SEASON OPENER: UK vs. WOFFORD
- Thread starter Jeff Drummond
- Start date
FINAL: Kentucky 6, Wofford 1. Hjelle turns in six strong innings, Cats blast three home runs in season-opening win. UK bullpen had 8 strikeouts among the 9 outs it recorded.
The stuff is there, but he has to cut down on walks. He could really be an ideal closer type if he can shut that off. Good 90-93mph fastball and looks to have some good off speed stuff. Machamer will likely be that guy, but can't hurt to have a couple guys who can fill into it if needed.
This is the amazing thing. We threw a freshman and a senior out of relief and had 8 strikeouts and gave up just 1 hit and 1 walk in three innings of work out of the bullpen. I don't think we'd ever expect that sort of a thing to happen under Henderson, especially coming from two pitchers that we as fans didn't really expect to have impact years. I know it is just game one, but I think Belanger is exponentially better than Henderson, especially in terms of developing bullpens to be successful and deep.
Hard to tell from the angle, but you could definitely tell when he took something off of his pitches. One in particular really seemed to fool the opposing hitter and looked to have some left to right action to it and hit the outside corner.
Solid win for UK, looking at the pitching, Hjelle strikes out 3 in 6 innings, Carson strikes out 4 in 2 innings, and Malley 3 in 1 inning. Happily surprised by our bullpen !!
RECAP: Hjelle, Heyer power Kentucky to season-opening win over Wofford
Kentucky players piled out of the dugout to congratulate Luke Heyer on his three-run homer in the second inning to plate the Wildcats' first runs of the season.
SoCon.com
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated.com
@JDrumUK
Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year Sean Hjelle tossed six strong innings on the mound and the Wildcats clubbed three home runs Friday as No. 8 Kentucky opened its highly anticipated season with a 6-1 win over Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C.
Luke Heyer hit a three-run homer to give the Cats a second-inning lead. Tristan Pompey and Kole Cottam added solo shots in the third and fourth innings to provide the UK pitching staff more than enough run support.
Hjelle (1-0) allowed only one run on two hits and two walks in an efficient outing. The junior right-hander from Minnesota struck out three.
The UK bullpen made sure his strong outing held up as Carson Coleman and Alec Maley recorded eight strikeouts among the nine batters they retired over the final three innings.
Wofford starter Adam Scott (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits and a walk. The left-hander had seven strikeouts but struggled to keep the ball in the park.
Pompey, Cottam and Benjamin Aklinski each had two hits to lead UK at the plate. Luke Becker, Troy Squires and Heyer each added one hit. Aklinski had an RBI single to drive in Becker, who had doubled, in the fifth inning.
Kentucky (1-0) returns to action Saturday against USC Upstate. Sophomore left-hander Zack Thompson (8-3, 3.45 ERA in 2017) will get the starting nod for the Cats.
Kentucky players piled out of the dugout to congratulate Luke Heyer on his three-run homer in the second inning to plate the Wildcats' first runs of the season.
SoCon.com
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated.com
@JDrumUK
Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year Sean Hjelle tossed six strong innings on the mound and the Wildcats clubbed three home runs Friday as No. 8 Kentucky opened its highly anticipated season with a 6-1 win over Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C.
Luke Heyer hit a three-run homer to give the Cats a second-inning lead. Tristan Pompey and Kole Cottam added solo shots in the third and fourth innings to provide the UK pitching staff more than enough run support.
Hjelle (1-0) allowed only one run on two hits and two walks in an efficient outing. The junior right-hander from Minnesota struck out three.
The UK bullpen made sure his strong outing held up as Carson Coleman and Alec Maley recorded eight strikeouts among the nine batters they retired over the final three innings.
Wofford starter Adam Scott (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits and a walk. The left-hander had seven strikeouts but struggled to keep the ball in the park.
Pompey, Cottam and Benjamin Aklinski each had two hits to lead UK at the plate. Luke Becker, Troy Squires and Heyer each added one hit. Aklinski had an RBI single to drive in Becker, who had doubled, in the fifth inning.
Kentucky (1-0) returns to action Saturday against USC Upstate. Sophomore left-hander Zack Thompson (8-3, 3.45 ERA in 2017) will get the starting nod for the Cats.
I think the SEC will be very tough this year. Vanderbilt kind of had an off year a year ago, and I think they bounce back this year. Where I think we see some improvement is at the bottom. Tennessee, IMO, always had a lot of talent under Serrano, but just couldn't put it all together. They would have great pitching one year and couldn't hit anything, and then it would switch the next year. They have a new coaching staff that brought in a top 15 class, and they should probably start to be more competitive than 7 SEC wins. Ole Miss was second to last in the SEC West a year ago and this year they start the season 19th. Bama won 5 SEC games last year, but just put up 16 runs in the opener under former UK assistant coach Brad Bohannon. Georgia has now put up 17 runs against Georgia Southern, and they were one of the worst SEC teams a year ago. Stricklin is their coach and I have always thought highly of him. He can right that ship. Someone has to lose in the league, but it will be a heck of a season I think.
A 2 seamer will give you some left to right movement. Adjusting speeds with it will destroy hitters
I think I went full dyslexic on my directions there. He was throwing righty and the action looked to start arm side and finish glove side. He was facing a righty, so it moved away from the hitter and seemed to catch the corner. This wasn't a 2 seam because it was noticeably slower from a camera that was pretty far away. I imagine that it was likely a pretty big sweeping curve. However, the angle of the camera was basically in the press box behind the catcher, so it is hard to really see the action on the ball.
Yea, this is his first year. He was an assistant for Auburn for last year and then Alabama hired him as their head coach.
Thank god we can talk baseball. That’s all
Huge positives:
1. 0 errors - Some very good defense.
2. Bullpen basically struck out everyone.
3. POWER
4. Top to bottom - Everyone in the lineup looks to be a solid power threat.
5. Hjelle - Relatively ho-hum day for the Jellyman, but still solid and he's always a positive.
6. First pitch strikes - Not sure how many there were, but it seemed like we had a ton.
Need improvement:
1. Fewer strikeouts - Not worried about it, but we had 11 Ks today.
2. More walks - I believe we only had one.
1. 0 errors - Some very good defense.
2. Bullpen basically struck out everyone.
3. POWER
4. Top to bottom - Everyone in the lineup looks to be a solid power threat.
5. Hjelle - Relatively ho-hum day for the Jellyman, but still solid and he's always a positive.
6. First pitch strikes - Not sure how many there were, but it seemed like we had a ton.
Need improvement:
1. Fewer strikeouts - Not worried about it, but we had 11 Ks today.
2. More walks - I believe we only had one.
Good overview. I was surprised they didn't work more walks, but maybe we should give some credit to the Wofford staff for being around the plate, too.
Carson was very impressive, hadn't heard much about him.
I had several Peach Dodo's from Rhinegeist in the fridge. Sweetwater IPA is easily in my Top 3 favorite beers. Judt absolutely amazing.
So glad baseball season is finally here! Way to go CATS!
I was just wondering what kind of offense we'd have. So much left last year. I am pretty happy about what they showed so far. The Wofford pitcher was supposedly a strikeout pitcher (1 SO per inning) but he was coming off of a rehab year. He is a senior but his freshman year was better than his sophomore season and he missed last year.
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