Trey Dawson blasted his second home run of the season but a series of two-out hits doomed No. 6 Kentucky in an 8-2 loss to Louisville on a clear and cool night at Jim Patterson Stadium. Despite the defeat, the Wildcats finished 3-2 on a difficult road trip through three different states and now return home for seven straight games, including the next three against No. 1 Florida.
The Cats got off to a good start on Dawson’s home run, a screaming shot over the left-centerfield fence that produced a 1-0 lead. The home run extended his reached base streak to eight games and comes on the heels of his two-out, two-run, game-winning double against Georgia last Friday.
It was an inability to close out innings that hurt the Cats on this night. Five of Louisville’s eight runs were scored with two outs and more than half the Cardinals’ hits came with two strikes. The Cats scored a pair of runs in the fourth and added four in the fifth, partly on the strength of three walks issues by the Cats that inning.
UK freshman starter Daniel Harper cruised through the first three innings, not allowing a hit and striking out three hitters looking. Despite giving up a leadoff double in the fourth he was poised to escape the inning without further damage but allowed back-to-back two-out, two-strike opposite field hits before exiting.
(Courtesy UK Athletics)