LEXINGTON, Ky. — Friday's pitching matchup between Sean Hjelle and UC Santa Barbara's Noah Davis featured two of the best sophomore pitchers in the country. The two lived up to the hype. Hjelle threw 7.1 innings and struck out eight batters as Kentucky won the series opener 2-1. Davis was the tough-luck loser, striking out five batters and allowing two earned runs over eight innings.

"I give Sean a lot of credit," Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said. "He and Coach (Jim) Belanger made a tweak to his mechanics to try and create a little more movement and deception. Any time you do that you don't know how it's going to go. But Sean was all ears and put it into play as soon as we got back."

Marcus Carson's one-out RBI single in the bottom of the third gave Kentucky the lead. The Wildcats added another run on a wild pitch by Davis.

UCSB added a run in the top of the fourth on a passed ball, but it was all the Gauchos were able to muster against Kentucky. Hjelle left the game with runners on first and second base in the eighth inning.

Colton Cleary entered the game and struck out the only batter he faced on a hit-and-run. Catcher Troy Squires cut down the runner trying to steal third to get Kentucky out of the jam.

"It was a really good play because their lefthanders usually hit the ball that way with two strikes," Mingione said. "It opens up a hole because they pull our third baseman to the bag. Troy did an awesome job putting the ball right on the bag. To me, that's the play of the game."

Cleary retired the side in order in the ninth inning to pick up his first save in a Kentucky uniform.

Kentucky was held to five hits, but the biggest at-bat proved to be Carson's one-out RBI single in the bottom of the third. Riley Mahan and Connor Heady each had hits while third baseman Luke Becker led the team with two knocks.

Kentucky's 2-5 hitters in the order were held hitless by Davis. Evan White went 0-3 on the day, ending his 20-game hit streak.

"When you start thinking about the fact everyone knows who he is, he gets pitched as well and as tough as anyone on our team," Mingione said. "If I know Evan, he's going to start (another hitting streak) tomorrow. That's how good he is."

Hjelle had his best outing of the season against the Gauchos. After allowing nine earned runs against St. Joseph’s last weekend, Hjelle bounced back to throw 7.1 innings of one run baseball against the Gauchos. He struck out seven batters and threw first pitch strikes to 118 of the 27 batters he faced.

"I thought I threw well today," Hjelle said. "The first couple weeks of the season were a struggle for me, so I really needed this one to get back on the horse. I did it today."

Hjelle said he left a lot of pitches up in his previous two starts, especially against St. Joseph's, but he worked down in the zone against the Gauchos.

"If I missed I had to miss down," Hjelle said.

UCSB starter Noah Davis allowed five hits over eight innings of work. He allowed two runs in the fourth inning but went the distance for UCSB.

Kentucky and UCSB will meet again on Saturday at 1 p.m. Kentucky's Zach Logue (1-1, 3.48 ERA) will face UCSB's Kyle Nelson (1-1, 2.00 ERA).