Records
Kentucky ? 17-4, 0-0 SEC
Xavier ? 6-13, 0-0 A-10
Rankings
Kentucky ? No. 26 Collegiate Baseball
Xavier ? not ranked
Schedule (times Eastern)
Lexington, Ky. (Cliff Hagan Stadium ? 3,000)
Wednesday, March 22 vs. Xavier * 4 p.m.
Pitching Match-Ups
Tuesday vs. Xavier
LHP Chris Rusin, Fr. (1-0, 4.15) vs. RHP Bill Konecny, Jr. (1-1, 5.62)
Projected UK Line-Up (Avg-HR-RBI)
C (L) Sean Coughlin (.306-6-17)
-or- (R) Justin Scutchfield (.226-0-7)
1B (R) Ryan Strieby (.398-4-29)
2B (R) John Shelby (.233-3-16)
3B (L) Michael Bertram (.338-2-12)
-or- (R) Matt McKinney (.467-0-8)
SS (S) Ryan Wilkes (.333-0-10)
LF (R) Shaun Lehmann (.209-2-7)
CF (L) Antone DeJesus (.354-2-19)
RF (R) Collin Cowgill (.338-5-21)
DH (L) Billy Grace (.340-4-14)
-or- (R) Brian Hastings (.270-0-10)
Quick Notes
? At No. 26 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll, Kentucky is ranked for the first time since April 2000. It is the highest ranking for UK since being No. 20 in March 2000.
? With a win over Xavier, Kentucky would improve to 18-4 and match the best start in its 102-year history of baseball.
? Ryan Strieby is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after leading UK to a series win over No. 8 LSU. He is the second Wildcat to earn the honor this year, joining Sean Coughlin who did so two weeks ago.
? Strieby ranks in the top five in the SEC in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, runs, doubles, RBIs and total bases.
? Strieby has a team best nine-game hitting streak, three short of Antone DeJesus?s season-best streak of 12.
? Kentucky leads the SEC with 13 quality starts this year. Greg Dombrowski leads the team and is tied for second in the league with five. Wednesday starter Chris Rusin has one.
? Greg Dombrowski has not walked a batter in 35.2 innings this year and in 53.1 innings dating back to last year. His overall streak is the longest in the nation, just beating Cal State-Fullerton?s Wes Roemer, who has a streak of 52.2 innings.
? Kentucky has walked an SEC-high 134 times while being hit by 35 pitches as well. In fact, UK has scored 65 runs from players who reached via BB or HBP. That number is nearly as high as its opponent run total for the season of 76.
LEXINGTON ? The 26th-ranked Kentucky baseball team looks to continue its winning ways when it hosts Xavier on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky is coming of its first series victory over eigth-ranked LSU since the 1994 season. The Wildcats won the first two games of the series 8-2 and 6-3 and was one-strike away from a sweep before ninth inning rally by the Tigers.
At 17-4, Kentucky is off it its second-best start in its 102-year history and can match the 2000 team for the best start in school annals with a win Wednesday. That team began the season 18-4 in route to a 38-20-1 finish. The start has earned UK its first national ranking in six years.
The last time Kentucky appeared in the poll was April 3, 2000 when the Wildcats held down the 28th spot.
Freshman lefty Chris Rusin (1-0, 4.15) will get the nod for UK against junior right-hander Bill Konecny (1-1, 5.62). Last week Rusin earned his first career win by tossing six inning and allowing just two run on five hits against Cleveland State.
The Wildcats have been an offensive juggernaut thus far this season topping the Southeastern Conference in eight of 14 statistical categories, including runs per game, on-base percentage, slugging, home runs, and doubles. The team is also third in batting average and hits.
Leading the offensive charge for UK is reigning SEC Player of the Week Ryan Strieby. Strieby leads the SEC in RBIs, doubles, and total bases this season and it currently working on a nine-game hitting streak.
Strieby carried the Wildcats to the series victory over LSU by hitting .500 in the series with a home run and double while driving in six and scoring five runs. Strieby also had four hits and a double in the two-game series sweep over Cleveland State last week. The junior first-baseman has not just been a force on the offensive end, Strieby has yet to commit an error in an SEC best 241 chances and also been in on a league-leading 22 double plays.
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Xavier 22-8, with its last victory coming in 2001.
