The middle of order drove in nine runs and the offense scored in six consecutive innings to drive No. 8 Kentucky to a 17-6 victory over Oakland on a rainy Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats have scored 27 runs in the first two games of the weekend series against the Golden Grizzlies.
Sophomore designated hitter T.J. Collett became the first UK player to hit a home run in three consecutive games since his running mate Kole Cottam did so last April against LSU and Xavier. Collett drove in five runs on Saturday, while Cottam plated four more, including three on his own seventh inning blast. The “Big Blue Bash Bros” have a combined 23 RBI in the Cats’ first seven games this season.
While those two provided the thunder they were hardly the only hitters to tee off on Oakland’s pitching staff. Junior shortstop Trey Dawson went 2-for-2 with two walks, three runs scored and an RBI and has now reached base safely in nine consecutive plate appearances and 11 of 12 this week. Senior third baseman Luke Heyer connected on his third home run of the season and senior catcher/first baseman Troy Squires drove in three runs of his own in the win.
Sophomore left-hander Zack Thompson earned the win with 6.0 innings of work, allowing three home runs but nothing else. Freshman lefty Mason Hazelwood and senior right-hander Alec Maley took care of the final three innings to send the crowd of 2,508 home happy just before the skies opened up and the rain started coming down again.
The two teams will close the three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
(Courtesy UK Athletics)