UK tennis freshman beats nation’s No. 1 player, Wildcats drop No. 10 South Carolina

Freshman Liam Draxl beat the No. 1 player in the nation for the second time this season as the 22nd-ranked University of Kentucky men’s tennis team defeated No. 10 South Carolina 4-2 at the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Friday.

It’s the first win over a top-10 opponent this season for UK (15-5, 5-4 Southeastern Conference).

After South Carolina (11-7, 6-4) claimed the doubles point, Gabriel Diallo — the country’s 31st-ranked singles player — paved the path for Kentucky’s victory by opening singles play with his 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 40 Connor Thomson.

Then, the seventh-ranked Draxl beat recently anointed No. 1 Daniel Rodrigues in straight sets, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. Draxl beat then-No. 1 Daniel Cukierman of Southern California 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Feb. 10.

“I’m not surprised about today’s win,” Draxl said. “We have the talent to beat anyone in the country. We just have to step out on the court and perform like we can and wins like this one today will keep happening.”

UK gymnastics into regional finals

No. 14 Kentucky continued its impressive start to the postseason with a season-best 197.125 performance in the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional second round on Friday, securing a spot in Saturday’s regional finals.

The Wildcats defeated No. 3 LSU (197.025), No. 22 Utah State (196.025) and No. 34 Arizona (196.025) head-to-head, placing only behind host No. 6 Utah (197.500) overall.

Kentucky was scheduled to face Utah, LSU and Arizona State on Saturday with two spots in the NCAA Championship semifinals on the line.

Baseball Cats can’t hold

Kentucky’s T.J. Collett blasted a two-run home run but No. 5 Mississippi State rallied to knock off the visiting Wildcats 3-2 on Friday night.

UK (18-6, 5-3 SEC) led 2-0 after five innings following Collett’s big blast off Bulldogs ace Will Bednar. The senior’s 35th career home run went to straightaway center field after John Rhodes doubled off the wall.

A single through the infield brought home the Bulldogs’ first run and a sacrifice fly tied the game. Mississippi State scored the game-winning run on another sac fly in the bottom of the eighth.

Softball falls at Vols

No. 18 Tennessee used a four-run fifth inning to shoot past No. 7 Kentucky 6-1 in the opener of a three-game series Friday night in Knoxville. The series was to continue Saturday.

UK’s Kayla Kowalik tied the game in the top of the third with her sixth home run. Kentucky (26-6, 3-4) had a season-low three hits.

Freshman sets UK track record

Lance Lang set the freshman outdoor record in the 200-meter dash and Keaton Daniel won the pole vault for the second week in a row as the University of Kentucky track and field teams opened the Florida Relays in Gainesville on Friday.