The Kentucky baseball team pulled away from South Carolina this afternoon to earn an 11-5 win at Kentucky Proud Park.
The victory clinched the series for the Wildcats (25-16, 10-11 SEC) and kept them firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture.
Check out some highlights and a quick game recap from UK Athletics:
Lexington, Ky. – Tyler Bell drove in three, Luke Lawrence scored a career-high four runs and Cole Hage made a critical defensive play to go along with a strong offensive day as Kentucky claimed an 11-5 victory over South Carolina on Sunday to claim its second straight Southeastern Conference series.
The Cats (25-16, 10-11 SEC) plated five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the eighth to put the game away. In between, Hage threw out a runner at home to end Carolina’s half of the eighth and keep some distance between the two teams.
True freshmen drove in five runs, as Bell had a bases loaded double and Ryan Schwartz added his first multi-RBI game.
NOTES
Kentucky is 25-16 (10-11 SEC) on the season.
UK was hit by two pitches in the game and now have been hit 119 times in 2025.
It entered the weekend with 110 on the season, which ranked third nationally.
UK now is 5-7 in SEC home games this season.
UK has held a lead in 20 of 21 SEC games.
True freshmen drove in five runs in the game.
UK stole six bases in the game and 16 in the series.
UK has stolen 16 bases in back-to-back SEC weekends.
UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his ninth season at the helm and now owns a 288-180 career record.
Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
UK is 66-66 in the month of April under Coach Mingione.
Mingione now is 13-14 vs. South Carolina.
INF Tyler Bell now has reached base safely in 40 of 41 career games.
Bell has 23 extra base hits this season (17 2B, 6 HR)
That ranks fifth in UK history for a freshman.
He had a bases loaded double to drive in three.
IF Luke Lawrence went 2-for-3 with four runs, an RBI, a walk, a steal and a HBP.
He hit his third home run.
The runs scored are a career high.
C Devin Burkes stole a base and now has 37 career steals.
C/OF Ryan Schwartz had his first career multi-RBI game.
OF Cole Hage went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
He had multiple hits in all three games of the series.
He had his 11th multi-hit and 10th multi-RBI game of the season.
LHP Ben Cleaver won his fifth game of the season.
Final line: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 5 K
ON DECK
The Cats travel to Western Kentucky on Tuesday night. The game is at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. It will air on ESPN+ and radio will be carried by the UK Sports Network.
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
