Nolan McCarthy Drives in Three, Kentucky Tops Alabama 9-5 for Second SEC Series Victory
When you're hot, you're hot. Kentucky baseball is scorching.
Thanks to eight singles, one extra-base hit, plenty of small ball and some hard-nosed pitching, the No. 23 Bat Cats extended their winning streak to 17 games with a 9-5 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Following Friday night's 12-inning thriller, the win earns Kentucky (21-2, 5-0 SEC) its second SEC series victory of the season and keeps it undefeated in conference play. Wildcat pitching kept 12 Crimson Tide runners on base and hurled seven scoreless frames. Right-hander Austin Strickland earned his second win of the season.
Five different UK hitters drove in a run, headlined by a trio of RBIs from right fielder Nolan McCarthy, who made good on his opportunity in the starting lineup, going 2-for-4 with both knocks coming in big spots.
Kentucky made Alabama (18-6, 1-4) starter Luke Holman work every inning he was on the mound, making nothing easy for he or the Crimson Tide relievers that followed. Designated hitter Chase Stanke punched a single to right field with two outs in the top of the second, advancing Ryan Waldschmidt to third base.
Already with a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt in the inning, Holman threw a breaking ball in the dirt that catcher Dominic Tamez couldn't gobble up, allowing Waldschmidt to race home.
A pair of singles from the top of the order in Jackson Gray and Jase Felker put runners on the corners for the Cats again in the third. Catcher Devin Burkes dropped a safety squeeze bunt, scoring Gray to put UK up 2-0 through three.
An error, walk and hit batter loaded the bases for Kentucky with no outs in the fourth, ending Holman's day. Left-hander Hunter Furtado was brought in to try and pitch out of the jam, but McCarthy ambushed him on the first pitch, lacing a two-run single to left field, doubling the lead to 4-0.
Kentucky starter Tyler Bosma worked through the first three innings in 38 pitches, but ran into some trouble in the fourth. Tamez hit a flair single into shallow center, Colby Shelton reached on a single in the hole between first and second, setting the table for an RBI base hit from Andrew Pinckney — his second RBI of the series.
That was the end of the line for Bosma, as he was relieved by Strickland. A fielder's choice got another run for Bama, before a single and a walk loaded the bases for 2B Ed Johnson. Strickland got ahead 0-2, but hurled an errant off-speed pitch that pegged the batter, bringing in a third run. Luckily for UK, the junior settled down and punched out slugger Drew Williamson to leave the bags juiced and a lead intact.
Furtado pegged both Burkes and Pitre to open the top of the fifth, making UK's job at the dish much easier. First baseman Hunter Gilliam increased his hitting streak to 16 games with an RBI single through the left side, forcing another pitching change.
With Pitre on third, it was Waldschmidt's turn to put down a squeeze bunt — which he did, scoring his teammate in the process. Two batters later, McCarthy went first-pitch swinging again, throwing another single to left, bringing Gilliam home, immediately pushing the lead back to four runs, 7-3.
Bama righty Brock Blatter walked Pitre to lead off the top of the seventh. You know what happens to leadoff walks. Waldschmidt doubled to right field, putting two in scoring position. Stanke dribbled a roller to the right side of the infield, scoring Pitre like clockwork.
McCarthy reached base in the next at-bat with a walk, then proceeded to get Blatter to balk, as he left early to try and steal second base, scoring Waldschmidt, extending the Kentucky lead to 9-3.
Bama struck back with two runs following the seventh-inning stretch, but a total of two scoreless innings from Jackson Nove and another perfect ninth from Ryan Hagenow stopped any hopes of a comeback bid for the home team. Nove punched out three, while Hagenow fanned two of the final three batters of the game.
Kentucky pitching allowed 12 hits, but just one went for extra bases. Punishments have been minimal from the Tide batters, as 17 of its 18 hits through two games in the series have been singles.
The Bat Cats will go for their fourth consecutive sweep of a weekend series on Sunday, as starter Zack Lee will look to remain undefeated, squaring off against Bama lefty Grayson Hitt. First pitch inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium is set for noon EST and will be televised on the SEC Network.
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