Kentucky pitchers struck out 17 and starter Chris Rusin (14 K’s) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning Saturday.
Yet, Tennessee’s pulled out the 8-2 victory at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
“We struck out, but we did have some good swings in between those,” said Todd Raleigh, coach of the Volunteers. “We hit three homers and almost four … but that kid (Rusin) pitched a heck of a game.”
Kentrail Davis broke up the no-hitter and shutout with a two-run homer that gave Tennessee a 2-1 lead. Tyler Horne led off the seventh with a homer and Cody Brown added a three-run shot in the eighth.
The outcome evens the three-game series at a game apiece. Both sides see Sunday’s finale as a must-win situation. UK (23-23, 9-14 SEC) began the day ninth in the SEC overall standings, the Vols (21-26, 7-16) 11th. Only eight teams will qualify for the SEC Tournament, May 20-24 at Hoover, Ala.
Gary Henderson
“Absolutely,” UK Coach Gary Henderson said of the “must-win” assessment. “We’ve got to win a series, we’re at home and then you’ve got to win another series next weekend. So absolutely.”
Todd Raleigh
“It is,” Raleigh agreed. “It has to be. We figured we had to win two this weekend, we’ve got to win two against South Carolina and two against Vandy to have a chance. So it’s a must win.”
Rusin, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior, said that he struggled with his command early. He issued a pair of first-inning walks, the first first-inning walks he’s surrendered all season. But he also baffled the Vols, striking out 10 over five no-hit innings.
“Really a shame to waste Chris Rusin’s effort,” Henderson said.
UK didn’t do much against Tennessee righty Ty’Relle Harris.
Marcus Nidiffer, who singled, scored on Chris McClendon’s second-inning double for a 1-0 lead.
Bryan Morgado
In the fifth, McClendon lined an infield single off of Harris’ throwing hand. Harris retired the next two batters, then turned things over to lefty Bryan Morgado. (Raleigh said later that Harris “is fine.”)
“I was expecting to go in in the sixth, not in the fifth, so I didn’t have very many (warm-up) pitches to go in there,” Morgado said. “But I knew I had to battle my way through and find a way to keep my team in the game.”
He did, going the last 4 1/3 innings while holding UK to a run, two hits and four walks. Morgado (3-1) struck out five.
Rusin’s sixth-inning trouble began with the fourth of his five walks in the game, this one to leadoff batter Zach Osborne. P.J. Polk bunted Osborne to second.
Kentrail Davis
Davis jumped on an 0-1 pitch, drilling the ball deep into the parking lot beyond right field.
“We didn’t panic at all,” Davis said. “We got some good pitches to hit. He had our number for a minute there. We just settled down, not try to do too much and we started getting some hits.”
As for the big first hit, Davis said, “There was a man on second, so I knew he wasn’t going to give me anything special to hit. He threw me a good breaking ball and I just kept my hands back and I hit it.”
After Horne’s homer made it 3-1, UK got a run in the seventh without benefit of a hit.
A hit batsman, walk and sacrifice put runners on second and third. A Morgado wild pitch scored Nidiffer. Two more walks, sandwiched around a strikeout, loaded the bases, but the inning ended when Andy Burns lined out to right field.
“When somebody gives you that opportunity, if you’re going to win the ball game, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Henderson said. “Somebody’s got to step up and get a base hit and put a crooked number up there, and get us back in the ball game.”
Instead, the momentum swung back to Tennessee, which struck for four runs in the eighth. The big blow was Brown’s three-run homer, which came on the first pitch offered by UK reliever Braden Kapteyn.
Rusin was charged with six runs, five hits and five walks over 7 1/3 innings. He threw 124 pitches, 75 for strikes.
Chris Rusin
“We didn’t get the win so (14 strikeouts) doesn’t feel too good,” Rusin said. “I made a couple mistakes and it cost me three runs.”
Which leaves the Cats with a must win in order to take the series.
“I think we’ll be good,” Rusin said. “We’ve just got to come out aggressive and we’ll win the series.”
Would one ever think of being on a team that struck out 17 times and somehow pulled out a win?
“Never. Never,” Davis said. “I don’t think anybody, any coach, any player would have. But we stayed focused and got it done.”
