LEXINGTON ? Freshman Ryan Wilkes beat out an infield single with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Kentucky to a 4-3 victory over rival Louisville on Wednesday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The win is the third in the last five games for the Wildcats, who completed a season sweep of the Cardinals with the win. Kentucky, which improved to 17-14 on the year, has now beaten its rival seven of the past nine meetings. Louisville, which has series victories over No. 1 Tulane and No. 12 Georgia this year, fell to 17-12 overall.
?I have really come to appreciate the Louisville rivalry,? Kentucky head coach John Cohen said. ?It?s nice to be able to play mid-week games against quality competition with an emotional atmosphere. It?s neat for our players. You always want to win, but everyone notices the Kentucky-Louisville game, so it means that much more.?
Junior Kevin Caldwell and sophomore John Shelby drew leadoff walks to get a rally going in the 10th. A sacrifice by senior Jesse Barber advanced both runners before freshman Collin Cowgill was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out.
Needing only a sacrifice fly to win the game, junior Justin Scutchfield struck out swinging to bring Wilkes to the plate. After falling behind 0-2, Wilkes battled back and finally put the ball in play deep in the hole at short. Racing down the line, he beat the throw by a step to allow Caldwell to score the winning run.
?I was just trying to put it in play and make something happen,? Wilkes said. ?Fortunately, I hit a ground ball and beat it out.?
The game was completely different from the first in the series, which Kentucky won 12-11. That game featured 17 extra-base hits, compared to just 15 total hits between the teams Wednesday night.
On a planned rotation, Kentucky used eight total pitchers to get through the night. Junior Aaron Tennyson started and allowed a run in two innings. Junior Matt Robinson and freshman Alex Jordan followed in the third and fourth, respectively, and each allowed a run. However, that was all the Cardinals would get.
Junior Craig Snipp and freshman Tommy Warner went an inning and allowed a single hit each. At that point the Wildcat bullpen slammed the door, holding Louisville hitless over the final four innings. Adam Revelette went 2 1/3 hitless innings and Brock Baber worked an inning.
Louisville native Scott Green, making his fourth relief appearance this year, got the final two outs and earned the win. He moved to 2-2 this year.
After falling behind 3-0 halfway through the fourth, Kentucky?s offense came alive. In the fourth, J.B. Schmidt walked to lead off and went to second on Billy Grace?s single. A pair of one-out RBI singles by John Shelby and J.P. Lowen cut the Cardinal lead to 3-2.
An inning later Wilkes tied the game on a Caldwell fielder?s choice. He had drawn a leadoff walk to reach base.
Kentucky returns to action Friday at Applebee?s Park, where it hosts No. 23 Auburn at 6:30 p.m. The series will continue Saturday at 6:30 p.m. before wrapping up Sunday at 11 a.m.
Notes
Kentucky swept Louisville in a season series for the first time since 2000 ? The win is the third walk-off win for Kentucky this year and the fifth come-from-behind win ? It was the second straight extra-inning game for Kentucky, which fell to No. 25 Tennessee in 10 innings Sunday ? Kentucky is 2-1 in extra-inning games this year and 4-2 in them under John Cohen ? Justin Scutchfield had his sixth multi-hit game of the year ? Scutchfield extended his career-long hitting streak to six games ? 10 of Scutchfield?s 18 hits this year are doubles ? Scott Green earned his first win since Feb. 26 and his first career win in relief ? Eight pitchers is the most used for Kentucky in a game.
Kentucky Wildcats 4, Louisville Cardinals 3
4/13/05
at Lexington, Kentucky
Louisville – 101 100 000 0 – 3 6 0 (17-12
Kentucky – 000 210 000 1 – 4 9 1 (17-14)
Pitchers: Louisville – Lynn; Jenkins(4); Magnuson(7); Bailey(10); Halford(10).
Kentucky – A. Tennyson; M. Robinson(3); A. Jordan(4); C. Snipp(5); T. Warner(6); A. Revelette(7); B. Baber(9); S. Green(10).
Win-S. Green(2-2) Loss-Bailey(2-1) T-3:06 A-194
HR UL – Burton (2).
