Top 10 Kentucky Welcomes Dayton to Lexington on Tuesday
For the first time since 2018, Kentucky baseball will be taking the field with a Top-10 ranking in the country. Standing in the Bat ‘Cats way will be the visiting Dayton Flyers from the A-10 Conference on Tuesday night.
Dayton enters the midweek matchup with a less-than-stellar 7-19 (2-1 A-10) record. Kentucky, however, has won 20 of its last 21 games, sporting a sparkling 25-3 (8-1 SEC) record. Tuesday afternoon will be a nice tune-up game before the ‘Cats travel to Athens for an Easter weekend series against Georgia.
The Bat ‘Cats have become college baseball’s darling in the past month, garnering more and more eyes from fans all around the country. Stellar play from team leaders Hunter Gilliam, Émilien Pitre and Devin Burkes has taken this team to levels most fans wouldn’t believe. If you were to tell the common fan before the season that the ‘Cats — full of unproven potential and transfers from mid-majors — would be top-10 in the country in April, they’d call you crazy.
But Kentucky shouldn’t overlook this Flyer team, as Dayton put up a pretty good fight against Louisville earlier this season. The ‘Cards swept the series, but all three games were within four runs. Success against Dayton and Georgia this week is instrumental in padding UK’s NCAA Tournament resume, as the Wildcat schedule gets much rougher starting next week.
Dayton Impact Players
The Flyers are a very experienced team, as the top six leaders in batting average are all upperclassmen. Dayton’s senior duo of Ben Jones and Marcos Pujols (no relation to Albert) lead the team. Jones has been their most productive hitter so far this season, batting .358 with six home runs and 18 RBI. Pujols has found success as well, hitting .306 with six homers and 14 RBI. After those two, the Flyers’ offense drops off exponentially. Junior Carlos Castillo is third on the team with a .267 average, a .39-point drop-off in the lineup. Dayton experienced a power surge this last weekend, however, hitting 11 home runs in a three-game series against George Washington.
Senior LHP Nate Estelin will be taking the mound against the ‘Cats on Tuesday. Estelin has had a rough go of it so far this season, sporting an 8.82 ERA in nine appearances this season. The senior has allowed nine more hits than strikeouts — not ideal. Don’t be surprised if the Flyers make this a bullpen game early as Morehead State did earlier this season.
Dayton hasn’t won a conference title since 2012, which was also the last (and only) year they made the NCAA Tournament. Notable alumni include longtime Athletics reliever Jerry Blevins, current San Diego Padre Craig Stammen, and former Lexington Legends (no, not the CounterClocks) pitcher Mike Hauschild. They will always be the Lexington Legends.
Kentucky Impact Players
At this point in the season, who hasn’t been an impact player for Kentucky? The aforementioned Gilliam, Pitre, and Burkes are much discussed, but other contributors such as Jackson Gray, Jase Felker, and Ryan Waldschmidt have been very important to the Wildcats’ success this season.
Gray, a WKU transfer, has blossomed as a ball magnet in his first year in Lexington. Gray is tied for sixth in the country with 15 HBP this season, putting him in the team lead with a .511 OBP%. Felker, who didn’t start the season as the everyday third baseman, has blossomed into a reliable set-up man for the offense. Felker sports a .329 average, good for fourth on the team. His emergence into an everyday player has been key for what was a revolving position to start the season.
Redshirt freshman Travis Smith will be making his seventh start of the season for the ‘Cats on Tuesday. Last week, head coach Nick Mingione had high praise for Smith, saying “I have to remind myself sometimes that he’s a freshman coming off a major injury. We have high expectations for him and I think he can handle them.”
Smith boasts a 2-0 record with a 4.29 ERA with a 20:16 K-BB ratio. Starting Smith against non-conference opponents has been a great move by Minge, as pitching against lower competition has definitely helped the freshman build his confidence coming off Tommy John surgery.
Tuesday night’s midweek matchup is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.
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