MarcusCarson

Senior with 92 games of experience during his career, including 41 starts…Can play all three outfield positions with notable aplomb…Will steal a base (7-of-9 in his career)…Can really run and will be counted on as one of the team’s top baserunners…Knows who he is as a player…Will bunt and do the little things on offense…Extremely hard worker and respected player in the locker room…Had a good summer and followed up with a solid fall camp.

Played in 36 games for the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League…Batted .234 with 10 doubles, two home runs, 19 walks, six steals and 15 RBI…Team made the Northwoods League playoffs.

Appeared in 32 games…Started 15 games, 12 in right field and three in centerfield…Batted .167 with 11 runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI…Began the season well, hitting his first career home run vs. Dayton on 2/21, a three-run shot…Followed that up with two hits and a run scored vs. UC Santa Barbara on 2/26…Hit his other career home run against Western Kentucky on 3/15, part of an effort that also saw him score a pair of runs…Had a hit in three straight games from 3/12 to 3/15.

Served as UK’s fourth outfielder for the majority of the season … Played in 35 games with 22 starts … Hit .226 (19-for-84) with 11 runs, four doubles, five RBI and five steals … Had a .293 on-base percentage, drawing seven walks … For the second consecutive year, hit better in SEC play, batting .289 (13-for-35) with two doubles and three RBI … Was the opening-day starter at DH … Made three starts in centerfield, eight in rightfield and 11 as the DH … Had six hits in two starts at No. 1 LSU … Had a two-hit game vs. Indiana … Started the year hitting .094 after the first four weekends, before getting hot in conference play …  Starred for the Amsterdam Mohawks in the Perfect Game Collegiate League, joining UK teammates Connor Heady, Zack Brown and JaVon Shelby on the squad … Named to the All-PGCBL post-season team … Also named a PGCBL All-Star starter in centerfield … Hit .346 (45-for-130) with 38 runs, eight doubles, two triples and 12 RBI … Stole 14-of-18 bases and owned a 24-20 walk-strikeout ratio … Was also plunked by eight pitches.

Served as an extra outfielder and back up centerfielder during his true freshman season … Performance warranted more at-bats but was behind standouts Austin Cousino, Ka’ai Tom, Kyle Barrett and Storm Wilson … Was UK’s primary pinch runner off the bench … Made both starts in centerfield with Cousino sat out a game due to illness at Texas A&M and when Cousino served as the DH in midweek action … Also hit leadoff in place of Cousino at TAMU … Played in 25 games with four starts, hitting .364 (12-for-33) … Finished with 12 runs scored, two doubles, nine RBI and two steals … Played in 10 games with one start in SEC play, batting .188 (3-for-16) with an RBI … In non-SEC play, hit .529 (9-for-17), with 10 runs, two doubles and eight RBI … Had three multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games … Hit No. 1, No. 7 and No. 8 in the starting lineup … Shined situationally, batting 4-for-11 as a pinch hitter, with five two-out hits and five two-out RBI … Was 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position … Came off the bench as a pinch runner nine times … Made his first career start on opening weekend vs. VMI, going 1-for-3 with a double, two runs, stolen base and hit by pitch … Came off the bench for the next six games, before earning a start as the DH vs. Ball State, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and steal … Had his best career game vs. Ball State, coming off the bench to go 3-for-3 with four runs, a double and three runs … Earned praise from UK’s staff in a pinch-hit at-bat at No. 15 Indiana, despite making the final out of the game during a quality at-bat … Made first career start in centerfield vs. Western Kentucky, hitting 2-for-3 with two RBI and a hit by pitch … Had a pinch-hit vs. No. 1 South Carolina, driving in a run … Came off the bench in place of a sick Cousino in the middle game of the series at Texas A&M, going 1-for-3 … Was 1-for-5 in the following game at TAMU, his first career SEC start … Came off the bench as the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning vs. Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament, replacing AJ Reed and scoring the tying run to force an eventual 12-inning thriller. 

Set career records at North Laurel High School for batting average (.447), runs scored (231) and career at-bats (572), while also setting the single-season batting average record his senior year posting a .534 average .… Earned first-team All-State his senior year and all-district and all-region his freshman through senior years … Led his team to be the 13th region championship and 49th district championship senior year … Senior year, led his team in batting average (.534), with 63 hits, 12 doubles and five home runs, scoring 57 times, swiping 30 bags and knocking in 25 runs …  Along with varsity letters in baseball also earned five varsity letters in basketball, helping his team toward being region champs his junior season … Was an honor roll student and had perfect attendance. 

Full Name Marcus Allen Carson … Born in London, Ky. … Son of Mark and Janet Carson … Has a sister Tracy (25) … Major is Communications…His father played at Union College…Favorite MLB team is the Atlanta Braves…Favorite SEC road venue is Texas A&M…Wears No. 15 because he combined his favorite two numbers, 1 and 5.