Pitre homers as Kentucky completes sweep over Georgia

ABC alum Emilien Pitre (Repentigny Que.) went deep in Kentucky’s victory. Photo: University of Kentucky Athletics

March 17, 2024

Kentucky Sweeps No. 25 Georgia in Run-Rule Victory, Wildcats outscored Bulldogs 37-15 in series

By Matt May

Kentucky Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ryan Nicholson homered twice, Emilien Pitre homered and doubled and Mason Moore was electric on the mound as Kentucky scored a run-rule 12-2 seven-inning victory on Sunday at Kentucky Proud Park to sweep No. 25 Georgia.

It is the first time in school history the Wildcats (17-3, 3-0 SEC) have opened SEC play by sweeping a three-game series in consecutive seasons, having wiped out Mississippi State in 2023.

Georgia (17-4, 0-3) came into Lexington with the school’s best start in modern history and the nation’s top home run-hitting offence but watched as Kentucky outscored it 37-15 and hit eight home runs in the series to just four for the Bulldogs. UK had three more on Sunday with Nicholson twice leaving the yard and Pitre hammering his second of the season. Nicholson has three in the last four games.

Moore flinched once, a second-inning home run that gave Georgia a 2-0 edge before the Cats scored 12 unanswered. It was the second time this week UK scored double-digit unanswered runs. Moore set a new career-high with eight strikeouts in six, three-hit innings, including two of Charlie Condon, one of the nation’s most feared hitters.

NOTES

-Kentucky now is 17-3 in 2024, 3-0 in Southeastern Conference play, 13-3 and 11-2 at home.

-UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 233-153 career record and needs 25 victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.

-Kentucky has opened SEC play 3-0 for the second straight season.

-This is the FIRST time in school history UK has swept three-game SEC-opening series in back-to-back seasons.

-Kentucky scored five runs in the third inning and four in the fifth.

-All five runs came with two outs and nobody on base, the fourth time it has scored five runs in an inning in the series, the 16th time it has scored four or more in an inning this season and the 190th time UK has scored four in an inning in Mingione era.

-UK outscored the No. 25 Bulldogs 37-15 in the series, scoring 12 unanswered runs on Sunday.

-Eight of the nine position players in the lineup had a hit and scored a run as UK out-homered the nation’s leading home run-hitting team 8-4 in the series.

-Senior INF Ryan Nicholson went 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBIs and two home runs, tying his career high in hits and RBIs and set a new high in runs as he became the first UK player to hit two home runs a game since Hunter Gilliam in April 2023.

-Junior INF Emilien Pitre (Repentigny, Que.) went 2-for-2 with two runs, three RBIs, a double, a home run and a walk. It was his ninth multi-hit game of the season and 27th career, as well it was his fourth multi-RBI game of the season and 19th of his career.