Kentucky Baseball clobbers WKU

Kentucky Baseball finished the non-conference slate of the 2019 season this afternoon with a win over in-state rival Western Kentucky, as they clobbered the Hilltoppers by a score of 15-0.

For the Cats, the game got off to a perfect start.

After Dillon Marsh pitched a perfect top of the first inning, In the bottom half of the innings Kentucky took advantage of Western’s sloppy defense as the Hilltoppers made five errors in the opening frame.

Both Breydon Daniel and Ryan Shinn reached on throwing errors putting two men on for TJ Collett who hit a long home run to right field to give Kentucky an early 3-0 lead.

The Cats would add another run in the inning, as Rook Ellington ripped a run-scoring single advancing to second on another WKU error as the Cats left the first inning with a 4-0 lead.

Both teams were held in check until Kentucky got back on the board in the bottom of the fourth, as Dalton Reed hit a two-run single to extend the Wildcat lead to 6-0.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Cats added onto their lead. Collett again came up big with a run-scoring triple. He would score seconds later as Jaren Shelby drove him in with an RBI single pushing the UK lead up to 8-0.

Later in the inning, Coltyn Kessler knocked a double into left field to score Shelby, as Kentucky continued to pad their lead.

The Cats would add six runs in the bottom of the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Dalton Reed.

In the win, Kentucky’s pitching and defense came to play. Marsh tossed four scoreless innings, then gave way to the bullpen to close the door. Defensively, infielder Austin Schultz made a web gem on a ground ball up the middle.

Kentucky (13-4) will be back in action Friday as they open SEC play in Baton Rouge to take on No. 11 LSU. The next game at Kentucky Proud Park will be played next Tuesday when Xavier comes into town for one game followed by a three-game series with No. 19 Texas A&M.