BATON ROUGE, La. – Matt McKinney drove in a career-high four runs, as the No. 11 Kentucky baseball team exploded for six runs in the fifth inning and pounded the LSU Fighting Tigers 16-2 in front of 7,380 fans on a beautiful Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
Kentucky (22-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) pounced on the Tigers out of the gate, scoring six runs in the opening three innings to take a commanding lead. Kentucky got a career performance from McKinney, who ripped his first career triple, in addition to driving in the career-best four RBI. McKinney finished the day 3-for-5.
Kentucky starter Chris Rusin earned the win, improving to 3-1 on the season. Rusin, a sophomore southpaw, went six solid innings, allowing only two runs and striking out six. LSU ace lefty Charlie Furbush took the loss, falling to 3-3 on the season. Furbush, considered one of the nation’s best left-handed pitchers, was roughed up for six runs in just two innings. Freshman Tyler Henry earned the save, his second of the season, working the final three innings.
Senior Mike Brown also pulverized the Tiger pitching staff to the tune of a 3-for-3 day, boosting his club-best batting average to .481. Sean Coughlin, the NCAA leader in RBI with 45 in just 24 games, had a 2-for-5 day to improve his team-high hitting streak to 17. Brown and Coughlin were part of seven Wildcats to chart a multi-hit game.
Kentucky got the scoring started in the top of the first inning, as Antone DeJesus led off the game with a double down the left-field line. A Mike Brown sacrifice bunt and walks drawn by Sawyer Carroll and Coughlin loaded the bases for McKinney. McKinney delivered a single through the right side to plate DeJesus and Carroll. Ryan Wilkes loaded the bases with a walk, one of three on the day, and Coughlin scored from third on a wild pitch to give UK a 3-0 lead.
In the second, Kentucky led off the inning with a Tyler Howe walk, and after a DeJesus sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, Brown pushed a single through the middle to score Howe. After singles from Carroll and Coughlin, McKinney hung up a fly ball to right field, enabling Brown to touch the plate for UK’s fifth run.
In the third, Kentucky freshman outfielder Jason Kipnis connected on his club-best fifth home run of the season, a shot sent straight into the Alex Box stadium scoreboard in right field to give UK a 6-0 lead.
LSU (14-10, 1-3 SEC) answered in the third, as Blake Dean singled and catcher Sean Ochinko scored him with a single.
Kentucky broke the game open in the fifth inning, pushing across six runs in the frame. Howe reached on a fielding error and scored on two consecutive wild pitches. DeJesus and Brown singled and Carroll cleared the bases with his 13th double of the season. Coughlin delivered his NCAA leading 45th RBI on the season with a single that scored Carroll. McKinney delivered his first career triple to score Coughlin. Spear finalized the inning, scoring McKinney with a single to give UK a 12-1 advantage.
In the seventh, Kentucky got a two-run home run from Spear and a RBI single from Howe to give UK a 15-1 lead.
LSU got a solo home run from Ryan Schimpf to narrow the lead to 15-2 in the bottom of the seventh.
In the ninth, DeJesus drove in Wilkes, who had reached on a walk, for the final margin, 16-2.
Kentucky resumes the series with LSU with a 5 p.m. EDT matchup at Alex Box Stadium. The game, broadcast by the Big Blue Sports Network with Dick Gabriel and Neil Price, can be heard live in Lexington on WLAP 630-AM or online at the official home for UK athletics, UKathletics.com.
Post Game Notes
Team Records and Series Notes
No. 11 Kentucky improves to 21-2 with the win, 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
LSU drops to 14-10, 1-3 in the SEC.
LSU still leads the all-time series between the two schools, 34-18.
Kentucky improves to 4-0 on the road.
Team Notes
Friday night’s attendance of 7,380 at Alex Box Stadium marks the largest crowd the Wildcats have played in front of in 2007.
Kentucky’s 15 runs in the game are the most in an SEC contest since hanging up 18 on Mississippi State on May 12, 2006.
UK’s 18 hits are the most since knocking 20 against UT Martin on March 11, 2007.
Kentucky has scored 276 runs in 24 games after setting the school record for runs scored last season with 500.
Seven UK players charted multi-hit games.
Individual Notes
Kentucky senior catcher Sean Coughlin extended his hitting streak to a club-best 17 games.
Coughlin drove in his NCAA leading 45th RBI of the season, part of a 2-for-5 day.
Freshman outfielder Jason Kipnis hit his team-high fifth home run of the season in the third inning, a lined shot sent directly to the Alex Box Stadium scoreboard.
Sawyer Carroll ripped a two-run double in the fifth inning. The two bagger was Carroll’s team-high tying 13th of the season.
Matt McKinney knocked his first career triple as part of a six-run fifth inning for UK. McKinney finished with a career-high four RBI.
Antone DeJesus made seven trips to the plate during the night, batting 3-for-5.
Mike Brown went 3-for-3 at the plate on Friday, to boost his average to .481. Brown currently ranks second in the SEC in batting average and leads the lead in runs scored (36) and on-base percentage (.598).
Pitcher Chris Rusin struck out six batters in six innings of work. Rusin leads the team with 35 strikeouts and improved to 3-1 on the season.
Brian Spear hit his third home run of the season in the seventh.
