April 30, 2003
Lexington, Ky. –
The Kentucky baseball team snapped a two-game losing skid with an 18-8 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels Wednesday night, April 30, at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Cats (19-25, 6-14 Southeastern Conference) and Colonels combined for 35 hits in the game, including a season-high 23 from the Cats, led by a perfect 4-for-4 performance from Caleb Brock and four hits in five at bats from Mike Breyman.
“I was very pleased with the way we hit the ball tonight,” Head Coach Keith Madison said. “We were aggressive at the plate and had a good attack. That’s the way we want to approach our offense from here on out.”
EKU (19-20, 6-5 Ohio Valley Conference) came out firing, as Josh Anderson led off the game with a single and advanced to third on a stolen base and passed ball. Neil Sellers brought Anderson home from third with an RBI double down the left field line for the early 1-0 lead, and Adam Visnic added to the EKU margin with a two-run single up the middle, giving Eastern a three run advantage in the first inning.
After EKU scored again in its next at bat, Kentucky answered in the second and third with two-run home runs in each frame. Jake Kungl blasted the first shot over the left field wall, and Mike Breyman knotted the game with a round tripper well over the deepest part of center that brought in Spencer Graeter to tie the score at 4-4 in the third. The Cats weren’t done yet in the inning, as Aaron Edwards singled with two outs, scoring Caleb Stewart and Brock for a two-run lead.
UK broke open the game with five more in the bottom of the fourth after the Colonels had chipped one away in the top of the inning. Stewart answered by lacing a double to left that cleared the bases, and Brock and Kungl put together consecutive RBI singles to add to the scoring column for the Cats, giving them an 11-5 lead.
The Cats added seven more runs to their cushion in the last four innings to secure the victory over the intrastate rival. Sellers blasted a solo homer over left center in the fifth and the Colonels crossed a runner in the eighth and ninth to give Kentucky the victory with the 18-7 final tally. Seth Stanley (5-5) earned the win for Kentucky after relieving starter Rob Bland in the fourth.
The Cats return to conference action this weekend with a three game series in Columbia, S.C., against the South Carolina Gamecocks. UK looks to edge closer to the SEC Eastern Division-leading Gamecocks with its third consecutive conference series victory, having taken two-of-three from SEC foes Tennessee and Georgia in the past two weeks.
–UK–
