Kentucky baseball’s three-game losing streak has a common thread
Kentucky baseball’s current downturn continued Tuesday as Louisville rolled to a 12-5 victory at Kentucky Proud Park.
It was UK’s third straight loss, which equaled the longest such streak of the season (Mississippi State swept a three-game series with the Cats April 1-3). It also equaled Kentucky’s third-most lopsided loss of the season.
UK Coach Nick Mingione saw several common threads to losses at Georgia on Saturday and Sunday followed by Louisville.
“We have not thrown the ball well the last three games,” he said. “And the first part of this game, we did not throw well again.”
Mingione saw a positive in UK pitchers giving up only one run in the last five innings. But an 11-0 deficit going into the bottom of the fourth inning was too much to overcome.
Good at-bats was another familiar sight for Kentucky. UK had seven hits and seven walks.
“We hit our quality at-bat percentage,” Mingione said. “We’re getting guys on base. We’re in a really good spot offensively.”
Going forward, Kentucky (22-12) does not get a break from the schedule makers. Twelve of UK’s remaining 18 games are against ranked opponents. Louisville (23-11) was ranked No. 4 by Baseball America.
Mingione took solace that three of UK’s next four weekend series are at home.
Louisville, which avenged an 11-7 defeat against Kentucky on April 6, wasted no time getting ahead. The Cards batted around in the first inning and took a 5-0 lead.
UK starting pitcher Zach Kammin helped U of L by hitting two batters (he came into the game having hit only one batter in 11-plus innings. He also walked a batter. One of the batters hit by a pitch and then the walk forced in runs.
Freshman Dalton Rushing doubled in two runs.
“Their pitcher wasn’t sharp . . . ,” U of L Coach Dan McDonnell said. “We capitalized and had some huge at-bats.
“Great first inning for us, And that just gave us the momentum and probably took some pressure off (U of L starter) Carter Lohman.“
Kammin needed 33 pitches to get through the first inning.
After walking the first two batters of the second inning, Kammin’s game was over. Reliever Daniel Harper did not bring immediate relief. After striking out Henry Davis, Harper’s balk moved the runners to second and third.
Perhaps Louisville’s hottest hitter, Alex Binelas, singled sharply to drive in both runners and put Kentucky behind 7-0.
Louisville tacked on two more runs in the third. U of L’s first two hitters reached base on a single and by beating out a sacrifice bunt. They scored on another single and a slow roller to first. That expanded the lead to 9-0.
Louisville added two more runs in the fourth inning against UK’s third pitcher, Hunter Rigsby. Designated hitter Rushing crushed a two-out two-run homer to center field to put Kentucky behind 11-0.
A bit of baseball luck allowed Kentucky to get on the scoreboard in the fourth. With runners on first and third, Drew Grace hit a fly ball to right. The throw beat John Rhodes attempting to score, but the ball got past U of L’s catcher.
Kentucky got a run closer in the fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, a double-play grounder scored a run but blunted the chances of a much-needed big inning.
Kentucky scored another run in the sixth. Austin Schultz hit a two-out solo home run to reduce the deficit to 11-3. It was the center fielder’s fourth homer of the season, all of which have come in the last six games.
Binelas, who hit home runs in each of Louisville’s three games at Virginia last weekend, struck again in the seventh. His two-out single scored Henry Davis from second and put U of L’s lead at 12-3.
Kentucky scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to set the final score.
Mingione credited standout defensive plays by Louisville’s right fielder and third baseman for preventing the score from tightening further.
“They took some runs off the board for us,” he said. “I tip my cap. . . . There was traffic. There were opportunities.”
Of his team continuing to compete despite trailing 11-0, Mingione said, “I complimented positional players because that would have been real easy for them to give at-bats away. We did not do that. That’s got to continue as we move forward.”
Next series
Alabama at Kentucky
When: Friday through Sunday (6:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 1 p.m.)
Where: Kentucky Proud Park
Live video broadcasts: SEC Network Plus (online only)
