No. 10 Kentucky Trudges Past Dayton for 13-6 Victory

LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the first time since 2018, Kentucky baseball took the diamond with a top-10 ranking next to its name, as the No. 10 Bat Cats hosted Dayton for a midweek clash.

Never has a college baseball game felt more like a midweek affair than it did on Tuesday night. In front of a season-high attendance at Kentucky Proud Park, the Wildcats and Flyers combined to use 18 pitchers in a four-hour slog that eventually saw the home team come away with a 13-6 victory.

"Lot of warmup pitches, lot of walks, HBPs, all that," Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said with a smile.

With the game tied 4-4, Kentucky (26-3, 8-1 SEC) erupted for nine runs in the sixth and seventh innings, finally blowing away the depleted Flyers bullpen. Dayton (7-20) was hampered by five errors and 15 runners left on base, while its pitching staff issued nine walks and hit six UK batters.

Right fielder Nolan McCarthy had three of Kentucky's 10 hits, driving in a season-high four RBIs. The sophomore now owns a five-game hitting streak, having all but locked in his spot as a starting corner outfielder for the remainder of the season.

"It was a good job by us guys to get some runs in and make it less of a ballgame," McCarthy told Wildcats Today postgame. "It's a lot of fun. I just love playing with these guys and there's always people on base when I come up to hit, so got to thank them for that."

Shortstop Grant Smith and third baseman Jase Felker each had a pair of hits. Émilien Pitre and Ryan Waldschmidt each had two RBIs. Left-hander Magdiel Cotto was credited with his first win of the season.

Scoring early and often has become a calling card for the Bat Cats. Another example of that was provided on Tuesday, as it took just two batters for UK to take a 1-0 lead. The first pitch of the game from Dayton starter Nate Espelin hit leadoff man Jackson Gray, sending him to first base.

Felker then golfed an 0-2 pitch out to right-center field for a double, bringing Gray all the way around to score. Later in the inning with two outs and runners on the corners, the Dayton catcher Nolan Watson attempted to pick off Pitre, who was leading off of first base. The Canadian snuck back in safely while Felker was dashing down the third-base line towards home plate, sliding in for the second run of the evening.

The lead was short-lived, as UK starter Travis Smith quickly wilted in what was his worst outing of the season. A hit batsman and two walks loaded the bases with one out, leading to a two-run single for center fielder Keagan Calero, tying the game. T. Smith, who had pitched into the third inning in each of his first six starts, was pulled after the base hit in favor of sidewinding right-hander Ryder Giles.

The East Carolina transfer worked a strikeout and groundout to end the frame. UK took the lead back in the bottom of the third, thanks to some throwing mistakes by the Flyers.

First baseman Hunter Gilliam singled — extending his hitting streak to 22 games — putting runners on first and second with no outs. Dayton LHP Ryan Steinhauer attempted to pickoff Pitre at second, but the throw went into center field, allowing both runners to advance 90 feet.

Waldschmidt proceeded to line out to the CF Calero, serving as a sacrifice fly, bringing Pitre home. The Flyers then brought RHP Andrew Hattrup — who balked Gilliam home before completing his first at-bat. Up 4-2, it once again looked like the Wildcats would pull away, but Dayton stayed resilient.

A trio of base hits against Kentucky lefty Jackson Nove scored a run, forcing Nick Mingione to make his second call to the bullpen in just the fourth inning. In came another left-hander, this time Evan Byers. The Nicholasville, Ky. native was unable to halt the damage, as he hit slugging 1B Marcos Pujols with the bases loaded in a 3-2 count, tying the game.

"We gave them too many baserunners," Mingione said of his pitching staff that issued nine walks.

Kentucky then failed to push a run across in its next two times up to bat, going down one-two-three in the bottom of the fifth, causing the best crowd of the season at Kentucky Proud Park to begin feeling antsy.

Dayton got two in scoring position in the sixth against Cotto, but the flame-throwing lefty worked out of the jam, getting shortstop Carlos Castillo to fly out to center. That hold proved plenty important, as the bats finally woke up for Kentucky in the next frame.

A double off the bat of G. Smith, walk and sacrifice bunt from Felker set the table for Pitre, who collected a major two-run single that just got past the glove of the Dayton 2B Paxton Tomaini. Two more walks loaded the bases for McCarthy, who launched a missile down the first-base line, scoring two more, breaking the game open.

"I hit it, initially thought it was fair, then I saw it kind of tailing, but it clipped the bag, so fair ball, i'll take it," McCarthy chuckled.

"He's gotten more and more comfortable," Mingione said of McCarthy. "The single down the line was huge with the bases loaded. Big hit in the game."

The Flyers tried to punch back again in the top of the seventh, as Cotto exited after giving up two hits to put a pair in scoring position. In came righty Seth Logue, who allowed only an infield single while striking out two and getting a flyout to retire the side.

The performance of the junior really caught the eye of Mingione:

"That was — in my mind — the game right there, with how well he did ... super impressive. I love when our guys put their foot down and say 'no.'"

Dayton fully imploded in the seventh, allowing five runs on only one hit, which was another RBI knock for McCarthy. The final frames drug on as KPP emptied out.

A win remains a win, any way Kentucky can get it. They may be hard to come by for the next week and a half, too. The Bat Cats will get fully put to the test on a seven-game road trip, consisting of three games at Georgia this weekend, a game at Louisville and three at No. 1 LSU to round things out.

As testy as the stretch will be, Mingione isn't worried about his team losing focus:

"The beauty about this team is I don't have to keep them focused. They're focused on the next task at hand. What does WIN stand for? It stands for What's Important Now. They've been unbelievable with that."

First pitch for game one between the Wildcats and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. EST. The series will air on SEC Network+.

More on Kentucky's path to the NCAA Tournament HERE.

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