BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team dropped its midweek contest against Kentucky, 8-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium. With the loss, the Colonels fall to 3-8 on the year while the Wildcats improve to 6-6.

Senior southpaw Paul Duncan (0-1) started on the hill and received the loss for EKU, going three innings and allowing three runs on four hits while striking out three batters. Five Colonel relievers worked an inning each following Duncan’s departure. Freshman left-hander Cory Littrell (2-1) earned the win for UK, pitching seven full and surrendering one run on just three hits.

Junior Jacob Daniel and sophomores Austin Grisham and Matt Phipps recorded the Colonels’ only hits on the day. Taylor Black was a home run short of the cycle for the Wildcats as he batted 4-for-5 with three runs scored, an RBI and a steal of home.

UK got to Duncan in the first inning as lead-off man Black singled, went to second when Chad Wright was hit by a pitch and came home on a base hit to left center by Braden Kapteyn. Luke Maile then scored Wright on an RBI ground out to third base. The Wildcats added to that lead in the bottom of the third when Maile walked, went to third on a double down the right field line by J.T. Riddle and then scored on a wild pitch.

The Colonels responded in the top of the fourth as sophomore Austin Grisham ripped a double down the right field line to lead off the inning and scored on a two-out, two-strike single into left center by junior Jacob Daniel to make it 3-1.

That would be all the Colonel offense could muster, though, as only one EKU base runner reached second base the rest of the game. The Wildcats, meanwhile, added two runs in the home half of the fourth, two more in the bottom of the sixth and another in the bottom of the seventh to slowly pull away from a Colonel team that has now dropped four straight games.

EKU will try to get back on track this weekend when the Colonels return home to Turkey Hughes Field – where they are 3-2 this season – to host UNC Asheville in a three-game series. First pitch on Friday afternoon is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.