The University of Kentucky baseball team will begin conference play this weekend,March 9-11, when the Wildcats travel to Oxford, Miss., for a three-game series with the OleMiss Rebels at Oxford-University Stadium.
UK (6-7) is currently riding a four-game winning streak and is building confidence as theSoutheastern Conference schedule gets underway. The Cats offense has racked updouble-digit hits in three of its last four games and the pitching staff has continued to put upimpressive numbers. Cat hurlers have rung up 89 strikeouts this season, in comparison toonly 65 by the opposition. Heading into SEC play, the team ERA stands at 3.64.
At the plate, UK is led by its catching duo of Spencer Preston and Caleb Brock. Prestonleads the squad with a .383 average, three home runs and 15 RBI. Brock currently rankssecond with an average of .375. Two other Wildcats, Gordon Tyler and Vince Harrisonaverages stand above the .300 plateau, with marks of .333 and .304, respectively.
Ole Miss (13-4) is off to a good start under the guidance of first-year coach Mike Bianco.The Rebels, who were projected in the preseason to finish last in the SEC West, boast ateam batting average of .308. Sophomore shortstop Chad Sterbens leads the Ole Missattack with a .457 average. The Rebels will also enter Fridays game with a four-game winstreak.
UK finished fourth in the SEC Eastern Division last season with a conference record of12-16-1. During last seasons series with Ole Miss, the Cats took two of three games, yetcontinue to trail the overall series, which dates back to 1925, 16-22.
Scott Wade is scheduled to start for UK on Friday. Wade (1-2, 2.77 ERA) picked up hisfirst win of the season in last Fridays 4-2 win over Kent State, throwing his first completegame of the year. Wade will be opposed on Friday by Ole Miss starter Pete Montrenes.Montrenes (4-0) is undefeated on the season and carries an ERA of 2.00. Kentucky startingpitcher has yet to be determined for Saturday and Sundays games.
Fridays first pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST. Saturdays contest will get underwayat 5 p.m. EST and the series finale on Sunday begins at 2 p.m. EST.
