Well, if you were ready for some action on the diamond, yesterday did not disappoint. Both Kentucky baseball and Kentucky softball had games, and both were surprising for different reasons. Kentucky's baseball team travelled to UNC Greensboro to open the season on the road, while the softball team is still out West, this time participating in the Stanford Invitational. It probably should be renamed at this point since the games have had to take place at other locations because Stanford's softball stadium is still not ready to go. In what was described as a "mistake," the tournament is still ongoing. Did either team walk away victorious?
Kentucky baseball opens up with dominant win on the road
Nick Mingione is extremely excited about this group; he believes he has the talent to really make a run at this thing. And if opening day is any indication, he really does. The opening day lineup and batting order went like this:
2nd baseman Luke Lawrence
Centerfielder Jayce Tharnish
Shortstop Tyler Bell
Right fielder Ryan Schwartz
3rd baseman Tyler Cerny
1st baseman Hudson Brown
DH Ethan Hindle
Catcher Owen Jenkins
Left fielder Scott Campbell Jr
The group combined to hit 14 hits and 13 RBI in a game that was over once the Cats plated 8 in the 3rd. Luke Lawrence hit a grand slam, while Owen Jenkins and Jayce Tharnish both went 3-5 in their Kentucky debuts. But even more important than the offensive output was the pitching.
Jaxon Jelkin was incredible in a short outing, striking out 10 batters in 4 innings of work in just 58 pitches. The transfer was as good as advertised and then some in his first Kentucky start. 10 of the 12 batters he struck out fanned, and he was still averaging just 14 pitches an inning, remember, 9 of those have to be strikes to get 3 strikeouts per inning. That is insane efficiency. That kind of outing makes Kentucky a very dangerous team if it continues. He gave up 2 hits and didn't walk a batter in a great first outing as a Cat.
The Cats walked away victorious, 13-2. Game 2 is scheduled for 1 PM, with the second of the doubleheader starting soon after the finish of the first. Remember, there is no television coverage of this series, but you can follow along at ukathletics.com with Jeff Piecoro on the all call.
Kentucky softball drops to 6-3 after loss to Stanford
Thursday, the Cats handed #13 Stanford their first loss of the season, and the Cardinal rebounded with a 7-1 win Friday. You will not sweep a really good team very often, and Kentucky could not do that Friday night. But they did show some serious fight. Stanford managed just 8 hits, but used 2 triples and a home run to get the runs across the plate.
The Cats mustered 7 hits from 7 different players, but could only convert that into one run. The offense left 8 runners stranded on base, with the run coming from an Emma Emmert infield hit in the 2nd. They just could not get anything sustained going against the Cardinal pitching of sophomore Zoe Prystajko, who went the full 7 innings, striking out 10 and walking 1. She was dominant.
Despite only allowing 1 earned run, McKenzie Oslanzi takes the loss with Kentucky trailing 2-1 when she exited in the 4th.
The Lady Cats will look to rebound tomorrow against another ranked team, No. 15 Oregon, who are 3-3. The game will be covered live on YouTube. If you'd like to watch the game, you can click here to do so.
Full coverage will continue right here of both softball and baseball as they wrap up the weekend tomorrow.