LEXINGTON, Ky. (Interstat) — The Kentucky Wildcats erupted for six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, turning a tight contest into a decisive 12-7 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Wildcats, who won their sixth straight game to improve to 13-2, sent 11 batters to the plate in the decisive eighth, capitalizing on a critical Citadel error to break open a one-run game. The Bulldogs fell to 5-7.

Trailing 7-6 entering the inning, Kentucky’s rally began with a single by T. Bell and a sacrifice bunt. After a walk loaded the bases, Citadel third baseman Anderson committed a throwing error on a grounder by R. Schwartz, allowing the tying run to score and keeping the bases loaded.

Catcher Tagger Tyson, who finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs, then delivered the go-ahead blow, lacing a two-run double to left field to put Kentucky ahead 9-7. Center fielder Jayce Tharnish followed by launching a three-run homer to left field, his first of the season, to extend the lead to 12-7. Second baseman Ethan Hindle capped the outburst with a solo shot to left-center, his second RBI of the day.

The late offensive explosion overshadowed a gritty effort from The Citadel, which had clawed back to take a brief lead. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead 7-6, keyed by a two-run single from pinch-hitter Tobin and an RBI single from Daniels.

Kentucky had chipped away at an early deficit, as The Citadel scored an unearned run in the third. The Wildcats answered with two runs in the first inning on an RBI single from Hindle, one in the fourth on an RBI double by S. Bell, and two more in the sixth on a two-run single by C. Cloud. A Citadel error in the sixth allowed a third run to score on Tyson’s single, tying the game at 6-6.

The Wildcats’ bullpen was instrumental in the win. After starter Ben Cleaver allowed two hits and no earned runs over three innings, Nile Adcock, Tommy Skelding and Ryan Mullan combined for five innings of relief. Adcock struck out three in a scoreless fourth, and Mullan closed the game with a perfect ninth, striking out two. Ben Brash and Trip Brown provided scoreless relief for Citadel before the eighth-inning collapse.

The teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday.

The most important part of the game was the bottom of the eighth inning. With Kentucky trailing by a run, the inning unfolded as a perfect storm of clutch hitting and defensive misfortune for The Citadel. The frame began with promise for the Wildcats but was fundamentally altered by a throwing error from Citadel third baseman Anderson with the bases loaded. That error not only allowed the tying run to score but also extended the inning, leaving the bases loaded with no outs instead of potentially creating a force-out situation or even a double play. Kentucky’s lineup, given that crucial extra opportunity, pounced relentlessly. Tagger Tyson’s two-run double immediately reclaimed the lead, and Jayce Tharnish’s subsequent three-run homer transformed a narrow advantage into an insurmountable one. The six-run outburst, fueled directly by the error, shifted the game from a tense, late-inning battle into a decisive Kentucky victory.