Observations: UK takes season-opening series at Elon

The Bat Cats bounced back in the final two games to claim the series over the Phoenix.

Kentucky began its 2023 campaign with a shutout loss at Elon on Friday night, but the Wildcats regrouped with wins on Saturday and Sunday to take the road series. Kentucky was the only SEC program to play a true road series this weekend.

After falling 2-0 in the opener, Kentucky rallied for a 5-1 win on Saturday behind a dominant pitching performance from senior left-handed starter Tyler Bosma and reliever Austin Strickland. On Sunday, senior Zack Lee received the start and tossed five scoreless innings while giving up just two hits and striking out seven in a 4-0 victory. Four relievers each tossed scoreless innings to secure the win. 

The series' first two games were available on Flobaseball, but Sunday’s finale was not streamed. Because of that, any observations made will mostly be based on the first two games of the series since I watched those. Box scores can provide insight, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Every hit appears the same: a 105 mph scorcher up the middle or a blooper that lands in the Bermuda Triangle. Someone could go 0-4 with four lineouts while someone else went 3-4 with three fortunate results. Who would you say had the better game? You get the point.

Alright, Let’s get to it. 

KENTUCKY’S ARMS OVERWHELM ELON

Pitching coach Dan Roszel has more depth and talent than he’s had at any other point in his four years with the Wildcats. That was on display this weekend. Against Elon, Kentucky’s staff gave up three earned runs in 26 innings pitched, including only one run over the final 23 frames. Elon hit .154 as a team as Kentucky’s staff struck out 32 batters compared to just five walks. The Wildcats did a nice job limiting hard contact as well. Elon had just one extra-base hit in each game. 

Each of Kentucky’s starters this weekend worked at least five innings. Logan Martin, a right-handed transfer from Sewanee, took the loss on Friday night but it wasn’t a bad debut. He gave up a second inning home run to Tanner Holliman on a hanging breaking ball on an 0-2 count. Elon tacked on another run in the third inning, but none of the contact he allowed was all that hard. Martin struck out six batters and walked one in five innings of work. 

I’m curious to see how Martin adjusts moving forward. He sat 92-94 mph and showed a nasty slider at times, inducing his first strikeout. 

Kentucky Baseball @UKBaseball

The first K on @ltmartin17's D-I career! Strikes out two in first.

I thought he got away with a few pitches that caught too much of the plate, but overall, he pitched well enough for Kentucky to win.

Seventh-year senior Darren Williams was fantastic in relief in his return from Tommy John surgery. He finished the final three innings on Friday night and struck out seven of the 11 batters he faced. It was great to see Williams back on the mound so soon and performing well. 

It was more of the same script for the Wildcats on Saturday. Bosma was perfect through 4.2 innings before giving up a single in the fifth. It’s early in the season, so pitchers are still getting stretched out, but Bosma had the look of a guy who could’ve gone the distance if pitch counts weren’t a factor. He threw six scoreless innings, striking out four and giving up two hits. He exited the game after 67 pitches. Junior Austin Strickland finished off the game with three innings of relief. The right-hander from Winchester, Ohio, retired the first seven batters he faced before a four-pitch walk to Vanderbilt transfer Kenny Mallory. Mallory scored on a sac fly later in the inning, but Strickland struck out Holliman to end the game. 

Lee, Kentucky’s Sunday starter in 2021, is getting another chance at that role this year. The box score shows that he pitched well, as did the four relievers Kentucky used. ECU transfer Ryder Giles and ETSU transfer Seth Chavez each made their UK debuts, and former top recruits Mag Cotto and Ryan Hagenow each logged an inning on Sunday. Every pitcher out of the bullpen threw a scoreless frame. Cotto worked a 1-2-3 inning while the others gave up one hit but no further damage. 

Devin Burkes had two clutch hits this weekend. Photo by Grace Bradley (UK Athletics)

THE OFFENSE WILL BE A WORK IN PROGRESS

Kentucky’s opening day lineup featured seven players making their first start for the Wildcats. Sophomore catcher Devin Burkes and centerfielder Nolan McCarthy were the only two players in the lineup who had started before at Kentucky, and neither of those guys had a long track record of starts. McCarthy started eight games last season and Burkes started 12. James McCoy and Emilien Pitre are second-year players who made their first starts. The other five starters all came to Kentucky via the transfer portal. 

