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Published May 14, 2023
Bat Cats roll to 10-0 win over Tennessee in series finale
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Jeff Drummond  •  CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor
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@JDrumUK

Who said Kentucky lacked power?

The Wildcats found Tennessee's hitter-friendly Lindsey Nelson Stadium to their liking on Sunday, bashing five home runs on their way to a 10-0 win over the Volunteers in the series finale.

Five different players went deep for No. 17 Kentucky (35-15, 15-12 SEC), including Ryan Waldschmidt, Hunter Gilliam, Devin Burkes, James McCoy, and Grant Smith. The Cats had seven extra-base hits among the 12 they collected against six UT hurlers.

Burkes, a sophomore catcher who also homered on Friday, added a double and four RBI to lead the Cats at the plate. McCoy, a freshman outfielder who has emerged as a dangerous bat late in the season, hit his fourth homer in the last seven games.

Equally important, the UK staff managed to contain the potent Volunteer lineup, which entered the series third in the nation in home runs with 103 before bashing five in the series opener and a sixth in Saturday's series-clinching victory.

Zack Lee started and pitched two shutout innings before a lightning delay ended his outing prematurely. In his last three starts -- all against ranked opponents -- the junior right-hander has allowed only three earned runs in 13.2 innings on the mound.

Evan Byers took over in the third inning and pitched a scoreless frame before passing the torch to Darren Williams (4-1). The grad senior right-hander worked four shutout innings, dancing around five walks and four hits to keep the Vols off the scoreboard.

Rider Giles and Mason Moore closed it out with a scoreless frame apiece to help UK hand UT its first shutout at home in two years.

No. 23 Tennessee (35-17, 14-13 SEC) managed only eight hits against the UK staff, five of them singles. The Vols stranded 16 baserunners, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Drew Beam (6-4) started and took the loss for the Vols, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk over 1.2 innings on the mound.

Despite losing games 1 and 2 of the series, Kentucky managed to move back ahead of Tennessee in the SEC standings by salvaging Sunday's game.

The Wildcats return to action on Thursday at Kentucky Proud Park in the opener of a three-game series with No. 7 Florida to close the regular season. The series could have major NCAA seeding implications for both teams, who are in the hunt for national seeds. Game 1 first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET.

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