Marathon First Inning Dooms Kentucky Despite Valiant Rally

Kentucky’s season-long struggle in series rubber match games popped up at the worst possible time in the regular season finale as the Wildcats faced a 10-run deficit before its first at bats in a 16-12 defeat to No. 10 Arkansas.

UK finishes the injury-plagued regular season 31-20 overall and 13-17 in the Southeastern Conference. It now turns its attention to this week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

The first 10 Arkansas hitters reached base in a 40-minute half-inning that saw eight hits, three walks and two hit batters. There was both hard contact and soft, two infield hits and three UK pitchers after the first two games had reached a total 8-8 stalemate with the Razorbacks batting under .200 as a team.

The deficit reached 11 before the Cats came roaring all the way back with a nine-run fifth inning that featured a Carson Hansen grand slam and conga line of hits as Kentucky Proud Park swelled in volume.

But back-to-back walks to open the following half-inning eventually turned into the two go-ahead runs on a Camden Kozeal single before two solo home runs gave the Hogs insurance in the ninth inning.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 31-20 on the season, 13-17 in SEC play.
  • UK is 20-8 at Kentucky Proud Park in 2026.
  • UK is 6-9 vs. Top 25 opponents.
    • They are 2-4 vs. Top 10 opponents.
  • UK is 4-5 in May.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his 10th season at the helm and now owns a 324-212 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • Mingione is 126-141 in SEC games.
    • He is 72-60 in SEC home games in his career.
  • Mingione now is 5-11 vs. Arkansas.
• The 28 total runs are the most in Kentucky Proud Park history (27, Evansville, 2025).
• The 10 runs allowed in the first inning tied for the second-most by UK or an opponent in Kentucky Proud Park history (11, UK vs. Western Michigan, 2022).
  • It is the most runs in an inning by an opponent at KPP.
• IF Luke Lawrence went 2-for-5 with a run, two RBI and a walk.
  • He has 133 hits in his two-year career, moving him into a tie for 40th place on the all-time chart.
    • He now has 253 career hits at the Division I level.
  • He has reached safely in 52 of his past 54 games.
  • He has 22 multi-hit games this season and 43 at Kentucky.
• IF Ethan Hindle went 2-for-4 with a run, two doubles and a HBP.
  • He is 8-of-13 in the series and tied his career high three hits on back-to-back nights.
  • He was hit by the 37^th pitch of his career, sixth on UK chart.
  • He now has 20 doubles on the season.
  • He has 37 extra-base hits this season.
  • He now has 16 multi-hit games this season.
• OF Jayce Tharnish went 3-for-6 with two runs, three RBI, a double and a home run.
  • He has a hit in 25 of his past 27 games.
  • He has reached safely in 29 consecutive games.
• OF Carson Hansen went 2-for-5 with two runs, four RBI and a grand slam.
  • The grand slam was his second in SEC play this season and third career.

ON DECK

The regular season is complete. UK heads to the SEC Tournament this week.