Observations: Another tough series loss for Kentucky

Ole Miss won two out of three in Lexington in a closely played series, dropping the Wildcats to 5-7 in the SEC.

Photo by Eddie Justice of UK Athletics

Kentucky senior catcher Devin Burkes smacked a line drive single through the infield in the series opener against No. 9 Ole Miss on Friday, giving the Wildcats an extra-innings 5-4 victory to start the weekend. For a little while that afternoon, the vibes were good. The Wildcats had managed to take the opener of a series for the first time in SEC play, and in doing so, Kentucky had defeated Ole Miss ace Hunter Elliott, and also its top reliever in Mason Morris.

With its SEC record pulled even at 5-5, Kentucky was in good position to take back-to-back SEC series and head into a crucial upcoming stretch at no worse than 6-6 in the league. But a pitchers’ duel in game two on Friday evening went the Rebels’ way when Campbell Smithwick blasted a two-run homer off junior reliever Nile Adcock in the top of the ninth inning.

And in the rubber match on Saturday, which had its start time shifted multiple times as heavy rain remained in the Lexington area, was a close, hard-fought game that once again saw the Rebels pull ahead late with a two-run homer in the 12th inning. We’ll examine that loss a little closer in the observations portion, but it was another disappointing outcome for a team that is scrappy but not quite refined enough at this stage of the season.

Here are a couple of observations from the weekend and a look at what’s next: