Kentucky baseball scores seven in the eighth, and take down Morehead State
By John Strong
After a great start over the weekend, sweeping USC Upstate. The Bat Cats take on Morehead State in their first home game. Kentucky’s starters against Morehead State were: 3B Nick Lopez, 1B Ryan Nicholson, DH Devin Burkes, 2B Emilien Pitre, RF James McCoy, CF Ty Crittenberger, LF Nolan McCarthy, C Austin Fawley, and SS Grant Smith, with Drew Lafferty starting on the mound.
No action happened through three innings, and then in the fourth inning, Morehead State put a pair of runs on the board thanks to throwing errors by the Cats. Kentucky finally got on the board thanks to an RBI single by Grant Smith. In the sixth inning, the Eagles hit two singles to left field to add two more runs. At this point, Morehead State leads 5-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nolan McCarthy SAC bunted so Emilien Pitre could go home to give the Cats another run. No action in the seventh. The eighth inning is where the fun happens for Kentucky fans.
In the eighth inning. The bases were loaded, Nolan McCarthy was walked, and Emilien Pitre went home. Patrick Herrera was hit by a pitch, which sent Eli Small home. Grant Smith reached on a fielder’s choice, while Ty Crittenberger went home. Mitchell Daly singled through the left side, and Nolan McCarthy went home. And then Ryan Nicholson hit a double to right center, which led to Mitchell Daly, Patrick Herrera, and Grant Smith coming home.
At this point, the Cats turned a four-run deficit into a four-run lead. In the top of the ninth inning, Morehead State had a chance to do something, but that did not happen. Johnny Hummel came in and finished the job. Kentucky came back from four runs down and won 9-5.