Feb. 28, 2003
Birmingham, Ala. –
Kentucky senior Brad Pickrell launched a game-winning three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Marshall reliever Chris Meadows to propel the Bat Cats to a 9-6 victory over the Thundering Herd. After Meadows (0-1) had retired the first two batters of the ninth, Spencer Graeter reached on a bloop single to left and Mike Breyman, who was 3-for-5 with two doubles on the afternoon, extended the inning on a single over the head of the shortstop to set the stage for Pickrell’s heroics.
“Coming in to pinch hit, it’s my job to make good contact and put the ball in play,” Pickrell said. “I just wanted to get a good pitch and try to get a base hit so we could get out of here, but fortunately something even better than that happened.”
“It’s good to see a senior come in to pinch hit and hit a ball like that,” Coach Keith Madison said of Pickrell’s blast. “Being able to come from behind and win a game like this is the kind of thing that will really help the confidence of this team.”
With Kentucky (4-3, 0-0 SEC) trailing, 6-5, right fielder Gordy Tyler led off the bottom of the eighth inning with an infield single, and pinch runner Zach Archer came around to score when Jake Kungl’s ground ball was misplayed by Marshall third baseman Corie O’Bryan, tying the game at 6-6.
After Marshall (2-4, 0-0 MAC) starter Grant Harper had held the Cats to just one run through five, the Kentucky bats woke up in the sixth inning, as they scored four runs on five hits to cut a 6-1 Marshall lead to 6-5. Graeter led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a triple from Breyman. Breyman came in on a double from Tyler, who later crossed the plate on the Cats’ third double of the inning, from Andrew Levenson.
Kentucky starter Scott Wade struggled, going three innings and allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits, but James Rodriquez came on in relief to throw four solid innings, giving the Herd one earned run on two hits. Freshman Kalen Gibson (1-0) came on to pick up the first victory of his young career, as he threw two innings of no-hit ball.
“I want to give some credit to our freshman reliever, Kalen Gibson,” Madison said. “He did a great job coming on in relief and throwing two strong innings.”
Marshall got on the board in the top of the first inning when Mike Koitsopoulos led off the game with a double to right center and came around to score on Matt LaFleur’s single to left. The Cats answered against Harper in the bottom of the second, evening the game at 1-1 on a run-scoring groundout off the bat of designated hitter Levenson. Marshall struck for four runs in the top of the third inning off Wade, three coming on a bases-clearing double from Craig Dziedziejko to the gap in right center. The Herd scored again in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Koitsopoulos, giving them a 6-1 advantage before UK staged its comeback.
The Bat Cats return to action on Sat., March 1, as they take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-2, 0-0 OVC) in Birmingham. That game is slated for a 3 p.m. EST start at Young Memorial Field on the campus of Alabama-Birmingham.
– UK –
