Belmont baseball remains searching for its first win of the season after a sweeping attack from No. 23 University of Kentucky.
The first of the three-game series started with low scores and low temperatures. The game's final score was a UK victory of 2-1.
The temperature read a frigid 34 degrees at the start of the game when starting right-hand pitcher Will Pryor threw the first pitch.
Kentucky struck first at the top of the first inning after catcher Raphael Pelletier batted in infielder Luke Lawrence to get the early 1-0 lead.
Luckily for Belmont, at the start of the bottom of the first, shortstop Pete Daniel tripled to right center.
As Belmont second baseman Charlie Davis was at bat, a ball got past Pelletier, and Daniel slid into home to score Belmont's only game run.
The game was a fight on the mound with right-handed pitcher Will Pryor’s recorded four strikeouts in his six-innings.
In the sixth inning, Kentucky took the lead 2-1 and would remain that way until the end.
"The last inning was slightly longer than the others that I'd pitch. I was getting a little worn out. Had a couple calls that could have gone either way, but it's part of the game. Luckily, I was able to work out of it, only letting up one run. Hopefully, we look to minimize in the future," Pryor said.
Pryor got switched out by Freshman left-handed pitcher Andrew Perry at the top of the 7th inning.
Perry saw his first time on the mound at home, closing out the last three innings with an impressive stint against No. 23 Kentucky, tallying up four strikeouts and not allowing a single hit or run.
"I just knew the big thing was I needed to execute my pitches. It's a very good team, and you can't afford to give them anything extra," Perry said.
Head Coach Dave Jarvis gave praise to the freshman.
"Just the fact that as a freshman, we've seen this out of him…what he's trying to get accomplished out there, and then he just executes. As a left-hander with his stuff, that's going to create problems for all hitters," Jarvis said.
The cold was a factor in Friday's game as well, Jarvis said.
"I think it affected both teams offensively, probably more than anything else, just with the wind blowing straight in, that's always a factor," Jarvis said. "I thought both teams handled the weather extremely well, and both teams had extremely good energy throughout the course of the ball game."
Whatever hopes the Bruins had for Saturday's game did not come to fruition.
Right-handed pitcher Joe Ruzicka started on the mound and started strong, marking two strikeouts in the first inning.
But it would not take long for a Wildcat to find home plate, taking the lead 1-0.
Kentucky showed no mercy at the top of the third, scoring three more runs and making it 4-0.
As Belmont kept on the trend of little to no hits and three-and-outs, Kentucky continued its scoring streak, scoring one run in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and four in the seventh inning.
With the 10-run rule, Belmont had to put something up to remain in the game in the bottom of the seventh but would lose 12-0 in their first scoreless game of the season.
Sunday's game brought some sunshine, and the Bruins had more pep in their step.
Belmont scored first in this series when right fielder Ty Allen homered a bomb down left field.
Kentucky did not let the Bruins have their moment for too long, tying up the score 1-1 at the top of the third.
The Bruins had a lengthy bottom third inning, racking up three more runs before Kentucky responded in the top of the fourth with two runs by Herrera and Koontz.
In the top of the seventh, Kentucky scored five more runs, creating a steep 9-4 lead.
When the bottom of the ninth came around, the Bruins tried to rally against Kentucky in a last-ditch effort.
Belmont third baseman Kaden Galason hit a single to cut the score to 9-5.
But the final result was a Kentucky win 9-5 and a series sweep.
The Bruins will travel down Belmont Boulevard to Dugan Field to play Lipscomb University tomorrow at 3 p.m.
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This article was written by Reece Leddy.
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