Austin Fawley swatted a 418-foot home run and eight pitchers stymied Western Kentucky in a 5-0 three-hit shutout on Tuesday at Kentucky Proud Park in front of 2,226 fans.
Kentucky (7-1) scored three runs in the third inning and saw redshirt freshman drew Lafferty set the tone on the mound with three clean innings as it posted a second shutout just eight games into the 2024 season. Cameron O’Brien and James McCoy both produced massive strikeouts to snuff out potential Western Kentucky threats.
Fawley, a redshirt freshman catcher from Florida playing just his second game, walloped an 0-2 pitch deep into the Kentucky evening in the sixth inning to cap the scoring. He became the third Wildcat player this season to homer for their first career hit, joining Lukas Schramm and Eli Small.
The win moved UK coach Nick Mingione to 9-1 career against the Hilltoppers. The Wildcats will host Lipscomb this weekend, who previously lost to the same Western Kentucky club.
Kentucky hosts its first weekend series at Kentucky Proud Park when Lipscomb arrives this Friday for a 4 p.m. ET start. The game will be streamed on SECN+. Audio coverage will be provided by the UK Sports Network on UKathletics.com and 98.5 FM (Lexington).
Fawley’s first blast, impenetrable pitching lead Kentucky – UK Athletics​
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