Kentucky grabs series victory over Tennessee in postponed game
The seemingly impossible has happened in Lexington. Having not won an SEC series in over five weeks, Kentucky Baseball came back on Saturday from a suspended game the night before to grab a series victory over the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers. The Bat Cats won game two 5-2 in a contest that needed parts of two days to complete.
Offense heating up against the Vols
Following the miraculous walk-off win on Thursday night, the Wildcats continued their offensive barrage against the No. 1 team in the nation.
Ryan Ritter kicked it off in the second inning on Friday with a solo shot to put the ‘Cats up. His sixth home run of the season, it also was the 100th hit in is Kentucky career.
The ‘Cats were able to grab two more in the following frame. Game one’s hero Alonzo Rubalcaba ripped a double down the right field line to score John Thrasher. Later in the inning, Daniel Harris brought the catcher home with a sac fly.
Oraj Anu is also starting to heat up after coming back from multiple injuries earlier in the season. Following the home run on Thursday, the DH lined an RBI double on Friday in the sixth to increase the Wildcat lead.
Once play resumed on Saturday, the hits just kept coming. Anu brought in an insurance run with a RBI groundout in the eighth to increase the Wildcat lead.
Strong pitching keeps the ‘Cats sturdy
Given the lack of pitching once again, Austin Strickland was given the nod to start in game two. The sophomore actually fared pretty well against the vaunted Tennessee offense. Strickland came out firing, keeping the Vols hitless through the first three frames.
He ran into trouble in the fourth though, allowing RBI doubles on back-to-back batters. He was then replaced by Zack Lee, who was able to get out of the inning.
The junior followed up with three innings of scoreless ball before being taken out for Daniel Harper. Harper came in to salvage the seventh and was saved by some excellent defense from Harris.
Sean Harney took the mound on Saturday when the game resumed and pitched excellent over the final two innings to shut the door on this one and secure the series victory for Kentucky.
You won’t have to wait long for the final game of the series as Kentucky will go for the sweep very shortly. Game three is scheduled to begin 40 minutes after game two came to an end.
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