RECAP: Kole Cottam grand slam lifts Cats over Mizzou
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kole Cottam delivered the most important swing of Kentucky's season to date on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The junior first baseman/catcher smashed a grand slam to left-center field with one out in the eighth inning to lift the No. 13 Wildcats to an 11-10 win over Missouri.
Kentucky (29-15, 10-11 SEC) took two out of three games to win the series and stay just ahead of Missouri (29-15, 9-12 SEC) in the league standings with only three weekends remaining in the regular season.
Early on Sunday, it looked like UK might roll to an easy win. The Cats jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first inning with the help of a three-run homer by Luke Heyer. They stretched the advantage to 6-1 after five innings of play before Missouri mounted a comeback.
The Tigers scored nine unanswered runs, the first two chasing Kentucky starter Justin Lewis from the game after only 5.1 innings on the mound. Seven more against the Cats' bullpen put UK in a 10-6 hole entering the eighth inning.
Kentucky's rally began with a Ryan Shinn solo home run to make it 10-7. Coltyn Kessler and Tristan Pompey were hit by pitches, and Troy Squires singled to load the bases ahead of Cottam's game-winning blast off Missouri reliever Bryce Montes De Oca (5-3).
Cottam had three hits, scored two runs and drove in five to lead UK at the plate. Pompey added two hits for the Cats. Heyer stayed just ahead of Cottam (16-15) for the team lead in home runs.
Brett Marshall (1-0) was the pitching benefactor of Cottam's heroics. His 1.1 innings of scoreless relief gave the Cats a chance to play catch up. Normal mid-week starter Daniel Harper came on to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and nail down his first collegiate save.
A high pitch count drove Lewis from the game earlier than the Cats had hoped. The junior right hander struck out 10 over his 5.1 innings of work, but gave up five earned runs on seven hits and three walks.
The top two hitters in the Tigers' lineup, Brian Sharp and Trey Harris, combined for six hits, a pair of home runs, and seven RBI. Sharp had delivered a grand slam of his own in the seventh inning that helped Mizzou grab the lead.
UK chased Mizzou starter Taylor LaPlante after one-plus innings on the mound. He surrendered five earned runs on four hits and three walks.
Kentucky returns to action next weekend in another important Eastern Division series at Tennessee (25-21, 8-13 SEC).