Scott County junior leads UK baseball to big win. He didn’t even (officially) bat.

Cam Hill didn’t enter the game until the ninth inning. In the official box score, he didn’t register a hit or an official at-bat.

Nevertheless, the junior from Scott County pushed the University of Kentucky baseball team to a dramatic 5-4 walk-off win over Missouri on Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park, securing a series win on the first weekend of Southeastern Conference play.

Hill entered as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom half, he took a pitch off the helmet.

After convincing trainers and UK Coach Nick Mingione he was uninjured, Hill took second base on a passed ball, then stole third. When Missouri pitcher Lukas Veinbergs’ pitch popped out of the catcher’s glove and ricocheted toward the Missouri dugout, Hill raced home and slid across the plate head-first to score the game-winner.

“He wore a ball in the head,” Mingione said. “Then his speed totally impacted the game. He steals third and then a ball barely gets past the catcher and he scores and we win the game with his legs. Totally impacted the game.”

Hill didn’t hesitate to accept the punishment and set up the Cats’ first walk-off win since John Rhodes’ home run beat Murray State on Mar. 4, 2020.

“I saw it come out of his hands and toward (my head) and I said I wasn’t going to move,” Hill said.

The victory moved UK to 13-3 overall and 2-0 in the SEC. The Cats were scheduled to face the Tigers again Sunday with a chance to secure the program’s first league sweep since taking three from Tennessee in 2017.

UK softball takes two

The No. 9 Kentucky softball team got exceptional pitching from Autumn Humes, Tatum Spangler and Miranda Stoddard in a doubleheader sweep of Dayton on Saturday at John Cropp Stadium. The Wildcats won both games 3-1.

Kentucky is now 23-2, continuing the best start to a season in program history.

In Saturday’s first game, Mallory Peyton hit her second home run of the weekend and seventh of the season to set the final score heading into the seventh inning, when Stoddard took over as pitcher and picked up the save.

In game two, UK got three straight RBI singles from Peyton, Erin Coffel and Renee Abernathy to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead that Humes easily protected. Humes went the distance and struck out nine batters while improving to 10-1 on the season.

UK will travel to Western Kentucky on Wednesday to face the Hilltoppers at 7 p.m. in Bowling Green. That game was originally scheduled for March 17 but was postponed because of weather.

Volleyball Cats return the favor

Alli Stumler and Madi Skinner each accounted for 13 kills as No. 3 Kentucky swept No. 7 Florida 3-0 (25-20, 25-18-, 25-21) in Gainesville on Saturday, avenging the Wildcats’ hard-fought five-set loss to the Gators on Friday.

“I liked our response from a tough loss last night,” UK Coach Craig Skinner said. “You can definitely see our team staring to empower themselves and trusting each other and trust themselves.”

Following Saturday’s victory, Kentucky (17-1) leads Florida (17-3) by two matches in the Southeastern Conference standings. The Wildcats are scheduled to host a Wednesday-Thursday doubleheader against Alabama.

Swim team makes waves

Kentucky concluded the best postseason run in program history Saturday, finishing 11th at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

“I am super proud of this team,” UK Coach Lars Jorgensen said. “It’s been such a tough season and the team has had to sacrifice so much, but they won the Southeastern Conference championship for the first time ever and then backed that up with a historic performance at the NCAA championship.“

The Wildcats earned 15 finals appearances throughout the meet and bested the program’s 12th-place showing in 2007.

UK gymnastics on the rise

The 14th-ranked UK gymnastics team placed fourth at the SEC Championships in Huntsville, Ala., on Saturday, matching the 2018 team for best SEC finish in program history.

No. 8 Alabama won its 10th SEC title. No. 4 LSU finished second and No. 1 Florida third. Kentucky finished ahead of No. 15 Auburn, No. 23 Missouri and No. 9 Arkansas.

A field of 36 teams will qualify for the NCAA Championships based on national qualifying scores, with the top 16 teams seeded by the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Committee and the remaining teams placed geographically at one of four regional sites.

The NCAA Selection Show will stream live on NCAA.com on Monday at 5 p.m. ET.