Lexington, (Ky.) ? Seven Kentucky pitchers combined to two-hit Morehead State in an 8-0 shutout of the Eagles on Wednesday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The UK staff retired 22 of the last 23 batters, including 21 in a row at one point. Starter Andy Myette (1-1) earned the win. He was followed by Craig Snipp, James Rodriquez, Adam Kunkel, Shane Boyd, Aaron Tennyson and Matt Scott. All threw one perfect inning with the exception of Rodriquez, who threw two, and Scott, who surrendered a harmless single in the ninth. Tennyson struck out the side in the eighth inning.
?We are just very proud of the effort we got from our entire staff tonight on the mound,? UK head coach John Cohen said. ?Our pitching coach, Gary Henderson, has done a phenomenal job with this group and they are getting better with each game. We can?t say enough about what they did for us tonight.?
Kentucky (20-19) erupted for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking advantage of two costly Morehead errors. Pinch-hitter Steve Deaton reached base on an error to start the rally and Michael Bertram doubled for the second time. Deaton then scored on a Spencer Graeter groundout before Billy Grace and Caleb Stewart were each hit by a pitch. Breyman singled to plate Bertram and Grace and Jake Kungl reached on the second Eagle miscue of the inning. Casey Gilvin, who transferred to UK from Morehead a year ago, delivered the knockout blow with a double, brining home Breyman and Kungl and giving Kentucky a 7-0 lead.
The Cats got their first run in the bottom of the first when Bertram led off with a double and later scored on Breyman?s sacrifice fly. The final margin was provided in the bottom of the eighth, as J.B. Schmidt singled and scored on a Grace single.
Starter Casey Campbell (2-6) took the loss for Morehead, which fell to 12-26 on the season. Campbell allowed seven runs, three earned, on seven hits in seven innings.
Kentucky next travels to Athens, Ga., this weekend for a three-game Southeastern Conference series with the Georgia Bulldogs.
— UK —
