On Thursday, May 14, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 4-3 at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington. Jaxon Jelkin, Kentucky’s projected Saturday starter in the weekend series against Arkansas, came out of the bullpen during this game and recorded the save.
In two innings of work, Jelkin allowed just one earned run and struck out two Arkansas hitters.
Jelkin has been the Wildcats’ ace this season, and a move out of the bullpen was unexpected. Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione talked about Jelkin pitching out of the bullpen in a press release from the Wildcats.
“Maybe one of the more unselfish moves that I can remember,” Mingione said.
Jelkin told Kentucky’s pitching coach, Dan Roszel, that he felt good and wanted to be available to pitch in the weekend series opener against the Razorbacks. It is that unselfishness that Mingione was referring to.
Jelkin with two elite starts against Tennessee and Florida
Before recording the save against Arkansas, Jelkin put together two great starts on the mound in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. The right-handed junior pitched two complete games against the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators.
On May 2 against Tennessee, Jelkin had 11 strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs. He pitched the full eight innings of a game that Kentucky won 12-2. The game stopped after eight innings by way of a run rule.
On May 9 against Florida, Jelkin pitched all nine innings. Over the stretch of those nine innings, he had 12 strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs. The Wildcats defeated the Gators in that game 4-2.
The complete games against Tennessee and Florida are not the only times Jelkin went deep into starts during SEC play. The right-handed ace pitched eight innings against both Vanderbilt and LSU this season. Jelkin also pitched seven innings against both Missouri and Alabama this season.
Up next for Kentucky
The Kentucky Wildcats helped their NCAA Tournament hopes a lot by winning their 13th SEC game of the season against Arkansas on Thursday.
A series win would go a long way for Kentucky, and that is what they are shooting for in their next game.
The Wildcats and the Arkansas Razorbacks will play on Friday, May 15. The game is at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, and the first pitch is at 6:30 p.m. ET.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Via Jaxon Jelkin on Instagram (@jaxon_jelkin)
