@CoachRyanKY 🦉
LEXINGTON -Brooms were on the mind of Big Blue Nation Sunday afternoon. The red-hot Kentucky baseball team would be looking to sweep their SECOND Southeastern Conference Series in a row, both over teams ranked in the top-25.
This time against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
This team has begun to receive national attention, notably for their spectacular middle infield play on the defensive side of the ball.
The Cats’ “Ace” would be taking the hill.
Mason Moore, the right-hander held the key to the broom closet. Standing 6-foot-4-inches tall and hailing from an hour away in Morehead, he holds a 2.87 ERA on Seven starts and a spectacular 6-0 record.
Moore, was voted Preseason Third Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He also came in ranked as a Top-60 starting pitcher by D1 Baseball.
As if that weren’t enough, he also was an SEC first year academic honor roll team member in 2022 and earned a spot on the Lexington All-Regional Tournament Team as a Sophomore last season.
Many scouts from the Big Leagues were in attendance to watch him work, and he didn’t disappoint early. He allowed only two hits through the opening two innings.
Over the summer, he pitched in the Valley Baseball League for the New Market Rebels to stay “on top” of his superfluously stupendous pitch control.
How did he get to Lexington?
The 2021 Graduate of Rowan County High School was an in-state target for Nick Mingione and staff. He was ranked by Perfect Game as the 10th overall player in Kentucky and the 7th best Right-handed Pitcher.
After his impressive first two years in Blue, he would develop quickly and play an integral role in Kentucky emerging victorious from their hosted regional last season.
He chose to return to Kentucky Proud Park after facing a tough decision on whether to enter the MLB Draft last season.
“It’s been a goal of mine since I’ve been here to be a starter,” he told media in February. “Everything has to be working (referring to filling the role of Starting Pitcher)”.
His skipper-Nick Mingione had high praises for the junior, “Mason Moore is one of the guys who’s going to lead our staff”. “Just a special arm,” he followed, “Looking back to last year’s regional win, I think it’s awesome that a Kentuckian was on the mound when we got that last out and we could celebrate.”
Over the course of the next two innings on Sunday afternoon, he held steady. Allowing only one additional hit to be tallied for the Tide before grounding out Alabama’s Leadoff hitter at the top of the third side of the lineup to end Inning Four.
The Top of the Seventh inning came on the 85th pitch of the day for Moore. He would face Justin Lebron, the .343 hitting Alabama Shortstop looking to continue his streak of no hits allowed carrying over from the Fourth Inning.
That hitless streak would come to an End on a Kade Snell blooper, bouncing up the line to an empty Right Field to take Second Standing.
He would then walk the Alabama back-stop Mac Guscette to move Snell to Third in scoring position on the 101st pitch of his outing.
Time began to feel limited as his own backstop (the big blue one), visited the mound in an attempt to give Kentucky’s relief pitching more time to get loose in the pen. Moore would enthusiastically yell to the outfield after whiffing Alabama pinch-hitter William Hamiter on a 78 mph Curveball to leave both runners stranded and continue his one-run game.
Moore ended his day after an offensive explosion from the Bat Cats adding five runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the Seventh Inning to give Mingione’s squad a resounding 10-1 lead over the Tide. That would be all they would need as Moore could use that key to unlock the brooms.
When I asked if he could’ve imagined this kind of start representing his favorite childhood team he responded:
“Young me? No. Me now? Yes. It means a lot, UK has always been my dream school. (Us) Competing at this level-playing how we are right now-is really just like a dream come true for me.”
Stats:
7 IP , 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6K
FINAL: KENTUCKY 10 ALABAMA 1
16 H , 0 E, 5 LOB for the Cats
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