Kentucky baseball is officially a series winner, but Saturday’s victory at Kentucky Proud Park was anything but easy.
The No. 22 Wildcats knocked off St. John's 3-0 to clinch the weekend set, but the scoreline hides just how much pressure the Red Storm applied. In an unbelievable display of "bend-don't-break" pitching, the Kentucky staff allowed St. John's to put runners on base in eight of the nine innings and still walked away with a shutout. That is incredibly hard to do.
Between Friday’s Jaxon Jelkin gem and Saturday’s bulldog of an effort, the Cats have now allowed just one unearned run in 18 innings against the Red Storm.
Ben Cleaver had to really work in short start
Ben Cleaver got the start but found himself in a dogfight from the first pitch. He had to burn 68 pitches just to navigate 3.0 innings. While it wasn't the efficient outing the Cats hoped for, Cleaver repeatedly made the big pitch when it mattered most to keep the game scoreless.
Connor Mattison eventually took over, earning the win with 4.0 innings of stellar relief, before Jackson Soucie came on to slam the door for his first save of the season.
Offensively, the Cats did just enough to provide the cushion. Ethan Hindle and Luke Lawrence kept the pressure on, while Jayce Tharnish continued his hot start with a two-hit afternoon.
Kentucky baseball has eyes on the sweep
Now, the focus immediately shifts to the series finale. Kentucky has a chance to start the season 8-2 and finish a dominant sweep of a scrappy Red Storm squad.
The Cats will turn to sophomore Nate Harris on Sunday.
Harris has been a revelation through his first two starts, carrying a 2.00 ERA and a dominant 0.67 WHIP into tomorrow's matchup. If he can continue his trend of striking out 12 batters per nine innings, St. John's, which struggled to find the big hit on Saturday, will be in for another long day.
The series closer is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on SEC Network+ via the ESPN app or listen to the UK Sports Network radio broadcast right here.