Strong offense lifted Kentucky to series victory over Texas A&M

Kentucky’s series at Texas A&M this past weekend was nearly a “must win” for a few reasons. The ‘Cats did just that, as they won the final two games of the weekend to notch their first SEC series victory of the season.

It was a strong offensive weekend overall for Nick Mingione’s team, which notched double-digit hits in all three matchups and double-digit runs in the final two. They were likely on their way to double-digit runs in the first game, as they scored seven runs in the first four innings. However, A&M reliever Weston Moss held Kentucky scoreless over the final five innings to keep them at seven.

A few different players had big weekends, but nobody had a bigger one than freshman shortstop Tyler Bell. Bell was an extremely hard out for the Aggies pitching staff, as he went 8-13 at the plate with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI over the three-game span.

“Tyler Bell looked like the highly touted freshman we all thought he’d be coming into the season,” D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers tweeted out Sunday night. “He had a fantastic series for UK Baseball.”

Bell boosted his season batting average to .347, which ranks fifth in the conference among freshmen.

Bell’s middle infield partner, junior second baseman Luke Lawrence, had a strong series out of the leadoff spot as well. He set the tone for the Wildcat lineup, as he went 5-14 at the plate with a double, a triple and four RBI over the three games. His batting average sunk into the .250s not long ago, leading to his demotion from the leadoff spot. Now, his average is back up to .293 and is back to being a constant on the base paths.

Kentucky, although it was aided by the College Station wind, also combined to hit six home run this weekend (Cole Hage x2, Tyler Bell, Hudson Brown, Devin Burkes and Ethan Hindle). For a team known to play small ball, the ‘Cats experienced a power surge against the Aggies.

This offensive explosion was much needed for Kentucky, which continues to have to overcome what has been unsteady pitching this season. Excluding sophomore left-hander Ben Cleaver, who is responsible for three of Kentucky’s four SEC victories this season, you never quite know what you’re going to get with the staff right now.

As a whole, the staff allowed 27 hits, 24 earned runs, 20 walks and 22 strikeouts over three games this weekend. Nick Mingione even made a rotation change, as senior right-hander Scott Rouse replaced junior left-hander Ethan Walker in the starting three. Rouse however didn’t fare any better than Walker had, as he allowed five hits and six earned runs in four innings in the series opener.

In a league as offensively driven as the SEC, this is a dangerous game to play. If your offense however can score 31 total runs in three games against the league’s second best pitching staff (based on ERA), it may be the game the ‘Cats will have to play this season.

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