The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team struggled against SEC competition all season, and it has left them on the postseason bubble. They picked up an important 13th conference win against Arkansas on Thursday, but wanted to close the season out strong. Unfortunately, in what would be one of the wildest games of the season, the Wildcats came up a bit short, losing their regular season finale 16-12 to the Razorbacks.
Things got crazy right away. Arkansas scored nine runs before Kentucky was able to record the first out of the game. They’d score 10 in the inning in total and lead 11-0 in the third. The Cats would bounce back, though, with a big inning of their own.
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A Carson Hansen grand slam was part of a nine-run fifth inning for Kentucky, and that tied the game at 12. The Kentucky bullpen couldn’t hold up, however. Arkansas scored two in the sixth, and two more in the ninth to wrap it up.
Hansen had two hits and four RBIs in the game. Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell each had three hits, and Tharnish drove in three as well. Luke Lawrence had two hits and two RBIs.
The Wildcats pitching staff had a rough day. Nine different pitchers gave up 14 hits, 7 walks, 5 hit batters, and 16 runs. Only two of the nine didn’t give up at least one run.
It was a tough note to end the regular season on, but Kentucky will head to the SEC Tournament next, hoping to seal a trip to the NCAA Tournament. They finished up 31-20 record, and will have to hope it’s good enough to get them in.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky baseball falls 16-12 to Arkansas in season finale