The results from Friday were rough. Elon lefty Shea Sprague was one of the best freshmen pitchers in college baseball last year, and he certainly looked like a guy who would give Elon a chance to win any game he pitches. He only struck out three over six innings of work, but the Wildcats never seriously threatened Elon while Sprague was on the mound.

Kentucky had just two players reach scoring position during the game, and one of those came courtesy of Elon’s shortstop committing a throwing error on a grounder from McCarthy, putting him on second base. The Wildcats hit .148 as a team on Friday night and suffered a shutout defeat. They also had two players get picked off first base, which isn’t ideal. 

The offense was better on Saturday and Sunday, though not drastically so. Sophomore outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt started Saturday’s game with a double off the wall. Following a strikeout from McCoy, Burkes put a ball in play that resulted in an error by the shortstop, placing runners on the corners with one out. That’s when we saw small ball reach an extreme. Pitre, the cleanup hitter, executed a safety squeeze on a 3-1 count to bring Waldschmidt home to make it 1-0.

Burkes came through with a two-out, two-RBI knock in the fifth inning to create some breathing room. He also delivered a two-run homer in Sunday’s game. It was Kentucky’s only home run of the weekend. Those were his only two hits of the weekend, but they came at a good time. The Wildcats rounded out the scoring in Saturday’s win with two runs in the 8th. Third baseman Isaiah Byars brought in a run on a groundout and shortstop Grant Smith delivered a two-out single. Smith, who hit in the 9-hole all three games, had a productive weekend. He hit .500 in three games and reached base seven times, including three times via hit-by-pitch. He’ll be bringing a few bruises back to Lexington.

Kentucky cranked out 11 hits on Sunday, including a 4-5 performance from Pitre. Waldschmidt and first baseman Hunter Gilliam reached base three times and centerfielder Jackson Gray added two base hits. Gray also doubled in Saturday’s win. 

This offense will be a clear work in progress as the staff figures how the right combinations. EKU transfer Kendal Ewell and Minnesota transfer Chase Stanke each got one start in this series, but they’ll likely receive a chance at regular playing time in the coming weeks. 

OTHER NOTES…

It was a good week on the recruiting trail for Kentucky’s coaching staff. RHP/OF Brock Silvers, SS Jake Fults and OF Braxton Van Cleave all announced verbal commitments to the program for the 2025 class. You can read about all of Kentucky’s commitments here.

These players are just beginning their sophomore seasons of high school, so the rankings are bound to fluctuate in the coming years. Still, Silvers is considered the top player in Idaho and ranked No. 117 nationally by Perfect Game. Silvers projects as either a right-handed pitcher or a corner outfielder. He’s currently around 85-88 mph on the mound with his fastball. As a hitter, Silvers projects as a future power hitter as he continues to fill out his 6-4 frame.

Fults is ranked in the top 300 nationally by Prep Baseball Report and is on the track to be a true shortstop, which every college program covets when recruiting high school infielders. It’s tough to find players who can play the position at a high level in the SEC, but Kentucky’s staff believes Fults can be that guy. He plays at a good high school program in Dallas Jesuit. 

Van Cleave might be the most impressive commitment, though. A 6-3 left-handed hitter who will play in the outfield, Van Cleave is likely to be on MLB scouting radars in the coming months and years. A few people I’ve spoken to believe he could be on a similar track to former Kentucky commitment Tommy Specht, who signed with the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. 

The 2025 class still has a ways to go, and development tracks could change, but this class is checking some boxes. It has two stud left-handed pitchers in Luke Pappano – a consensus top-50 player from Cincinnati – and Hunter Richardson out of Vandalia, Ohio. Those are the two best pitchers in Ohio in their class. Add in a projected shortstop in Fults, a true two-way potential player in Silvers and an athletic, all-around outfielder in Van Cleave, and the 2025 class looks like it could be one of the better groups recruiting coordinator Will Coggin has brought in. 

UP NEXT

The home opener at Kentucky Proud Park will be on Tuesday against Evansville. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will stream on SEC Network+. Redshirt freshman Travis Smith is expected to take the mound for the Wildcats.

If you missed the announcement last week, alcohol will be sold at baseball and softball games this spring.