April 28, 1998

Kentucky (21-25) at Western Kentucky (26-20)
Site: Bowling Green, Ky.Stadium: Nick Denes FieldDate: Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. ESTThe Coaches: Kentucky head coach Keith Madison is in his 20th season at UK and is 607-475-4.             Joel Murrie is in his 19th year at WKU and is 594-457-4.The Series: UK leads the series 22-12-1.Last Meeting: WKU won 8-6 in 11 innings earlier this season on April 14 in Lexington.Probable Starters: RHP Brandon Webb (3-3, 7.89) Kentucky                   RHP Ryan Ferrell (2-1, 6.14) WKU

Kentucky (21-25) at Louisville (23-20)
Site: Louisville, Ky.Stadium: Cardinal StadiumDate: Wednesday, April 29 at 6 p.m. ESTThe Coaches: Aurelio Prado is in his third year at U of L and is 64-88. Prado has an overall mark of 342-212-1 in 9-plus years.The Series: UK leads the series 49-26-1.Last Meeting: UK won 13-11 in Lexington last year.Probable Starters: LHP Tim Rowland (2-1, 7.71) Kentucky To Be Announced Louisville

A Glance at the Week Ahead – Kentucky heads into its mid-week games on a roll, winning six of its last seven games. The Wildcats took two of three from No. 23 Arkansas last weekend and have won six of their last eight conference games. UK has won three consecutive SEC series for the first time since the 1993 season.

UK travels to Western Kentucky with revenge on its mind after the Hilltoppers edged the Wildcats 8-6 in 11 innings two weeks ago in Lexington. UK split with Louisville and Western Kentucky in its annual two games last year. The Wildcats won 9-8 at home and fell 10-7 on the road to WKU. UK lost 8-7 last year in Louisville, but came back to win 13-11 at home.

NEXT UP:

UK Hits the Road

UK hits the road this weekend for a three-game series at No. 14 Auburn, beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats conclude the regular season with a five-game homestand. UK battles Louisville and Cincinnati next week before ending the regular season with South Carolina.

Head Coach Keith Madison – Since becoming the Wildcats coach in 1979, Keith Madison has guided his team to 607 victories – more than any other baseball coach in school history and the second-highest mark among active coaches in Southeastern Conference games.

In his 19 seasons, 77 players whom Madison has coached have signed pro contracts, 15 of whom have seen time in the major leagues. Madison picked up his 600th career victory on April 11 at Mississippi State, where he started as a graduate assistant in 1979. With UK’s win over Tennessee on April 13, 1996, Madison moved into third place on the SEC all-time victories list. Against Ohio University on March 12, 1996, Madison achieved another milestone by coaching in his 1000th career game.

Over the last 19 seasons, UK has averaged 31 wins a season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and 1993, with the team’s ’88 berth representing the school’s first NCAA appearance in 38 years. Madison took over a program in 1979 that had just finished last in the SEC Eastern Division. Madison guided his first team to a 29-18 mark, setting the school record for wins in a season. Madison improved that mark from 39 wins (1981) to 40 (1987) to 41 (1991).

Through all the success, Madison has guided eight All-Americans, 19 first-team All-SEC players, and 33 players to SEC academic honors. Madison has coached a first or second-team All-SEC selection 18 of his 19 years at Kentucky.

On the national scene, Madison was named the fourth vice-president of the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1995. In the ABCA officer rotation system. Madison has moved up to third vice-president of the organization. He will assume the presidency of the organization in 1999.

Scouting The Mid-Week Opponents – Western Kentucky has won 11 of its last 13 games, including a 8-6 win over UK on April 14. The Hilltoppers took two of three from South Alabama and Louisiana Tech the past two weekends. T.J. Freeman leads WKU with a .384 mark, including a team-high 18 doubles and 47 RBIs. Chris Yeo is hitting .379 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs.

Louisville has lost seven of its last 10 games, including two of three to Houston last weekend on the road. Key Voshell leads the Cardinals with a .374 average, including four home runs and 34 RBIs. Tim Harper, who is hitting .327, has a team-leading 11 home runs and 53 RBIs. UK and U of L will meet again on May 5 in Lexington.

