LEXINGTON ? Collin Cowgill and Ryan Strieby drove in three runs each to lead Kentucky to a 6-3 victory over Evansville on Wednesday in the Wildcats 2006 home opener at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The win moved Kentucky to 6-1 on the season while Evansville dropped to 6-4. The Wildcats play game two of their 16-game homestand on Wednesday when they host Cincinnati. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the game can be heard locally on WXRA 1580-AM as well as online at www.UKathletics.com.
The crowd of nearly 1,000 watched as the Purple Aces took a 3-0 lead in the first when Jeff Fontaine sent a Greg Dombrowski pitch over the wall in left. Dombrowski settled down to retire six in a row before giving up a single in the third. Following that, he sat down 12 straight before coming out after seven strong innings and earning the win to move to 2-0.
?I had a shaky first inning with the home run, but settled in after that,? Dombrowski said. ?I kept the ball low and got a lot of ground ball outs. The team played well behind me and we were able to get some hits and put up some runs.?
With Dombrowski in control, the UK offense began to light up. The Wildcats made solid contact all game long, pounding out 10 hits. In the third, two singles and a walk set up Strieby?s bases-clearing triple that tied it.
Looking to take the lead, Kentucky put two on in the fifth and again in the sixth However, UK was unable to push anyone across until Cowgill went to work in the seventh. A leadoff single by Antone DeJesus prompted Cowgill to attempt a sacrifice bunt.
?We only had 10 hits but we could have easily had 20 because we scalded the baseball today,? Kentucky head coach John Cohen said. ?I thought our at bats were very good today so I?m pleased with that.?
After failing on his first two attempts, Cowgill was forced to swing away. Facing a full count, he launched his third home run of the season over the wall in left to make it 5-3. The hit extended his hitting streak to seven and his RBI streak to six.
?It was a 3-2 count and I was just looking for something to hit to get Antone into scoring position,? Cowgill said. ?I was a little upset because we work on bunting a lot, but I guess it worked out better in the end.?
Cowgill struck again in the eighth with an RBI single that plated Michael Bertram, who had two hits in the contest.
DeJesus, who finished with three hits, pushed his hitting streak to 13 games dating back to last season.
Brock Baber made the lead stand up. He hurled a perfect eighth and made it interesting in the ninth by putting two on before shutting the door. The save was the seventh of his career, which is tied for seventh best in school history.
Kai Tuomi started for Evansville but did not factor in the decision after working 4 1/3 innings and allowing three runs. Four relievers pitched for the Purple Aces, including the losing pitcher J.R. Carbonell. He pitched to just three batters, retiring one and giving up a single and the home run to Cowgill.
The win was the third straight for Kentucky and its 10th in a row in a non-conference home game. After an 18-year hiatus in the series, the Wildcats have won two straight over Evansville.
Notes: Kentucky won its third straight and its 10th straight non-conference home game ? The game was the first of a school-record 16-game homestand ? Antone DeJesus had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 13 games dating back to last year ? Collin Cowgill has a hit in all seven games this season and an RBI in the last six ? Cowgill hit his third home run of the year, one more that he hit all of last year ? Ryan Strieby hit his first career triple ? Five of Strieby?s seven hits this season have gone for extra bases ? Greg Dombrowski is 3-0 in three career starts and has a quality start each time ? Dombrowski has not walked a batter in 14 innings this season ? UK pitchers have thrown four quality starts in seven outings this season ? Brock Baber picked up the seventh save of his career, which his tied for seventh in UK school annals.
