Kentucky Takes Page Out of Tennessee's Book in 10-0 Smushing

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kentucky entered Sunday with 36 home runs on the regular season, quite easily the least in the SEC.

It had just watched No. 23 Tennessee crank five round-trippers on Friday, giving the Volunteers 109 big flies on the year, the most in the top conference in baseball.

Needing to duck a sweep, the 17th-ranked Bat Cats took in their surroundings at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, took one more good look at the dimensions of the ballpark and realized something: It can hit a few home runs too. Five, to be exact.

Ambushing the Vols' pitching staff, Kentucky (35-15, 15-12 SEC) eviscerated baseballs left and right en route to a loud 10-0 road win. It's the first time since April 16, 2021 that Tennessee (35-17, 14-13) haas been shut out at home.

Devin Burkes had one of the homers and compiled two other hits, giving him four RBIs in what was a monster weekend for the catcher. All nine Wildcats in the batting order managed a hit, while the pitching staff worked through a lengthy rain delay and helped UT leave 16 runners on base.

"I thought offensively we were really good all weekend, (Tennessee) is one of — not only the league's best pitching staffs, but one of the country's best pitching staffs," UK head coach Nick Mingione said after the win. "One way to measure offense is runs, so for us to score 24 runs in three games against a really, really good pitching staff, really liked the way we swung the bats, the extra-base hits were key."

Veteran right-hander Darren Williams (4-1) pitched four brilliant innings of relief, dancing around danger like Evel Knievel. He threw 105 pitches and allowed four hits in the win, striking out four while walking five.

"He was our trump card," Mingione said of Williams. "We were holding on to him the whole weekend, just waiting for the time to bring him in and it was today."

Tennessee jumped out to early leads in its victories on Friday and Saturday, but the Cats flipped the script on Sunday.

Jackson Gray entered the day slashing .376/.530/.613 and immediately upped those numbers by lashing a single up the gut to lead things off for UK against Tennessee starter Drew Beam.

A botched pickoff attempt from the right-hander moved Gray to second before a sacrifice bunt from Ryan Waldschmidt advanced him 90 more feet to third. Up stepped 1B Hunter Gilliam, who proceeded to barrel an 0-1 pitch from Beam (6-4) to the deepest part of Lindsey Nelson Stadium, lining it over the wall for a two-run home run, his 11th of the season.

Out to a quick 2-0 lead, UK kept its foot on the gas, as third baseman Jase Felker smacked a single with two outs and immediately stole second. The next batter was catcher Devin Burkes, who got ahead in the count and sat on a Beam fastball, drilling it over the head of the CF Hunter Ensley for an RBI double to make it 3-0 before the Vols even picked up a bat.

Fresh off a 12-strikeout win against South Carolina last weekend, Kentucky starter Zack Lee picked up right where he left off, fanning three Vols in the bottom of the first, hurling that sweeping breaking ball that has helped him become the most reliable arm on the staff down the stretch.

Smith then muscled up his second home run of the series, sending a 1-2 pitch on the outside corner the other way toward the scoreboard in right for a solo shot to increase the lead to 4-0. The shortstop had 16 career homers in three seasons at Incarnate Word and now has five in his first year as a Wildcat.

Lee worked a scoreless bottom of the second, but that would unfortunately be the final inning the senior would throw, as a lightning delay and inclement weather took center stage for the next hour and 55 minutes.

"I thought Zack Lee was throwing the ball great. Just took too long, didn't feel comfortable putting him back out there," Mingione said.

Eventually, fans re-took their seats in the stands and the teams re-took the field. UK called on left-hander Evan Byers to ease the Cats back into action, and he obliged, stranding two runners, winning a lefty-lefty battle against LF Dylan Dreiling.

Williams then took the ball and began his escape artist act that would last the next four innings. The seventh-year senior surrendered a double and hit two batters to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but a painted fastball on the outside corner froze Hunter Ensley to end the inning.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth, as Waldschmidt sat on an 0-1 pitch from Volunteer long-reliever Seth Halvorsen, sending a solo shot off the top of the batter's eye in center.

From there, Williams continued his Harry Houdini impersonation, wiggling out of jam after jam. He stranded a pair of two-out walks in the fifth, a double and a walk in the sixth and then another single and walk in the seventh.

"His pitches were moving a lot today. I just told him 'aim big, you don't have to aim so fine with your pitches because they're dancing.' Once he started doing that ... he did the job, he knows what he has to do and he executed," Burkes said of Williams.

He was then rewarded for his sorcery, as the Bat Cats continued to live up to their name in the top of the eighth.

Halverson walked Felker with one out, then served up a two-run tank to Burkes, who drove a 1-1 pitch off the scoreboard for his second homer of the weekend.

"It's good, man," Burkes said of his hitting over the weekend. "You know, I'm just trying to just — more mental things than any other physical things. Made some mental adjustments, and safe to say i'm blessed it paid off."

Tennessee went to the bullpen, but the first batter Austin Combs faced was James McCoy, who capped off his second huge weekend in a row with a solo blast to increase the lead to 8-0.

Ryder Giles relieved Williams in the eighth and rolled a double play and induced a fly out to get out of another jam in his third appearance in the series. That came before the Cats added two more runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Gilliam and another RBI knock from Burkes.

Mason Moore closed the door on a feel-good win that sends the Wildcats back to Lexington with a sweet taste in its mouth. The Vols won the series, but it was UK that made a statement on Sunday.

"You can see it, we always want it. Yesterday we fought back, every game we're fighting back," Burkes said. "We always want it, it means a lot, every win, every game means a lot to us, you know? Even when we lose, we just come out hungry every day."

Still vying for one of the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky will return home for one final series in the regular season. The No. 7 Florida Gators will enter KPP as one of the hottest teams in the nation, headlined by two-way player extraordinaire Jac Caglianone.

"Thankful to be at home for that, but at the same time, understand that still there's a lot to play for and (Florida) is a team that's playing a really good brand of baseball," Mingione said. "So we'll have our hands full, but love the way our team is competing right now."

Game one between the Wildcats and Gators on Thursday, May 18 is set for 6:30 p.m. EST and will air on SEC Network+.

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