March 7, 2000
LEXINGTON, Kty. The University of Kentucky baseball team hit a season-high three home runs to lead the club to a 9-3 victory over Miami (Ohio), setting the all-time school record for consecutive victories with 14. Vince Harrison was the hitting star as the UK third baseman went 3-for-5 while his first-inning home run gave the Cats a lead that they held for the remainder of the game.
Starting pitcher Brandon Webb moved to 4-0 as he held the RedHawks scoreless in his scheduled four-inning stint. Freshman Mark Michael relieved Webb and threw four hitless innings as UK put together a streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings, going back to the eighth inning of UK’s 9-3 win last Saturday. The streak ended when Jarrod Reynolds allowed a two-run homer to Miami third baseman John Lackaff in the ninth.
UK built a 5-0 lead after five innings off Miami starter Matt Allen (0-1) with the help of two more long balls. In the second, Seth Morris connected for his first collegiate home run with a drive that cleared the wall in left-centerfield. The Cats tacked on another run later that inning with the benefit of one of Miami’s four errors, but struck for another big fly in the fifth when Andy Green led off by launching a ball to a spot over the left-centerfield fence similar to that of Morris’ drive. With three home runs on the young season, Green is on a pace to break his personal-best mark of five diggers set back in his freshman season.
As was the case in all three games of UK’s weekend sweep of Dayton, the Wildcats put the game away with a big inning as they touched Miami reliever Chris Leonard for four runs in the eighth. After a walk to Robert Newton and a single by Seth Morris, Gordon Tyler ripped a run-scoring, pinch-hit single off of the lefthander and Jeff Meade drove in a run with a double to left-center. Tyler scored on a Beau Moore groundout and Meade came home on Harrison’s third hit of the afternoon, a sharp single to centerfield.
In addition to Harrison’s superb game, Morris went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Meade collected two hits in four at-bats, driving in a run and scoring a pair. Meade also stole his fifth base of the season.
Kentucky concludes its five-game homestand on Wednesday against the Yale Bulldogs. First pitch at Cliff Hagan Stadium is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET.
