LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It's not common to see the type of crooked numbers that Kentucky and TCU put on the scoreboard Friday to open their weekend series.
With both teams sending their aces to the mound at Kentucky Proud Park, the Wildcats banged out 15 hits en route to a wild 13-11 victory over the No. 8 Horned Frogs.
Seven of the 17 half-innings featured two or more runs scored.
Junior third baseman Chase Estep went 4-for-6 and drove in a pair of runs for Kentucky (9-1). The Corbin native raised his season batting average to a sizzling .474 and collected his 10th extra-base hit in as many games with a double.
The Cats also got three hits and two RBI from left fielder Nolan McCarthy and a pair of hits from both Ryan Ritter and Daniel Harris.
Jacob Plastiak added a two-run homer for UK in the first inning off TCU ace Austin Krob to give the Cats some energy after they fell behind 3-0 in the top half of the opening frame.
Krob, a junior left-hander ranked as one of the nation's Top 100 prospects by D1 Baseball, had not surrendered a run in 10 innings pitched this season coming into the game. He lasted only two innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and a pair of walks.
Kentucky starter Cole Stupp was also greeted rudely, getting chased by the Horned Frogs after allowing three runs on four hits and a walk through 1.1 innings on the mound.
Neither bullpen could completely solve the opponents' bats, but UK got just enough relief from Ryan Hagenow, Daniel Harper, and Sean Harney to get the win. Harney (1-0) worked the final four innings, allowing three runs and escaping a couple of major jams with timely strikeouts.
Marcelo Perez (1-1) took the loss out of the TCU bullpen. He gave up a lead-off single to UK's Daniel Harris to start the eighth inning, who came around to score on an RBI grounder by Alonzo Rubalcaba. The Cats' catcher drove in three runs on the night, including the eventual game-winner.
TCU (7-2) was led by Elijah Nunez with a four-hit night. David Bishop added two hits and three RBI for the Horned Frogs.
The series resumes Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The Cats and Horned Frogs may play a doubleheader on Saturday at KPP with the strong threat of storms forecast for Sunday.
