The Kentucky Wildcats completed a road sweep of Austin Peay with an 11-1 victory Sunday afternoon.
After a quiet three and a half innings that saw Kentucky’s freshman starting pitcher Dillon Marsh and Austin Peay’s Josh Rye locked in a pitching duel, the Govs were able to strike first blood.
Garrett Spain ripped a single in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Parker Phillips and give Austin Peay a 1-0 lead.
The Governors put more pressure on the Cats in the bottom of the fifth with runners on second and third with two men out.
However, it was Kentucky who got a huge momentum boost as Carson Coleman entered the game out of the Kentucky bullpen and picked up a critical strikeout to fire up the Kentucky dugout.
HUGE strikeout from @Carson_Coleman to strand two runners in scoring position and end the 5th!
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 17, 2019
T6 | APSU 1, UK 0 pic.twitter.com/2Pa7oDXkoC
With momentum on their side, the Cats offense came to life in the top of the sixth inning.
Junior college transfer Dalton Reed who hit a home run in his first Kentucky at-bat Friday provided more power as he slugged a three-run shot to right center to give the Cats a 3-1 lead.
.@daltonreed15 just HAMMERED a baseball over the RCF wall for a three-run #BigBlueBomb to give the Cats a 3-1 lead!!
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 17, 2019
Big man. Big Power. #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/r8hyHa3bSW
Following another scoreless inning in relief by Coleman, the Cats offense went back to work in the top of the seventh. Cam Hill’s double-play ball scored a run to make it 4-1. Later that inning with two men out and a runner on third Kentucky’s other junior college transfer Jaren Shelby came up big with an RBI double to put the Cats up 5-1.
The Cats added six more in the top of the eighth to make it an 11-1 ball game as Breydon Daniel, Hill, Shelby, and TJ Collett all drove in runs.
With the Cats bullpen in cruise control, Kentucky finished off Austin Peay clinching the ten-run win and series sweep.
Coleman earned the win on the mound for Kentucky while Rye took the loss for the Govs.
The 3-0 Wildcats will be off until Friday when they travel to Lubbock Texas to take on the No. 3 team in the country in the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
SWEEP, KENTUCKY!!!
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 17, 2019
FINAL: UK 11, Austin Peay 1
Cats earn first three-game road sweep since March 2017 at Texas A&M! #WaveTheFlag #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/7id3dTVFa8