BATON ROUGE, La. -- After Riley Mahan belted a pinch-hit, inside-the-park homer with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game, Greg Fettes ripped a solo home run to open the 11th inning, lifting Kentucky to a wild 12-10 win against No. 1 LSU in the series rubber match, on Sunday afternoon in front of 10,732 at Alex Box Stadium.
The series win marks Kentucky's second all-time series win at LSU and UK's first since 2007. UK entered the weekend having had only seven wins in program history in Baton Rouge and the Tigers owning a seven-game winning streak in Alex Box vs. the Wildcats. UK posted a 6-5 win in the opener in 12 innings, before LSU had an inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning to win the second game 7-3.
Kentucky (18-10, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) jumped out to an early lead on the strength of a four-run frame in the second that saw the Wildcats chase LSU's undefeated starting pitcher. The Tigers then chipped away with two runs in the third and hung a four-run inning in the fifth, getting a pair of homers. LSU added two runs in the seventh inning, before the Wildcats mounted a furious rally with a run in the seventh and four runs in the eighth inning to take a one-run lead.
The Tigers then plated two runs after a pair of leadoff hits started the bottom of the eighth inning, taking a 10-9 lead into the ninth.
#UKbaseball (18-10, 4-5) 12, No. 1 LSU (23-5, 5-4) 10 - FINAL (11). Win: Jack (1-0). Fettes go-ahead homer in 11th. pic.twitter.com/4rTjKGhD5q
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 29, 2015
Down to its last out, freshman pinch hitter Riley Mahan dropped a sinking liner into shallow leftfield, with leftfielder Jared Foster diving to try to make the play. The ball rolled to the wall, with shortstop Alex Bregman running to the wall and unable to field and make the throw in time to nail the tying run, with Mahan sliding in headfirst under the tag.
After scoreless frames in the bottom of the ninth and the 10th inning, Fettes pulled his third homer of the year over the leftfield fence, giving UK an 11-10 lead. Marcus Carson then laid down a bunt single and Kyle Barrett was intentionally walked. After Evan White struck out, Ka'ai Tom singled up the middle, allowing Carson to motor home from second for a 12-10 UK lead.
The Wildcats collected 19 hits in the game, getting the first career home run from junior Dorian Hairston, part of a two-hit game. Tom and Thomas Bernal also charted multi-hit games, with Zach Arnold and Connor Heady adding knocks. White had a career-high four hits and extended his hitting streak to a team-leading 11 games. Mahan's inside-the-park homer was his first career home run. Carson tied his career high with three hits. Fettes belted his third homer of the year and his first since a two-homer day on to open the 2015 season.
UK starter Kyle Cody allowed eight hits and six runs -- five earned -- not issuing a walk and striking out three. Cody was dominating until a bad-hop double and his throwing error in the third inning led to the two-run frame. After a shutout fourth, the Tigers had four consecutive hitters reach in the fifth, including two homers and a triple. Dylan Dwyer relieved Cody and worked 1.1 innings, allowing a hit and walk, striking out one. Robert Zeigler took over with an out in the seventh inning, getting one out and allowing an unearned run. Zach Strecker got out of the seventh and allowed three hits in the eighth before UK turned to Spencer Jack (1-0), with two runs scoring. Jack worked the final 3.2 innings in heroic fashion, allowing only a hit, walking two and striking out three.
LSU (23-5, 5-4 SEC) starter Jake Godfrey worked 1.2 innings, allowing six hits and four runs, walking one and striking out two. After allowing five hits in the second inning, LSU turned to sophomore righty Hunter Newman in relief. Newman worked 2.1 innings to carry the game to the fifth, allowing just two hits and striking out three. Austin Bain started the fifth inning worked 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and one run, walking one and striking out one. Collin Strall got the Tigers out of the seventh inning in relief of Bain allowing three hits and getting an out. Lefty Zac Person appeared in his third consecutive game in the series, allowing two runs. Alden Cartwright got the final two outs of the eighth inning. Parker Bugg (0-1) came on to get the final three outs, allowing the one run on the homer, in the ninth inning. Bugg suffered the loss, allowing five hits and three runs in his 2.2 innings of work. Doug Norman also worked in relief in the 11th.
