The Kentucky baseball team has started 4-0. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
The Kentucky baseball team is off to an undefeated start to the season, which is less than a week old.
UK recorded a weekend sweep at Jacksonville State — winning 10-8 on Friday, 6-2 on Saturday and 15-1 on Sunday — before then scoring a comeback, walk-off 3-2 win over Bellarmine on Wednesday afternoon in UK’s home opener at Kentucky Proud Park.
Kentucky was supposed to have its home opener Tuesday afternoon against Southeast Missouri State, but rain forced that game to be canceled.
With four games and four wins under UK’s belt, here’s what we’ve learned so far about head coach Nick Mingione’s team this season.
1. Oraj Anu has begun the season on a tear. Now in his third season in Lexington, Anu is continuing to display his power potential.
After hitting three home runs in 2020 and eight last season, Anu began the 2022 season with a two-run home run to right field in his first at-bat of the season Friday at Jacksonville State.
Anu finished that opening series with seven hits and five RBI to go along with that homer, giving him the early team lead in both categories.
On Wednesday against Bellarmine, Anu provided the game-winning RBI double to right-center field to cap a ninth-inning rally by the Cats in a game that featured the first career start for sophomore Seth Logue.
Logue allowed two runs and struck out six batters in his five innings of work, but UK labored offensively against the Knights.
UK entered the ninth inning against Bellarmine with just two hits all game, before recording four hits in that frame alone.
Fifth-year outfielder Hunter Jump singled to center field before senior first baseman Jacob Plastiak homered to right field.
Junior infielder Chase Estep then singled to right field before Anu won the game with his double to the right-center field gap.
“He looks locked in man, he’s our X-factor,” Plastiak said of Anu. “If he goes, we go. ... I know for sure he’s going to do it the rest of the year because he works really hard and he’s a dog.”
“(Just) his presence, he’s had a lot of college at-bats, he’s been through a lot of stuff,” Mingione added about Anu. “We feel good when he’s in the box there’s no doubt.”
2. Aside from one hiccup, Kentucky’s bullpen has been solid. Kentucky’s season-opening 10-8 win over Jacksonville State was a wild back-and-forth affair, with several lead changes and a combined 25 hits. Neither starting pitcher, which was junior Cole Stupp for UK, lasted longer than four innings.
Fifth-year pitcher Daniel Harper replaced Stupp and allowed a pair of Jacksonville State runs, but ever since his appearance the UK bullpen has been in shutout form.
Entering Wednesday’s game against Bellarmine, UK’s bullpen pitchers that followed Harper had combined to allow no runs and just four hits in 14 innings of work, with 16 strikeouts and only six walks.
Against Bellarmine on Wednesday, the UK bullpen was again outstanding after Logue’s five-inning start.
Junior Tyler Guilfoil — a Lafayette High School grad who previously went to Lipscomb — along with Eastern Kentucky transfer Darren Williams and sophomore Austin Strickland combined for four innings of two-hit, eight-strikeout relief work with no runs allowed.
This means the Kentucky bullpen hasn’t allowed a run in its last 16 innings pitched.
“It’s early, but there’s a lot of guys we can put into the game,” Mingione said.
3. UK has already won games in a variety of different ways. All three of UK’s wins against Jacksonville State came in a different fashion.
Friday’s win saw UK twice erase multiple-run deficits. Saturday’s win saw the Cats lead from the fifth batter of the game onward. Sunday’s win saw UK lead from the fourth batter of the game onward, before exploding for a five-run inning and a seven-run inning.
Then on Wednesday, UK had its walk-off victory over Bellarmine.
“It’s started with our bullpen and our defense,” Mingione said. “Now offensively, we could beat you in a lot of ways too, so that helps. You’ve seen us score runs with a bunt, you’ve seen us score runs with a homer, a double in the gap.”
“Just find a way man, we didn’t have the first eight innings that we wanted to, but we got it done when it mattered,” Plastiak said after Wednesday’s win.
That diversity in how to win is something that, should it continue, would serve Kentucky well come conference play and potentially in the postseason.
These early-season wins have also come as UK works in eight Division I transfers who are new to the team this season.
“They want to win. I’ve said that from the very beginning, our team wants to win,” Mingione said. “It showed again (against Bellarmine). It could have been really easy to go ... ‘Let’s pack it up and head to the house.’ That was not the case, they kept fighting.”
Pitches playlist
With Wednesday marking UK’s home opener, it was the first chance for the Wildcats to hear their walk-up songs and intro music at Kentucky Proud Park this season.
Here are some selected tracks that played for the Cats.
Infielder Ryan Ritter — BOGUS (Don Toliver)
Outfielder Hunter Jump — Highway Tune (Greta Van Fleet)
Outfielder Oraj Anu — Good Life (Ye)
Infielder Daniel Harris IV — 25k jacket (Gunna feat. Lil Baby)
Pitcher Tyler Guilfoil - Got It on Me (Pop Smoke)
Next games
Western Michigan at Kentucky
When: 4 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday
TV: SEC Network Plus (online only)
