Emilien Pitre Leads Charge as No. 8 Kentucky Evens Series . . . Wildcats defeat No. 2 Arkansas 11-3, pull into first place tie

May 4, 2024

By Matt May

Kentucky Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Playing in front of his family live for the first weekend since he arrived at Kentucky Emilien Pitre smacked a pair of doubles and drove in four runs as No. 8 Kentucky defeated No. 2 Arkansas 11-3 at Kentucky Proud Park to set up a Sunday showdown for first place in the Southeastern Conference.

UK improved to 34-10 overall and 17-6 in the SEC while becoming the first team all season to score 10 or more runs against the Razorbacks (40-8, 17-6).

Pitre (Repentigny, Que.) delivered a two-run double off the wall in the second inning and another two-run double in the fourth. Devin Burkes added two RBI and Nick Lopez socked the Hogs with the knockout blow in the eighth with a three-run double.

Pitre was 2-for-3 with three runs, two doubles and four RBIs, extending his streak of games reaching base safely to 21. It was his 12th multi-RBI game of the season and 27th of his career.

He had a pair of two-run doubles in the first four innings. He stole his 21st base of the season and 41st career to sit 11th on the school’s career list.

He is hitting .312 with 16 doubles, a triple, five homers and 45 RBIs. He has a .910 OPS in 44 games.

Meanwhile, Dominic Niman got back on track with 5 1/3 terrific innings and the bullpen was nails in evening the series.

NOTES

-Kentucky now is 34-10 in 2024, 17-6 in Southeastern Conference play, 20-7 in day games, 8-3 in SEC home games, 18-5 overall at Kentucky Proud Park in 2024, 11-5 vs. ranked teams and 15-5 vs. Quad 1 opponents.

-This was Kentucky’s eighth straight game vs. a ranked opponent.

-UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 250-160 career record, meaning he needs eight victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.

-Kentucky scored three in the second and four in the fourth and eighth, the 56th, 57th and 58th times this season it has scored three or more in an inning.

-This is the first time Arkansas has allowed 10 or more runs this season.

-Dominic Niman earned his eighth win of the season, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

-Ryan Waldschmidt has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games.

-Nick Lopez went 2-for-5 with a run, a double and four RBIs, his 17h multi-hit game and 11th multi-RBI game of the season, includin a bases loaded double in the eighth.

-Devin Burkes went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, his fifth multi-hit game of the season and 26th career, his seventh multi-RBI game of the season and 20th career.