglianone four times. In the one of two at-bats he wasn’t intentionally walked, he doubled to extend his hitting streak to 29 games. His 29 game hitting streak is one shy of the school record, which he could tie in Sunday’s series finale.
With the loss, Kentucky falls to 36-11 (19-7). With a Tennessee or Arkansas win on Saturday, there will be a two-way or three-way tie atop the SEC. Kentucky has the tiebreaker over Arkansas, but Tennessee holds the tiebreaker over Kentucky. The Cats will now need to win Sunday’s rubber match to earn their first series victory over Florida since 2016.
Player of the Game:
- C Devin Burkes: Burkes went 2-4 with Kentucky’s lone RBI.
Gators jump out to early lead
After blowing Fridays night’s series opener, the Gators came out with a vengeance on Saturday.
After a scoreless first inning, Kentucky starting right-hander Dominic Niman plunked Florida’s Luke Heyman to open the second. Brody Donay gave the Cats a prime opportunity to wipe that off the slate however, as he hit a prime double play ball to Patrick Herrera at third.
Herrera fielded it and fired to second, but Émilien Pitre‘s throw to Ryan Nicholson at first bounced in the dirt. Nicholson was unable to come up with the scoop, allowing Donay to reach first. Although it wasn’t ruled an error, Kentucky’s self-inflicted wounds continue to hurt the Cats.
Just one batter later, Hayden Yost lifted an RBI-double to left center field, scoring the run that probably should not have been on base. The ball took a gnarly bounce off the fence, totally fooling Nolan McCarthy in center.
Florida padded its lead in the third, as Cade Kurland opened the inning with a solo home run, his 10th of the season. Jac Caglianone followed him with just his third double of the season, and eventually scored on a Colby Shelton single to right field. Pitre knocked the ball down, but Caglianone was still able to score.
Meanwhile, Florida starting pitcher right-hander Liam Peterson mowed down the Cats early. Through four innings, he allowed just three hits while striking out four batters.
Florida extends lead; Niman struggles again
Florida added one more run to its lead in the fourth inning on a Dale Thomas RBI-double off the left field wall. Thomas admired his work as it looked gone, but the wind in Gainesville just wasn’t carrying like it was Friday night.
Kentucky scratched across its first run of the game in the fifth inning, as Ryan Waldschmidt nabbed third on an Émilien Pitre single following his two-out walk. Devin Burkes hit a swinging bunt down the third base line, which forced a bad throw to first from Florida’s Dale Thomas. Waldschmidt was able to score, but the Gators responded quickly in the latter half inning.
Dominic Niman returned to the mound in the fifth, but his day didn’t last much longer than that. Niman walked Colby Shelton to open the inning, then gave up a two-run home run to Luke Heyman. As Kentucky found itself in a 6-1 deficit, Niman’s day was over.
Following Saturday’s start, Niman’s ERA in SEC play rose to 7.02 over 37 2/3 innings pitched.
Kentucky drops game two of series
The duo of right-hander Cam O’Brien and left-hander Evan Byers held Florida scoreless in the sixth, but the Cats were unable to capitalize offensively.
The Gators poured on three more runs in the seventh, courtesy of a Cade Kurland two-run double and an Ashton Wilson RBI-single, propelling them to a dominant 9-1 lead. Wilson’s RBI-single was his first hit of the season.
Florida’s Colby Shelton blasted his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth to push the lead to nine, just before the Kentucky pitching staff loaded the bases for Jac Caglianone. They couldn’t walk him now.
Right-hander Zach Hise however struck out Caglianone on three pitches, much to the chagrin of the Florida faithful who were ready for the game to end early.
Mitch Daly, Ryan Nicholson, and Nolan McCarthy came up to the plate in the ninth, but were unable to score nine runs to prolong the game. The final 13 Kentucky batters were retired to end the game.
What’s next for No. 4 Kentucky?
The Cats will look to take the rubber match in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch at noon EST on SEC Network.
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