Wildcats Overall – This is the 102nd season of Kentucky baseball. The Wildcats have an all-time mark of 1276-1095-22 for a winning percentage of .533.

Leftover Notes from the Arkansas Series – UK won its third consecutive SEC series for the first time since the 1993 season.

Senior Justin Bunch went 5-for-5 in UK’s 15-5 win on Saturday, setting a new career-high with two doubles. Bunch tied his career-high with four RBIs. Bunch is only the seventh player in school history to accomplish the feat and the first to do it in a conference game. Bunch also had 10 total bases, the most by a UK player this season. UK had 17 hits on Saturday, the most they have recorded in a SEC game since April 5, 1996 against Georgia.

Senior Jason Colemire moved into a tie for sixth place on the school’s record charts for doubles in a season with 19. UK had 10 doubles in the series, increasing its season total to 125. The school’s single-season record for doubles is 132 set in 1994. The Wildcats had six doubles on Saturday, tying a season-high. Junior Jason Chaney and Ben Shaffar didn’t allow an extra-base hit in a combined nine innings in the series finale on Sunday.

Paxton Named SEC Pitcher of the Week – UK sophomore Josh Paxton was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Paxton, a Germantown, Tenn. native, did not allow a run in 7.2 scoreless innings of relief as the Wildcats downed No. 23 Arkansas, 15-5, on Saturday. Paxton entered the game in the second inning with the bases loaded in relief of starter Brandon Webb and Arkansas clinging to a 4-3 lead. Paxton, who is 3-0 with a save in his last four SEC appearances, has only allowed one run in his last 21.2 innings pitched in conference play.

Last Time Out – Josh Loggins scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning and reliever Ben Shaffar got out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning as Kentucky won 4-3 over No. 23 Arkansas Sunday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

UK starter Jason Chaney won his second straight start, allowing nine hits and two earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. Shaffar relieved Chaney in the seventh with one out and the bases loaded. Shaffar struck out Arkansas’s No. 3 hitter Ryan Lundquist and got Rodney Nye to fly out to end the inning. Shaffar picked up his first save of the season. Sophomore Aaron McGlone led the Wildcats with two hits. Sophomore Andy Green had a two-run double in the fifth that tied the game at 3-3.

Wildcat Bats – UK enters the week hitting .310. The Wildcats have an extra-base hit in 45 of its first 46 games and have homered in 10 of their last 12 games.

The SEC Tournament Picture – With just two weekends remaining, the SEC tournament field is close with teams jockeying for positions 1-8. UK moved into sole possession of third place after winning two of three from Arkansas last weekend. UK, 9-15 in the SEC, concludes the regular season with a three-game series at home against No. 4 South Carolina.

If the tournament started today, UK would be a participant along with South Carolina, LSU, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Miss. St. and Arkansas. The top three teams from each division along with two wildcards advance to the tournament.

Andy Green Breaks Out of Slump – Sophomore Andy Green emerged from a season-long slump last week and raised his batting average to a season-high .264. Green, a shortstop from Lexington, is riding a season-high seven-game hitting streak. Green is 9-for-18 (.500) in the last five games with seven RBIs, seven runs scored and three doubles.

Green hit his first home run of the season last week against Eastern Kentucky. Against Arkansas on Sunday, Green tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run double in the fifth inning that propelled the Wildcats to a 4-3 win.

                   AB     R      H    RBI   2B    3B    HRMurray State        4     3      2     1     0     0     0     Eastern Kentucky    4     2      3     3     0     0     1     Arkansas            2     0      1     1     1     0     0     Arkansas            5     2      2     0     1     0     0     Arkansas            3     0      1     2     1     0     0     

Colemire Moving Up the Charts – Senior outfielder is quickly moving his way up the school’s record charts for doubles in a season. Colemire has 19 doubles this season, moving him into a tie for sixth on the charts with his double against Arkansas on April 25. Vince Castaldo holds the record for doubles in a season with 27 in 1988.

