Nick Mingione rolls dice as Jaxon Jelkin delivers unexpected clutch save in Kentucky's 4-3 win
Kentucky entered the biggest weekend of the season needing at least one win to secure the program’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Bat Cats went all-in to get that victory recorded early against No. 12 Arkansas.
A strong pitching performance ultimately led to Nick Mingione pushing his chips into the middle of the table in the eight inning. Kentucky asked staff ace Jaxon Jelkin to deliver a two-out save to secure magic win No. 13 in SEC play. The move paid off as the Bat Cats got it done in a 4-3 victory at Kentucky Proud Park.
This was only a Quad 2 victory but it could be what gets Kentucky over the hump in the selection process. There is still a long way to go until Selection Monday, but the Bat Cats checked a huge box on Thursday night.
BOX SCORE: Kentucky 4, No. 12 Arkansas 3
Kentucky’s pitching staff delivers when the team had to have it
To say this was a big weekend for the Kentucky baseball program would be putting it lightly. The Bat Cats had dug themselves a hole despite some quality Quad 1 wins and a top-20 non-conference RPI. Pitching had been an issue and a team flaw throughout the season. That simply wasn’t the case in the biggest spot of the season.
The arms delivered in Thursday’s win.
Nate Harris (3 IP, 0 H, ER, 3 K, 2 BB) recorded yet another strong start at home. Harris now owns a 3.03 ERA across 29.2 innings with 24 strikeouts in six SEC starts at Kentucky Proud Park. Relief pitcher Tommy Skelding then made his first SEC performance in over a month and gave his team 2.1 scoreless innings and worked around three walks. Kentucky then turned to true freshman Jack Sams with two on and one out in the sixth innings. He responded with two quick strikeouts, logged five outs, and gave up just one run. Sams now has 18 strikeouts over 14.1 innings this season and has become a real arm out of this UK bullpen. That all set the stage for Jaxon Jelkin in the eighth inning.
Holding a 4-2 lead, Nick Mingione decided to go all-in. Jelkin was sent to warm up in the bullpen to record a six-out save. The staff ace who just threw 120-plus pitches in a complete game win over Florida allowed a solo home run in the ninth but recorded two strikeouts to shut the door in the final inning.
Pitching has not been a team strength this year for Kentucky baseball. It was on Thursday. The Bat Cats rolled the dice by going to Jelkin. The bold move paid off. UK now has 13 SEC wins and should be off the bubble with two games left in the regular season.
Early offense is just enough
The party got started early for the Kentucky offense. Tyler Bell reached on a single before Ethan Hindle stepped to the plate with two outs. After missing his first game of the season on Sunday against Florida, Hindle went yard for the 11th time in his first at-bat of the game.
That home run allowed Kentucky to play from ahead all game despite facing one of the SEC’s best pitchers. Arkansas ace Hunter Dietz threw six innings and recorded nine strikeouts, but got in some trouble with a mistake pitch to Hindle in the first before loading the bases with no outs in the fourth. Dietz then got a ground ball double play, but a throwing error in the next at-bat by shortstop Camden Kozeal allowed another run to score. That would be all the offense that Kentucky produced all night. It ended up being enough because of the pitching.
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Kentucky was 0-9 with runners in scoring position and struck out 12 times. The Bats Cats missed many opportunities, but it didn’t come back to burn them. The offense got the team ahead early and that was enough to secure the biggest win of the season.
Now the pitching plan comes into focus
We know that Ben Cleaver (2-3, 3.57 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 40.1 IP, 41 K) will get the ball for Kentucky on Friday night. The lefty and former All-SEC selection is coming off his best two starts of the season. The Bat Cats will enter the next game hopeful against Arkansas that the strong performances from Cleaver will continue. What we don’t know is what will happen after that.
The pitching plan is a big unknown now for the rest of the weekend. Could Jaxon Jelkin still throw on Saturday after recording 29 pitches in Thursday’s win. Is Connor Mattison going to get another start? Is a true bullpen game on the way?
That is something we will find out later. What we do know is that Kentucky went all-in to get SEC win No. 13. That plan worked. The Bat Cats now have the required 13 wins, a 7-8 Quad 1 record, a 4-2 Quad 2 record, and are up to No. 28 in RPI. This looks like the resume of an NCAA Tournament team.
On Deck
Kentucky (31-18, 13-15) had to get at least one this weekend. The Bat Cats accomplished the mission on Thursday night at Kentucky Proud Park. Now this baseball team will have two more chances to secure a third SEC series victory this season and bolster the NCAA Tournament resume.
Nick Mingione‘s squad already handled another staff ace. Arkansas and Kentucky will both be digging deep into their pitching staffs over the next two nights. That could create some fun college baseball this weekend in Lexington.
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