LEXINGTON, Ky. – Employing the same formula that led to a series-opening victory over Missouri on Friday, No. 12/16 Kentucky scored eight early runs to coast to a 10-0 decision over the Tigers and clinch a Southeastern Conference series win Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park.

UK scored four runs in the first, three more in the second and one in the third to build an 8-0 cushion, then relied on a strong starting performance from Tyler Bosma to notch its 20^th win in its last 21 games.

Hunter Gilliam led UK with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, while Devin Burkes (2-for-2, three runs) and Emilien Pitre (three RBIs) also contributed to the Wildcats' attack.

After sending nine men to the plate and scoring five times in the first inning of Friday's series opener, Kentucky (24-3, 7-1 SEC) batted around once again while plating four runs in the first inning of game two. Jackson Gray's leadoff double sparked the rally, before a pair of hit batsmen loaded the bases against Mizzou starter Zach Franklin (4-2).

Pitre's grounder to second produced the first run of the day, and Gilliam followed with a run-scoring single to left-center field. Ryan Waldschmidt drove in the third UK run with a double, and Kendal Ewell completed the first-inning scoring with an RBI single.

Pitre struck again in the home half of the second, driving a two-run double to left to stretch the UK lead to six runs. The Wildcats second baseman then stole third, before scoring easily on a wild pitch to make it a 7-0 game.

The Wildcats scored again in the third, extending their advantage to eight runs on Grant Smith's one-out solo shot to left.

Mizzou (19-8, 3-5 SEC), which was held to four hits in Friday's 12-2 loss to the Wildcats, never got its offense in gear in game two. Bosma (4-1) struck out six while blanking the Tigers on four hits over 6.0 innings, before turning the ball over to his bullpen. Evan Byers completed the contest for the Wildcats, tossing 2.0 innings of one-hit relief.

The Tigers benefited from some solid work from its relief corps, with the duo of Daniel Wissler and Nic Smith combining to hold the Wildcats to three runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings.

UK scored the final run in the eighth, with Gilliam's double bringing in Burkes to cap the run-rule victory—the Wildcats' second in as many games in the series.

With the setback, the Tigers have now dropped five straight SEC contests following their opening weekend series sweep of Tennessee.

TIGER NOTEBOOK

• Missouri fell to 12-17 all-time vs. Kentucky, including a 4-9 mark in Lexington
• The Tigers also dropped to 4-6 in true road games this season and to 3-5 on its current nine-game road trip
• Kentucky has outscored Mizzou by a combined 9-1 margin in the first inning so far in this series
• Luke Mann extended his personal hit streak to eight games with his 2-for-4 afternoon, marking his team-leading 10^th multi-hit performance of the season
• Mann is batting .438 (14-for-32) on the current road trip
• The Wildcats have out-hit the Tigers by a combined 23-9 margin through two games in the series
• Wissler matched a career best with 3.0 innings pitched

UP NEXT

Mizzou concludes its series with Kentucky, as well as its nine-game road swing, with an 11 a.m. (CDT) tilt Sunday (April 2) at Kentucky Proud Park. The contest will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

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