Here's a closer look at the Top 10:Rank Player     Doubles1.   Vince Castaldo, 1988    272.   Mike Botkin, 1982       24     Jeff Abbott, 1994       244.   Chip Rhea, 1996         215.   Bill Sandry, 1981       206.   Terry Shumpert, 1986    19     Terry Shumpert, 1987    19     Brad Hindersman, 1992   19     Eddie Brooks, 1993      19     Jason Colemire, 1998    1910.  Darin Rieman, 1988      18          Jeff Abbott, 1992       18

It’s Over After the Seventh – UK has posted an impressive 35-6 (.846) mark when leading after seven innings the past two seasons. The Wildcats were 19-3 in 1996 and 16-3 in 1998. Cheatle Has Success Against Non-Conference Foes Senior David Cheatle has assaulted non-conference competition the entire season, hitting a team-leading .518 (42-for-81). Cheatle has three hits seven different times in those 22 games. In the non-conference games, Cheatle has 26 runs scored, 10 doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs. His on-base percentage is a team-leading .612.

Borne Strikes Out Career-High 14 at Mississippi State Senior Matt Borne had his best outing of the season in the series opener at Mississippi State on April 10, a game televised live by Fox Sports South.

Borne, a seventh-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds last season, struck out a career-high 13 batters in seven innings of work against MSU. Borne allowed eight hits and two earned runs despite picking up the loss. Borne had been primarily used out of the bullpen for the first half of the season, picking up his only two saves in the first two games of the season. The Lexington native leads the team with 51 K’s, 25 more than he had all of last season.

Eastern Kentucky Game Washed Out – The Eastern Kentucky game on Tuesday, April 15 was canceled because of rain in the area. The game will not be rescheduled. It’s the fourth Wildcat game this season that has been rained out.

Colemire Streak is Snapped at 18 Games – Senior Jason Colemire had his career-high 18-game hitting streak snapped against Toledo on March 18 with an 0-for-5 day at the plate. Colemire is hitting .302 with nine home runs and 40 RBIs.

UK Enters NCAA Record Book With Six Double Plays – The Wildcats turned six double plays against Toledo on March 18, becoming only the 12th NCAA Division I team to accomplish the feat. Three different teams have recorded a record seven double plays. The last team to turn six double plays was Indiana against Kent in a 13-inning game in 1995.

Along with the Wildcats six double plays, Toledo recorded three which ranks second with a combined nine double plays. Georgetown and George Mason combined for 10 double plays in 1989.

Feel the Power – Senior Andy Bendix experienced a power surge at Tennessee (March 20-22) and it continued the following week. Bendix had three homers in the three-game series at Tennessee, one in each game, and had a game-winning grand slam against IUPU-Fort Wayne on March 24. Bendix, who is second on the team with a .582 slugging percentage, connected on two doubles against Austin Peay the following day. His homer against IUPU-Fort Wayne traveled over 400 feet. It was his first career grand slam. The senior from Eugene, Ore., has a team-leading 11 home runs, tying the amount he hit in 1996.

Doubles, Doubles, and More Doubles – UK has connected on 125 doubles in its 46 games. The school-record for doubles in a season is 132, set in 1994. The Wildcats are second in the SEC with 64 doubles in conference play.

Opponents Find it Difficult to Hold UK Scoreless – UK has put at least one run on the scoreboard the past 57 games. The last time the Wildcats were held scoreless was April 25, 1997 against Georgia.

Who’s on First? – Five different Wildcat players have seen action at first base this season. John Wilson (21 starts), Aaron McGlone (19 starts), Micah Plotts (3 starts), Robert Newton (2 starts) and Josh Loggins (1 start) have all started at least one game at first base.

UK Scores Runs in Bunches – UK has scored four-plus runs in 22 different innings this season. The Wildcats scored six runs in the ninth inning to pick up its first SEC win of the season March 8 at Vanderbilt. The Wildcats scored a season-high 10 runs in an inning against Murray State on April 21. It was the most runs in an inning since the Wildcats put up 16 in the fifth inning against Marshall on April 9, 1996.

UK Gets 21 Hits Against Ohio – UK pounded a season-high 21 hits against Ohio on March 4, the most since April 9, 1996 when the Wildcats had 26 against Marshall. The Wildcats had 20 hits against Murray State on April 21.

