Kentucky
Mason Moore Sparkles, No. 25 Kentucky Defeats Kennesaw State, 5-2
No. 25 Kentucky rebounded from its first losing streak of the season, defeating Kennesaw State, 5-2, in the series finale. Junior Mason Moore was exceptional for the Wildcats, pitching a career high 7.0 innings, recording the first 19 outs before allowing a hit.
The Morehead, Ky. native finished the day allowing one hit, one run, zero earned runs, three walks, and striking out three. He is the first Wildcat since Zack Lee in 2021 to pitch at least seven innings allowing one hit or less and only the second to do so since Justin Lewis pitched eight innings of one-hit ball against Florida in 2018.
Offensively, the Cats (13-3, 0-0 SEC) turned in multi-hit days from Émilien Pitre and Devin Burkes, helping Kentucky plate a series-high five runs. Mitchell Daly also added a two-RBI performance on the day, as the Wildcats were able to bounce back from the first two games on the series.
On the mound, Moore was relieved by Evan Byers and Trey Pooser, who helped limit the Owls, who scored 23 combined runs in the first two games, to just two runs. Pooser earned the save, his second of the season, as he struck out three batters in 1.1 innings, including escaping an eighth-innning jam that saw the go-ahead run come to the plate.
The Wildcats were able to open the scoring for the first time this weekend, plating a first inning run after back-to-back two-out doubles from Nick Lopez and Pitre. In the third, the Owls would tie the game at one, as a two-base error to lead off the inning came home on a sacrifice fly.
Kentucky put up three runs in the fourth to take the lead for good, as the Wildcats scored multiple runs in an inning for the first time in the series. After Pitre and Burkes were issued back-to-back free passes, Patrick Herrera drove in the go-ahead run, scoring Pitre from second. An error in the outfield advanced the runners to second and third, allowing Daly to drive in the eventual game winner on a sacrifice bunt. Ryan Nicholson followed with a sacrifice bunt of his own to bring the score to 4-1 after four.
This score held until the eighth, with the Owls pulled within two on a two-out RBI double. Kennesaw State had the go-ahead run at the plate, but a looking strikeout from Pooser ended the treat. In the bottom of the innings, the Wildcats added an insurance run, as singles from Pitre and Burkes, followed by a walk to Herrera loaded the bases for Daly, who earned his second RBI of the day on a groundout. A leadoff single in the ninth would be no problem for Pooser, who struck out the final two batters of the game to finish off the win.
NOTES
- Kentucky now is 13-3 in 2024.
- Kentucky is 11-3 in day games.
- Kentucky is 7-2 at home.
- Kentucky is 2-1 following a loss.
- Kentucky is 38-7 vs. non-conference foes (including the Lexington Regional) since the beginning of the 2023 season.
- UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 229-153 career record.
- Mingione needs 29 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
- UK is 91-36 in the month of March under Coach Mingione.
- Mingione is 146-43 in non-conference games overall.
- Mingione is 127-18 vs. non-Power Five opponents.
- Kentucky is 2-1 in 2024 in three-game series.
- The Wildcats swept USC Upstate and Lipscomb before going 1-2 against Kennesaw State.
- Kentucky started at least three freshmen for the fifth time this season.
- Kentucky is 5-0 in those games.
- The Wildcats smacked three doubles today.
- It was the sixth time this season the Cats hit at least three doubles.
- Three Wildcats were hit by a pitch.
- They were the first hit batsmen in the series for the Kentucky offense.
- Today was the seventh time Kentucky has earned at least three HBP in a game this season.
- Junior RHP Mason Moore earned the win on the mound, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing one hit, one unearned run, and a walk, while striking out three.
- Moore took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, allowing a one-out double to Jackson Chirello.
- Moore’s seven innings pitched is a new career high.
- Moore is the first Kentucky pitched to throw seven innings with one hit or fewer since Zack Lee in 2021 (Alabama).
- Graduate RHP Trey Pooser earned his second save of the season, tossing the final 1.1 innings.
- Pooser allowed no runs on two hits, while also striking out three Owl batters.
- Junior INF Émilien Pitre finished 2-for-3, including an RBI double.
- He also scored two runs, and drew a walk.
- It was his eighth multi-hit game of the season, and 26th of his career.
- Junior C Devin Burkes also went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored a run.
- He hit his first double of the season in the sixth inning, the 23rd two-bagger of his career.
- Today marked his third multi-hit day of the season and 23rd multi-hit game of his career.
- Junior IF/OF Patrick Herrera went 1-for-2, with an RBI, run, and a walk.
- Herrera has now reached safely in 14 consecutive games.
- Senior IF Mitchell Daly drove in two runs on a SAC bunt and a groundout.
- Sunday was his second multi-RBI game of the season.
ON DECK
The Wildcats will continue their season-long eight game homestand on Tuesday night, hosting in-state foe Murray State on March 12. The contest between the Cats and the Racers will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed on the SECN+, with radio coverage available on 98.5 FM (Lexington) and UKAthletics.com.
Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.
So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.
But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense
Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.
But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.
Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer
Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.
Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.
Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.
Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement
On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.
While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.
It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.
Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.
Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.
There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.
If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.
Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.
Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.
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Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
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