LEXINGTON, Ky. – T.J. Collett and Ryan Shinn continued their recent power surge, each homering in the sixth inning to give Kentucky a lead but a pair of late home runs helped No. 22 Tennessee snatch a 4-2 victory in the opener of a three-game series at Kentucky Proud Park on Thursday night.
Shinn cleared the fence for the second straight game, lining a solo shot into the UK bullpen in left field to open the sixth inning and tie the game before Collett sent a soaring homer over the centerfield wall three batters later to give the Cats a 2-1 lead. Collett’s blast was the first to clear the centerfield wall in the ballpark’s first season and marked his third round-tripper in the past four games.
The Cats (20-18, 4-12 SEC) looked to be on their way to a third consecutive Southeastern Conference win over a ranked foe before the Volunteers connected for a pair of homers in the eighth inning. Sophomore outfielder Alerick Soularie hit a two-run shot to left field on a 3-2 pitch to give the Vols the lead before pinch hitter Pete Derkay went out to right field later in the inning to provide the final runs of the night.
UK sophomore right-hander Jimmy Ramsey had the best start of his young career for the Cats, giving up just three hits and one run in six innings, striking out seven along the way on a career-high 112 pitches.
SCORING
Top 1st – Jay Charleston tripled to LCF and scored on Max Ferguson’s single to LF. UT 1, UK 0.
Bottom 6th – Ryan Shinn homered to LF. T.J. Collett homered to CF. UK 2, UT 1.
Top 8th – Max Ferguson walked to open the inning and scored on Alerick Soularie’s home run to LF. Pete Derkay hit a pinch hit home run to RF. UT 4, UK 2.
NOTES
- Kentucky has scored in 102 consecutive games and 178 of the past 179 dating to the 2016 season. The lone shutout came in a seven-inning game. The current streak now is the third-longest in school history.
- Freshman IF Austin Schultz saw his reached base safely streak end at 27 games.
o It was the sixth-longest such streak for a UK player since the beginning of the 2012 season.
o There have been only eight streaks of 25 games or more during that span.
- Senior OF Ryan Shinn went 3-for-4 with a run, RBI and home run.
o It was his 10th home run of the season and 25th extra-base hit.
o Shinn has homered in back-to-back games.
o The three hits tied his career-high.
o It was his 14th multi-hit game of the season and 17th career.
- Junior 1B/DH T.J. Collett hit a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth inning.
o It was Collett’s 10th home run of the season.
o He has homered in three of the past four games, all of which gave the Cats the lead at the time.
- Sophomore RHP Jimmy Ramsey pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three hits, one run and three walks. He struck out seven.
o The 112 pitches were a career high, surpassing the 99 he threw at Missouri on April 4, 2019.
o After allowing hits to the first two batters of the game Ramsey did not allow another one until there were two outs in the sixth inning.
ON DECK
Kentucky and the Tennessee get back at it on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. ET at Kentucky Proud Park. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus with audio coverage on UKathletics.com and the UK Sports Network.
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