Two-Year Veteran – Senior Andy Bendix can be considered “the veteran” of this year’s squad. Bendix is the only player who has played in more than one season at Kentucky. Bendix played in six games last year before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair torn labrum in his right shoulder. In 1996, Bendix hit .296 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs. Bendix, who was granted a medical hardship, is hitting .308 this season with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs.

Cats on the Tube – Kentucky made its first apperance on television this season on April 10 at Mississippi State, losing 3-2 on Fox Sports South. UK’s game at Auburn on Saturday will also be televised on Fox Sports South.

Madison Has Ties to Hall of Famer – 1998 Major Leauge Baseball Hall of Fame selection Larry Doby was the hitting instructor for the Montreal Expos in the Gulf Goast League in 1970 while current UK coach Keith Madison was a player in the Expos organization.

Wildcats’ Bats On Fire – While the temperature was falling in Lexington during the opening week, it was soaring in Phoenix at the season-opening College Sports Classic thanks in part to the Wildcats bats. UK outhit New Mexico State (12-6) and Oklahoma State (11-4) in its first two games of the season. The Wildcats had 11 RBIs, six doubles and a triple.

PRESEASON HIGHLIGHTS –

Cats To Face Five New Opponents in 1998

UK will face five new opponents this season The Wildcats beat New Mexico State 8-6 in the team’s first-ever meeting at the College Sports Classic in Phoenix, Ariz. and split a series with Southern Mississippi (10-15, 10-6). UK was swept by Long Beach State (4-6, 2-19, 1-13) in Long Beach, Calif. UK held off a stubborn Belmont team 10-9 on March 31. Western Carolina edged out the Wildcats 6-5 on April 8.

Eight of UK’s 1998 scheduled opponents finished in the final 1997 USA Today Top 25 poll.

Wildcats Hire Assistant Coach – Former Birmingham-Southern College assistant Daron Schoenrock was named assistant coach in May. He will serve as pitching coach and also head the recruiting process.

Schoenrock, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, served as the assistant head coach at Birmingham-Southern for eight years under head coach Brian Shoop. While he was at BSC, the Panthers were ranked nationally seven of his eight years. He also coached two All-Americans, seven All-Conference selections and seven Major League draft picks.

In 1995, Schoenrock was hired by the Chicago White Sox organization and assigned to Bristol, Tenn., (A-Appalachian League), where he was responsible for tutoring pitchers from the 1995 draft. Nine Signees for Kentucky

Head coach Keith Madison signed nine players in the fall to national letters of intent to play baseball at Kentucky next season. The list of eight high school players and one junior college player includes four pitchers, four position players and one pitcher/outfielder.

Jeff Goldbach, a senior at Princeton Community High School in Princeton, Ind., will join the UK baseball program as a catcher/outfielder. Goldbach was named the 1997 Southwestern Indiana Player of the Year and a TPX/Louisville Slugger All-American.

The four position players to sign with Kentucky are first baseman Chris DeLeenheer from Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kan., outfielder/pitcher Jason Graham from Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Fla., third baseman Jonathan Peacock opponents finished in the final 1997 USA Today Top 25 poll.

1998 SEC Baseball Tournament – The SEC has adopted a new format for its 1998 baseball tournament, May 13-17, at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.

The new format is an eight-team double elimination tournament that is modeled after the College World Series. The tournament field includes the top three teams from the SEC’s Eastern and Western Divisions plus two at-large bids based on conference winning percentage. The eight teams are seeded 1-8 with the two divisional champions guaranteed of the top two seeds.

Wildcat Scratches – Sophomore’s Aaron McGlone (11 games) and Andy Green (7 games) have hitting streaks on the line.

UK is hitting .355 in the last five games. Five players are batting .500 or better in the last five games. They also have 18 doubles compared to their opponent’s four in the last five games. Josh Loggins has not went more than two games without a hit this season. Senior Matt Borne, who has a team-leading 51 K’s, has a strikeout in all 16 appearances this season.

Loggins is hitting a team-leading .343 in SEC play. Jason Colemire has 13 doubles and six home runs in conference play and a .616 slugging percentage. UK had season-highs for runs (20), runs in an inning (10), total bases (42), hit batters (3) and home runs against in its 20-3 win over Murray State last Tuesday at home.