LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tied at four entering the top of the ninth, the Wofford baseball team rallied to plate eight runs at Kentucky Proud Park Saturday afternoon, securing a 12-5 triumph over the No. 23 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Wofford improves to 12-3 as Kentucky drops to 11-2.
 
This is Wofford's first win over a ranked team since besting No. 18 Dallas Baptist 9-6 on April 2, 2022. The victory is Wofford's third ever over Kentucky and the first for the Terriers on the road with the first two in the all-time series coming in Spartanburg. The Terriers are the first SoCon team to secure a victory over an SEC program this season.
 
Cullen Condon started for Wofford, tossing 4.0 innings with three runs allowed. The freshman turned in a solid outing while notching a pair of strikeouts. Champ Davis (3-0) polished off the final 5.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk. He struck out four to secure the win.
 
Kentucky was forced to use seven arms in the contest with the fourth, Jackson Nove (0-1), suffering the loss. He allowed two runs in 2.0 frames of work on a hit and two walks.
 
Hits were even at 10 apiece, but the biggest difference was the free pass. The Terriers issued only three walks while working eight at the dish. Three Terriers recorded multi-hit outings, led by Ryan Wynn with his three base knocks. Two were doubles as he picked up two RBI and added a pair of walks. David Wiley did damage, amassing two hits with four RBI. Andrew Mannelly came off the bench and delivered two hits with three runs driven home. James Layman added a hit and a walk, and he scored a career-high four runs in the contest.
 
On the bases, the Terriers swiped six bags. Mannelly led the charge with a pair of steals. Wiley, Adam Haber, Tyler Bak, and Lucas Grantham each added one.
 
The game opened as a pitchers' duel with neither offense getting anything in the first two frames. Wofford was the first squad to break through, plating a pair in the top of the third. With one out, James Layman walked, and Ryan Wynn singled. Harrison Campi was hit by a pitch to load the bases for David Wiley, who lofted a single over the second baseman's head to plate a run. Adam Haber immediately followed with a surprise bunt single in front of the plate that pushed across Wynn for a 2-0 lead.
 
Kentucky quickly responded in the bottom of the third with a three-run home run, flipping the margin to 3-2 in favor of the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the fourth, but good defense by the Terriers held them at bay. With one out and a runner on second, Layman snagged a liner and roped a throw to Campi at second, who completed the double play to escape the situation unscathed.
 
Wofford opened the top of the fifth with a single by Layman and a double by Wynn to put runners on second and third. Wiley's grounder to third allowed Wofford to trade an out for the tying run as the score pulled level at 3-3.
 
More good defense by the Terriers snuffed out a Wildcat threat in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on second and third and one out, Wynn snared a liner and made an easy throw to Layman at third with the runner well off the base for the double play, keeping the game tied.
 
The Terriers capitalized on the momentum and took the lead in the top of the sixth. Tyler Bak opened the frame with an opposite field single, and he promptly swiped second. This set up pinch-hitter Andrew Mannelly, who delivered a single to left that scored Bak for the 4-3 edge.
 
Kentucky pulled level in the bottom of the seventh with a run, but the Terriers limited the damage with some clutch play. With the bases loaded, the Wildcat cleanup hitter squared up a ball to the warning track. Wiley's full-extension diving catch at the base of the wall limited the damage and held UK to just a sacrifice fly on the play. Later in the frame, Champ Davis clutched up to strand a pair of runners with a strikeout, keeping the score 4-4.
 
Another well-executed defensive play by Wofford kept Kentucky off the board in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on third and one out, the Wildcats put down a bunt that Davis fielded and shovel-passed right to Lucas Grantham at the dish for the tag out, yet again keeping the score knotted at four.
 
The Terriers broke through in a big way in the top of the ninth, batting around to score eight runs. James Layman reached on a bunt to start things off, and Wynn worked a walk. After a sacrifice bunt advanced them, Wiley came through once more with a two-run single to left to break the deadlock. Later in the frame, Mannelly delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs. The bases became loaded once more, and a fielding error allowed two more runs to scurry home. The Terriers continued to roll when Wynn clubbed a double into the right center gap, pushing across two more runs. In all, 13 batters came to the dish for Wofford in the inning. The eight runs in the frame are the most in an inning this season by the Terriers, who had stretched their lead to 12-4.
 
Kentucky notched an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, but Davis held firm and induced a groundout to finish off the contest and seal the 12-5 Terrier triumph.
 
With the series now even, tomorrow afternoon's contest will determine the victor. First pitch for the rubber match is set for 1:00 p.m., and the contest is streaming on SEC Network +.