NASHVILLE — Every member of the starting lineup charted a hit as the No. 17 Kentucky baseball team exploded for 13 hits, securing a series-evening 6-2 win over the 10th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,945 fans at Charles Hawkins Field.
The two top-20 teams will square off in a rubber match on Sunday, with first pitch moved to 1 p.m. ET ? up an hour from the originally scheduled 2 p.m. ET ? due to the threat of inclement weather. Fans can catch the action live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio), with the Voice of UK Baseball, Neil Price calling the action. In Lexington, fans can hear the game on WLAP 630-AM and in Louisville on WKJK 1080-AM.
The loss for the Commodores was just their second defeat in the last 14 games.
The Wildcats got hits from every member of the starting lineup, highlighted by two-hit performances from Collin Cowgill, Ryan Wilkes, Chris Wade and Keenan Wiley. Wiley extended his hit streak to a team-high 15 games, the longest hitting streak for a Wildcat this season. Wilkes finished with a double and a triple, driving in a team-best two RBI.
Making just his second career Southeastern Conference start, sophomore southpaw James Paxton was solid through 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and one run, walking two and striking out one. UK again got an excellent outing from its bullpen as seniors Aaron Lovett and Andrew Albers closed out the game. Lovett picked up the win (3-2), tossing two innings, allowing two hits, one run, walking two and striking out one. Albers picked up his first save of the season, working the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.
Vanderbilt starter Caleb Cotham, who entered the game leading the team in wins, fell to 6-3 with the loss, working 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, six runs, walking two and striking out four.
Kentucky (32-11, 10-10 SEC) stranded a season-high 16 runners on base.
UK got on the board with a three run, two-hit third inning. After Bryan Rose led off with a hard fly out to left field, Cowgill reached base for the second time in as many at bats, getting plunked by a 3-2 offering from Cotham. Sawyer Carroll drew a full-count walk, that included a wild pitch, allowing Cowgill to scamper to second. Chris McClendon scored Cowgill with a single to left field, with both runners moving up a base after a botched throw attempt. Wilkes notched his first triple of the year and the third of his four-year career, a hard liner into the right-centerfield gap, scoring Carroll and McClendon.
The Wildcats added a run to its lead in the fourth inning, as Wade led off with his team-high 15th double of the year, a hard ball drilled down the left-field line. After a Wiley sacrifice and a Rose strikeout, Cowgill connected on a slow-roller to the Vanderbilt shortstop, Ryan Flaherty, beating the throw to first and allowing Wade to score from third, making it 4-0 UK.
The Wildcats got two more runs in the fifth, extending a 6-0 lead. Wilkes got the frame started with a one-out walk, and Brian Spear followed with a single into the right-field gap. After a Tyler Howe strikeout, Wade scored Wilkes with a single into centerfield. Wiley followed, ripping an RBI single of his own up the middle, plating Spear.
Vanderbilt (31-12, 11-8 SEC) got a run of its own, narrowing the UK lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning. Catcher Shea Robin led off the fifth with a single into centerfield. After Paxton got Brian Harris to strikeout looking, Parker Hanks ripped a double down the left-field line. After David Macias drew a walk from Paxton, Lovett entered, getting Alex Feinberg to fly out on a sacrifice fly, scoring Robin. With runners on first and second, Pedro Alvarez belted a hard liner into left field, snagged by a diving Wiley, saving runs and extra bases.
In the sixth inning, Vanderbilt narrowed the UK lead to 6-2 as Ryan Flaherty led off with a walk. After Lovett got Dominic de la Osa to line out, second base was awarding to Flaherty on a balk. UK got Andrew Giobbi to groundout on a nice play from a diving McClendon at third for the second out. Robin followed, doubling into the right-field gap, scoring Flaherty.
Robin led the Commodores with a 3-for-4 performance at the dish.
Kentucky Baseball Represented in Music City Marathon
NASHVILLE — Three members of the UK baseball coaching and support staff participated in the Music City Marathon in Nashville on Saturday morning.
Assistant coach and third-base coach Brad Bohannon, head trainer Eric Yochem and Associate Athletics Director Scott Stricklin all ran in the marathon, with Bohannon and Yochem running the full 26.2 miles. Stricklin ran the half marathon ? consisting of 13 miles ? in 1 hour and 49 minutes. Bohannon finished the full marathon in 4 hours and 15 minutes, with Yochem leading the way at a 4 hour and 1 minute mark.
Before the game, Yochem came running into the stadium while the team was warming up, immediately changing and resuming his duties, bravely appearing unaffected by the physical toll associated with a 26-mile run. Bohannon did not let the potential exhaustion deter him from his routine of running to the third-base coaching box, as well as hitting fungo and throwing batting practice during pregame.
Stricklin?s and Yochem?s marathon marked the first of their running careers, with Bohannon running in his second.
