UK bumps Alabama 7-1 to advance in SEC baseball

HOOVER, Ala. – A.J. Reed pitched five solid inning and Austin Cousino drove in three runs as the ninth-seeded University of Kentucky baseball team thumped eighth-seeded Alabama 7-1 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The Wildcats (33-22) moved on to the double-elimination phase and will play top-seeded and 11th-ranked Florida and its freshman ace, righty Logan Shore (7-2, 1.69 ERA), at 5:30 p.m. EDT today.

"I'm really glad to win, obviously," UK coach Gary Henderson said. "We are looking forward to being able to stay here and play some more baseball. I'm really proud of the effort of our kids today. It was just a really, really good day on the mound for us, with A.J. getting his 11th win of the year."

Reed (11-2), a strong candidate for National Player of the Year, gave up six hits and the run, striking out two and walking two. The slugger also had a double and two walks in five plate appearances.

UK took a 2-0 lead in the second on Matt Reida's sacrifice fly and Cousino's run-scoring fielder's choice.

The Crimson Tide (34-22) got its run in the third on Wade Wass' RBI double, but Cousino's two-run single made it 4-1 in the fourth.

The Wildcats broke it open with two runs in the sixth and one in the eighth.

Andrew Nelson pitched the final four innings for UK, giving up just two hits and earning his first save this season.

"I was effective today because I did a good job of getting on top of some balls, on top of the fastball," Nelson said. "I did a good job of letting the ball sink. They were just missing it a few times on some good pitches. I made some bad pitches that they hit well.

"This ballpark is huge, so we made some good plays, had good defense behind us," Nelson said. "It was easy to stay loose because it was warm. It was easy to stay comfortable because we were scoring so many runs."

Starter Nick Eicholtz (3-3) took the loss for Alabama, which used six pitchers. The Crimson Tide were eliminated.