Kentucky Unable to Overcome Early Implosion, No. 1 LSU Plates 16 Runs to Win Series Opener
BATON ROUGE, La. — It's tough to beat the No. 1 team in the country when you aren't sharp on defense. Kentucky found that out the hard way on Thursday night.
Behind three two-out home runs, two of which were grand slams, LSU put on a punishing performance at the plate, dismantling No. 12 Kentucky 16-6 in eight innings to open the ranked SEC series at Alex Box Stadium.
It was a sun-blocked fly ball in right field that stumped UK's Nolan McCarthy in the bottom of the first, eventually leading to a four-RBI four-bagger for shortstop Jordan Thompson with two outs, capping off a six-run frame for LSU to open things up. The Tigers then tallied five more in the second following a Jase Felker error at third base, again with two down. This time it was right fielder Brayden Jobert doing the damage, launching a grand slam over the wall in right-center field.
"That hole was really big and really hard to come out of," UK head coach Nick Mingione said postgame.
UK sent reliever Zach Hise out to the mound for his first start as a Wildcat, but the Missouri transfer wasn't able to complete two innings, finishing with a wonky stat line that read 1.2 IP, 11 runs (six earned), four hits, three walks, four HBP and three strikeouts.
After three innings, Kentucky trailed 14-1. It could have easily punted and moved on to game two in the series on Friday, but instead fought to keep its head above water, encapsulating the never-quit identity it has built up over the course of the season.
Despite LSU ace right-hander Paul Skenes managing 13 strikeouts, the Cats tagged the potential No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming MLB draft for a season-high seven hits and five runs, four of which were earned. Second baseman Émilien Pitre had three of the knocks and went 4-for-4 overall, ripping three singles and a double, driving in three runs.
"We faced, in my mind, one of the first couple picks of the draft. (Skenes) did a good job and I thought we did a really good job against him. But that's what our team does. They don't stop fighting and they don't stop competing. So I wasn't surprised," Mingione said.
Left fielder Ryan Waldschmidt had the only other extra-base hit of the game for UK, smashing a frozen rope to the gap in left-center field, driving in a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. From the fourth inning on, Kentucky outscored LSU 5-2 and actually managed to out-hit the Tigers for the entirety of the game, nine to eight.
The choice to start Hise came down to a short week for the Cats, as it was their first Thursday series opener of the season. Mingione opted to save his top arm — RHP Darren Williams — for another day in the series.
"With the Thursday-Friday-Saturday series, and Logan Martin and (Darren Williams) coming off injuries, we didn't want to push them up. Zach's a guy that has starting experience, a guy that's thrown in SEC games before and he'd been throwing the ball well for us," Mingione said.
The bullpen killed UK in the start, as Jackson Nove was the first to relieve Hise, giving up three earned in 1.1 innings. But, it also managed to shine through with a silver lining or two as the game drew on.
Junior righty Seth Logue made just his fifth appearance of the season and rattled off three of the best innings of his Wildcat career, allowing only one hit while striking out two, holding LSU scoreless.
"He was phenomenal, I thought," Mingione said of Logue. "He showed us a roadmap of what it's supposed to look like on the mound, how you're supposed to pitch, how you're supposed to act. Those three innings, I mean, that's about as good as you can do. And he's thrown the ball well for us, and we're gonna need to keep doing that. But he was the example of how we need to pitch moving forward the rest of the series."
The final run of the game for UK came in the seventh, as Pitre shot an RBI single up the middle, scoring center fielder Jackson Gray — who made a pair of extra-base hit robbing catches on Thursday. On the hit, LSU 2B Gavin Dugas dove for the ball, but injured his shoulder in the process. He writhed in pain on the ground for a few moments before exiting the game.
After scoring once in the seventh, the Tigers were finally able to end things in the eighth thanks to an RBI single from catcher Alex Milazzo.
"Obviously, you want to win But, you know, anytime a team just competes, I think it's our job as coaches to recognize the fact that you did keep competing," Mingione said. "Our guys didn't stop fighting."
Kentucky will look to snap a three-game losing skid on Friday for game two of the series. With rain in the forecast for Saturday, the chances of a doubleheader occurring on Friday are possible.
First pitch for Saturday is currently scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will air on SEC Network+.
Updates on two Kentucky pitchers HERE.
Stock Report: Bunts Are the New Home Runs in Lexington
Want the latest on national football and basketball recruiting, including Cats targets? Head over to SI All-American for the latest news, blogs, and updates about the nation's best prospects.
Sports Illustrated also offers insight, information and up to the minute details for gamblers. Check it out here.