May 5, 2024

Pitre, Lopez Push No. 8 Kentucky to Rubber Match Win over No. 2 Arkansas ... Cats take game three 7-4, hold sole possession of SEC lead.

By Matt May

Kentucky Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second day in a row, No. 8 Kentucky received big-time performances from Émilien Pitre and Nick Lopez as the Wildcats defeated No. 2 Arkansas, 7-4, in a monumental rubber match at Kentucky Proud Park.

Pitre and Lopez each went 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lead the offence, while Mason Moore supplied a solid pitching effort for the Kentucky staff.

In a matchup of two teams tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference, the Cats rebounded from a Game 1 loss to lock down the series with back-to-back wins. In the two wins, Kentucky outscored Arkansas 18-7, using explosive offence and sound pitching to hand Arkansas its second series loss of the season. Kentucky’s 21 runs scored this weekend was the most allowed by Arkansas pitching in a three-game series this season.

With the win, the Wildcats (35-10, 18-6 SEC) sit alone atop the SEC standings with two weekends of play remaining. The Cats hold a one game advantage over Arkansas and No. 3 Tennessee.

The Kentucky lineup, led by Pitre (Repentigny Que.) and Lopez, received top-to-bottom production on Sunday, with eight of nine batters reaching safely. In addition to Pitre and Lopez, Nolan McCarthy carded a two-hit day, while Devin Burkes and Grant Smith each drove in runs on sacrifices.

On the mound, Moore led a stellar effort from the Kentucky pitching staff, which saw five Cats combine to tame the Razorbacks. Moore, a native of Morehead, Ky., started the game and earned the win, tossing five innings of two run baseball, only allowing three hits and striking out six. Out of the pen, Robert Hogan was tremendous once again, pitching a clean inning and picking up two punch outs. Jackson Nove and Cameron O’Brien held the Kentucky lead intact, allowing Johnny Hummel to enter the game and earn his sixth save of the 2024 campaign.

Kentucky started the game with a first-inning statement, picking up three strikeouts from Moore in the top of the inning before taking a lead it would never relinquish in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a Pitre solo home run. Another home run would extend the lead further, as Lopez lifted a ball over the left field fence and just inside the foul pole to extend the Wildcat advantage to 3-0.

A Nolan McCarthy double to lead off the fourth would spark Kentucky’s best inning of the day. A squeeze bunt from Grant Smith drove in McCarthy, who was originally called out but ruled safe following a successful Kentucky challenge. Pitre drove in another run with an RBI double and a sac fly from Burkes brought the game to a 6-0 score after four.

Pitre was 2-for-4 with a homer, double and two RBIs, extending his streak of games reaching base safely to 22. It was his 13th multi-RBI game of the season and 28th in his career. He finished the weekend 5-for-10, with six RBIs, two walks, a hit batter and four extra base hits.

Arkansas, who was hitless through the first four innings, responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but Moore executed a strikeout pitch on his final toss of the afternoon to limit the damage. In the seventh, the Hogs cut the Kentucky lead to three, at 6-3, but O’Brien entered from the bullpen and picked up an out with his first pitch to limit the damage.

In the bottom of that frame, Kentucky would get the run back, as Ryan Nicholson singled up the middle, allowing Lopez to score on an Arkansas error.

The Razorbacks led off the ninth with a solo home run, but Hummel was able to get the final three outs to pick up the save and clinch the series for the Wildcats.

NOTES

-Kentucky now is 35-10 in 2024, 18-6 in Southeastern Conference play, 21-7 in day games, 2-1 in May and 9-3 in SEC home games, 19-5 overall at Kentucky Proud Park in 2024.

-Kentucky is 12-5 against ranked teams and 16-5 playing Quad 1 opponents, owns the most Quad 1 wins in Division I.

-UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 251-160 career record, needing seven victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history and 3-9 against Arkansas.

-It was Kentucky’s first series win over Arkansas since 2012, the first time Coach Mingione has won a series over Arkansas.

-Kentucky’s 18-6 start to SEC play is its best league record through 24 games in school history, the Wildcats have 18 SEC wins for the fifth time in school history.

-Kentucky scored three runs in the fourth inning, the 59th time this season it has scored three or more in an inning, while the 21 runs scored was the most Arkansas pitching has allowed in a series this season.