Louisville Blanks Kentucky 7-0 for Wildcats' First Midweek Loss of 2023
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky couldn't catch a break in front of 5,292 fans — a program record — on Tuesday night in the Battle of the Bluegrass.
As the No. 15 Wildcats continued to crush line drives, the No. 21 Cardinals made a bevy of impressive plays on defense, then countered with plenty of bloops and flairs to back up some solid pitching, ultimately blanking UK 7-0 for its first midweek loss of the season.
Head coach Nick Mingione took a positive tone when speaking with reporters postgame, verbally throwing his hands up, as his team's 11 line drives across nine innings failed to find gaps, instead finding red and black gloves.
"I don't know the last time I played a game where we're smashing balls — obviously it's hard to score runs, but when you line out 11 times," he said. "I said 'I'll never get onto you for hitting rockets.'"
Kentucky (30-10, 11-7 SEC) finished with only four hits, seven less than the Cards. The unlucky night at the plate wasted a career start from redshirt freshman Travis Smith (3-1), who hurled five innings of four-hit, one-run ball. He struck out a career-high eight Cardinals and walked only a pair.
The Walton, Ky. native found a new gear for the first time, even if it resulted in his first loss of the season. He threw 76 pitches, 51 of which were strikes.
"From the get-go, just confidence and attacking hitters and just trusting myself. I trust my infielders and outfielders to get it done," Smith said.
"He's just been getting better every week, and gave us a chance. I hated it that we couldn't get the win, especially for him because of the way he pitched ... this was his best outing, kept an offense a really good offense at bay," Mingione added.
Louisville (27-13, 8-10 ACC) catcher Jack Payton took the second pitch of the top of the second to the top of the wall in right-center field — one of the deepest parts of Kentucky Proud Park. It just missed the glove of Jackson Gray, then caromed over to the concourse for a solo home run, his ninth of the season.
Aside from the one mistake pitch to Payton, Smith showcased some of his best stuff in the first two frames, striking out four Cardinal batters. A double and pair of walks loaded the bases in the third, but Smith managed to lock in and strike out the three-hole hitter Ryan McCoy. Payton stepped up and speared a line drive to first, but UK 1B Hunter Gilliam rose up and made an important leaping grab, saving two runs from scoring.
Louisville sent left-hander Evan Webster (2-2) out for the start, just his second of the season. After two scoreless frames, he made way for RHP Kade Grundy, who did the exact same. Both arms walked one and fanned two, paving the way for the ham-and-egg routine that the Cards would pull off, sending six pitchers to the mound, all of whom proceeded to allow zero or one hit.
While Smith didn't have his usual midweek run support, he continued to deal en route to his best outing of the season. After a one-two-three fourth inning, he stranded two more runners in scoring position in the fifth thanks to a crisp slider that froze McCoy on a full count with two outs, his eighth K of the day and final pitch of a spectacular outing.
"I just can't say enough good things about Travis Smith tonight. I mean, that was electric stuff. That was some really high-end stuff, proud of him. He's worked really hard," Mingione said of his starter.
"Getting back in there and throwing more pitches every week and getting more comfortable has really helped me with my confidence," Smith said.
Kentucky didn't manage a baserunner in just one of the first six innings, as it continued to make solid contact and work at-bats. It just wasn't able to string anything together, as line drives hung up long enough for Cardinal outfielders to hunt them down all night. Gilliam was robbed of a one-out double in the fourth thanks to a full-stretch diving play by JT Benson in left. Center fielder Eddie King Jr ran down a scolded line drive off the bat of Ryan Waldschmidt with two on and two out, denying a pair of RBIs that would've given the Cats the lead.
"We hit our quality percent goal. We had great at-bats, and unfortunately, some of those balls didn't land but this team hasn't pressed. They haven't panicked, it's why we've been able to come back in so many games," Mingione said.
With the score still stuck at 1-0 through six, Louisville finally broke through for some insurance runs in the seventh. Kentucky reliever Seth Logue allowed three slimy singles, the third of which was a high chopper off the bat of Isaac Humphrey that skied over the head of 3B Jase Felker, doubling the lead to 2-0. A pair of pitching changes couldn't stop the bleeding, as a rare passed ball from catcher Devin Burkes plated another before a walk and sawed-off single from Payton made it 4-0.
Kentucky managed just one hit in its final three trips to the plate, while the Cards plated two more in the eighth, then one more in the ninth thanks to a pinch-hit, no-doubt solo homer from Tyeler Hawkins off a Magdiel Cotto fastball.
The Wildcats will hit the road for their fourth SEC series away from KPP this weekend, making the quick trip down to Nashville for three games against No. 5 Vanderbilt.
"This is why these guys came to Kentucky — to play in the greatest league in America against some really good teams," Mingione said. "We've got four really important series left, all against quality teams. That's the beauty of our league, and we'll do what we've been doing and we'll just go one game at a time."
Game one on Friday, April 28 at Charles Hawkins Field is set for 7 p.m. EST.
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