No. 2 Baseball drops 15-inning contest to Kentucky, 5-4 – University of Texas Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 2 Texas had its nine-game conference winning streak snapped by Kentucky, falling to the Wildcats, 5-4, in 15 innings Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Longhorns (28-5, 12-2 SEC) picked up their first loss in league play since March 21, ending its longest conference winning streak since a 10-game stretch that spanned from March 8, 2010, to March 25, 2011.

Kentucky (19-13, 6-8 SEC) secured the walk-off victory, capitalizing on a defensive miscue.

After a leadoff single, center fielder Griffin Cameron laid down an attempted sacrifice bunt. Cameron sprinted down the first base line, as the throw ricocheted off of a glove and trickled into right field.

Catcher Devin Burkes raced all the way around from first to score the game’s winning run.

In the defeat, Texas’ pitching staff tallied a season-high 16 strikeouts and allowed only one walk. The Longhorns didn’t issue a free pass until two outs in the 12^th inning, the 50^th batter faced by a Texas arm.

Hurlers Aiden Moffett, Jason Flores, Dylan Volantis, Andre Duplantier II and Thomas Burns combined to yield just one unearned across 9 1/3 innings in relief. The quintet of pitchers limited the Wildcats to five hits and totaled 11 punchouts.

Despite being tagged with the loss, Burns (0-1) tossed a season-long four frames, holding Kentucky to the one unearned tally on three knocks. The righty struck out four batters, extending the Longhorns’ longest game since an 18-inning affair on April 3, 2015.

Meanwhile, Duplantier II’s scoreless inning marked his 84^th career appearance in burnt orange, the 10^th-most in program history.

In the early stages of the five-hour and 12-minute marathon, shortstop Jalin Flores delivered a go-ahead two-run blast to put Texas in front, 3-2.

Flores’ 388-foot opposite-field shot was his 31^st career homer, which moved him into a tie for the eighth-most by a Longhorn, matching Drew Stubbs (2004-06) and Eric Kennedy (2019-23).

Texas will look to claim its 12^th consecutive conference series in the rubber game on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m. CT.