EKU baseball rallies to defeat Kentucky 5-4

Chris Cervantes pitched six shutout innings of relief and Cole Warrenfeltz drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as Eastern Kentucky defeated Kentucky 5-4 on Tuesday evening at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

It was Eastern’s second win over a Southeastern Conference foe this season, following a 16-12 decision against Mississippi State on March 15.

Cervantes (1-2) came on in relief to begin the fourth and held the Wildcats (27-18) hitless for the next five innings. The senior out of Collins High School came back out to pitch in the ninth and allowed a one-out hit before retiring the next two batters to end the game. In six innings he struck out five and walked just one.

The Colonels (21-25) erased a 4-0 deficit in the fifth and sixth innings. After Matt Olive and Logan Starnes (Southwestern) led off the fifth inning with a single and a double, Kenny Hostrander got Eastern on the board with an RBI single to center. Starnes scored on a Kentucky error to make it a 4-2 game. A sacrifice fly by Mandy Alvarez got the Colonels within a run.

Ben Fisher began the sixth inning with a double to left center. He moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored the game-tying run on another wild pitch. With runners at second and third later in the inning, a ground ball by Warrenfeltz was good enough to allow Alex Holderbach to score the go-ahead run.

Fisher finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Alvarez had two hits in four at bats and drove in a run.

Kentucky built its 4-0 lead on the back of JaVon Shelby’s two-run home run, his 10th of the season, in the third inning. Shelby (Tates Creek) finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 9:57 PM with the headline "EKU baseball rallies to defeat Kentucky 5-4."