Kentucky Baseball Beats Ole Miss 5-4 in Series Opener

The Kentucky Wildcats hosted No.9 Ole Miss and won 5-4 on Friday at 3 p.m. in Kentucky
Proud Park.

The starting line up for the Cats was: Luke Lawrence, Cole Hage, Hudson Brown, Tyler Bell,
Patrick Herrera, Ethan Hindle, Griffin Cameron, Devin Burkes and Shaun Montoya. Nate Harris
started on the mound for the Cats.

After a scoreless first inning, Kentucky got ahead first in the bottom of the second. Bell led off
with a double and Herrera followed it with a bunt that allowed Bell to advance to third. Hindle
was hit by a pitch, and Burkes was walked to load the bases up for the Cats. Montoya brought
Bell home with an RBI to put Kentucky on the board with the game’s first run.

There was no action for the rest of the second inning or the top of the third, as Ole Miss
continued to look for their first run. Kentucky extended its lead in the bottom of the third, starting
with Hage sending a shot to left field. Brown and Hindle were both hit by pitches, Hindle drawing
a walk in between. Cameron followed with a single bringing home both Brown and Herrera.
Burkes then hit Hindle home to stretch Kentucky’s lead to 4-0 by the end of the frame.

Evan Byers came to relieve Nate Harris at the start of the fourth, but his outing didn’t last long,
as Tommy Skelding took the mound to start the fifth. Ole Miss finally broke through scoring two
runs at the top of the inning. Austin Fawley and Hayden Federico each hit a single to reach
base, followed by Mitchell Sanford, who got on base and then stole second. Luke Hill hit a
single out to right field, bringing home two runners. Skelding was relieved by Nile Adcock, who
had a brief appearance before Jackson Nove came in to take his place.

The top of the seventh opened up with a home run from Hill to get Ole Miss within one, 4-3. The
Bat Cats had their fourth scoreless inning and then Ole Miss tied the game up when Fawley hit
a double and Frederico brought him home with a single.

James McCoy came in to relieve Jackson Nove to start the ninth, but no teams managed to get
ahead and break the tie. The game entered its 10th inning and Kyle Gargett scored for the Cats
to put them ahead and take the win.

The Cats will play another game tonight, along with one tomorrow if the weather permits.

Written by: Ainsley Saurers