No. 8 Kentucky hits six home runs, wins fifth SEC series – UK Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 8 Kentucky delivered home runs in a 9-1 win at Auburn on Friday night. It was the Wildcats' ninth consecutive Southeastern Conference victory, the longest such streak in program history.

Kentucky (29-5, 13-1 SEC) will now look for its third straight league series win on Saturday by sending junior Mason Moore to the mound.

UK hit six homers off five different players, the first time the Cats hit at least a half-dozen blasts since hitting seven homers against Alabama in 2021. Ryan Nicholson has smoked twice and smoked five more times in his last three SEC games. Other Cats who left the court Friday included Nolan McCarthy, Emilien Pitre, Grant Smith and Ryan Waldschmidt, all of whom scored solo throws.

That was more than enough for starter Dominic Niman. The reigning SEC and NCAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week went 15.2 in his scoreless inning streak before Auburn cashed in on a sacrifice fly after leaving with two runners out in the sixth inning. After taking a 6-0 lead in four innings, Great Britain didn't allow the game-winning run.

REMARKS

• Kentucky is now 29-5, 13-1 in Southeastern Conference play in 2024.
  • Kentucky has won 17 of its last 19 games.
  • Kentucky is 11-1 in night games.
  • Kentucky is 11-2 in “real” away games and 13-3 away at Lexington.
  • Kentucky is 5-1 in April.
• The Cats' current nine-game winning streak in SEC play is the longest in school history.
• Kentucky hit six home runs in a game for the first time since its seventh home game against Alabama on April 25, 2021.
  • All five of the evening's six recordings were solo recordings.
  • The Cats had back-to-back blasts on consecutive pitches in the third inning by Grant Smith and Ryan Waldschmidt.
  • Ryan Nicholson hit a pair, giving him five hits in the last three SEC games.
• Kentucky scored three or more runs in an inning for 42^nd and 43^approx times this season.
• UK trainer Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now has a career record of 245-155.
  • Mingione needs 13 wins to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • Great Britain is 54-55 in April under coach Mingione.
  • Mingione is now 10-3 against Auburn.
• Senior Dominic Niman, the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, threw out the sixth pitch.
  • He allowed one run on four hits, walked three, struck out four and struck out a pair.
  • His scoreless inning streak ended at 15.2 in the 6th inning.
• Junior Jackson Nove threw 3.0 innings of one-hit baseball with no scores.
• Senior Ryan Nicholson went 2-for-5 with two runs, three RBI and two home runs.
  • He hit a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run blast in the ninth.
  • He now has 199 career hits.
  • It was his eighth multi-hit game of the season and his ninth multi-RBI game.
  • In the last three SEC games, he had eight hits, including five home runs, and 11 RBI.
    • He hit five home runs during that span, including multiple home runs in two of those three games.
    • The last UK player to hit a home run in three straight SEC games was current teammate Grant Smith, who hit in each of the Cats' three-game series against Florida to end the 2023 regular season.
  • Senior Mitchell Daly went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a double and two walks.
  • Junior Ryan Waldschmidt went 3-for-5 with a run, two RBI and a home run.
    • It was his eighth and 20th multi-hit game of the season^Th
    • It was his fifth and 16th multi-RBI game of the season^Th
  • Junior Nolan McCarthy capped his career with three goals.
    • He went 3-for-5 with a run, an RBI and a home run.
    • It was his sixth and 14th multi-hit game of the season^Th
  • Senior Grant Smith went 1-for-3 with two runs, an RBI, a home run and an HBP.
  • Junior Emilien Pitre went 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, a home run and a stolen base.
    • It was his 15th^Th Multi-hit game of the season and 33rd^approx

ON BOARD

The Wildcats will play for their third straight series win on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on SECN+ and there will be an audio broadcast on the UK Sports Network.