May 7, 2000
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky junior right-hander Brandon Webbtossed his third complete game of the season and snapped his personalsix-start winless streak as the Wildcats salvaged the finale of their threegame series against No. 9 Louisiana State with a 7-4 win on Sunday at CliffHagan Stadium.
On UK’s “Senior Day,” all seven Kentucky runs were driven in by seniors asthe Wildcats (32-18-1, 9-16-1 Southeastern Conference) out-hit theninth-ranked Louisiana State Tigers for the first time in the series,13-7. The Cats are 25-2-1 when posting more hits than their opponent thisseason.
Senior Aaron McGlone, the all-time UK hit leader, answered an LSU run inthe first by hitting his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot, in thebottom of the inning. The Tigers (37-16, 17-9 SEC) regained the lead with arun in the third, but Jeff Meade gave the Cats their first lead in fivemeetings with LSU, driving a two-run single to centerfield in the bottom ofthe third.
The Tigers looked as if they were going to take the lead back in the nextinning as they loaded the bases with no outs, but Webb wriggled out of thejam by sandwiching two strike outs around a shallow fly out to left field.Webb (6-3) settled down to retire 12 of the next 15 hitters as he held thetop hitting SEC team scoreless on just one hit over the next five innings.Facing undefeated LSU starter Hunter Gomez, the Wildcats added to theirlead in the sixth with a run on three straight hits, knocking the seniorright-hander from the game.
Seth Morris started the rally with a one-outdouble, his 12th of the season, and moved to third on a single by BeauMoore who was in the lineup for the first time since straining ligaments inhis left-throwing shoulder last Saturday at Arkansas. Morris then scored ona single by Andy Green, one of the second baseman’s two hits in the game.
Gomez (7-1) was touched for four runs (earned) on eight hits in 4-1/3innings pitched, walking noneand striking out four as he lost for the first time since May 29 of lastyear, an 11-10 defeat in relief against East Carolina in the second game ofthe NCAA Regional.
The Wildcats put the game away in the sixth as Breck Price went to theopposite field and connected for a three-run homer off reliever HeathMcMurray to give UK a 7-2 lead. The long ball was the senior’s fifth of theseason, all coming in the last 15 games. Catcher John Wilson went 3-for-4on the day.
Winning for the first time since moving to 5-0 on March 24 at Tennessee,Webb held the Tigers to just five singles before a pinch-hit double in theninth by Jeff Lipari made the score 7-3. On the afternoon, Webb allowedseven hits and four runs (three earned) while walking four and striking outnine in the sixth complete game of his career. Webb’s nine strikeouts givehim 110 this season and leave him just 11 behind Rod Bolton’s 121 in 1990for the single-season UK record.
Despite the UK win, Ole Miss lowered its magic number to clinch the eighthand final spot in the upcoming SEC Baseball Tournament to two with a winover Georgia, 6-3, on Sunday. For the Cats, that means their destiny is outof their hands as Ole Miss can eliminate them from the postseason with twowins over Arkansas next weekend. What the Rebels do against the Razorbackswould become meaningless if the Cats lose two games at Vanderbilt nextweekend.
Further complicating UK’s postseason hopes is Tennessee, which passed theCats for ninth-place in the SEC over the weekend with a three-game sweep ofVanderbilt. Tennessee closes their regular season at No. 1 South Carolinanext weekend. Were the Cats to tie for eighth place in the conference witheither Ole Miss or Tennessee, UK would get the tournament berth by way ofwinning two-of-three against each team in the season-series.
With the win, UK Coach Keith Madison earned his 670th career win in his1,200th career game as the skipper of the Wildcats. Before the game Madisonand the UK baseball program honored Green, McGlone, Meade, Price and fellowsenior teammates Josh Paxton and Jason Wolfe.
Also recognized for theiroutstanding contributions to UK baseball were manager Missi Butler andsenior Patrick Mahan, a Wildcat pitcher for the last three seasons beforeretiring this spring to become the voice of the Wildcats on the internetand the flagship radio station of UK baseball, WSAI AM 1580.
The Wildcats will tune up for the close of the SEC regular season nextweekend at Vanderbilt by playing host to their final two home games of theseason this week. UK will be looking for retribution against WesternKentucky on Tuesday when the two teams play at 6 p.m. EDT. The Hilltoppersended UK’s school-record 24 game non-SEC win streak on April 19 with an 8-4win in Bowling Green. On Wednesday, the Cats will play their final homegame of the 2000 season, taking on Ohio University at 6 p.m.
(Listen to webcasts of all UK baseball games on the University of Kentucky’sofficial home on the web, www.ukathletics.com.)
