May 3, 1999
The sun finally shone after over 48 hours of heavy showers and the Kentucky Wildcats (21-25, 11-13 SEC) continued their offensive drive as they swept the South Carolina Gamecocks (31-18, 12-12 SEC) in a crucial conference series at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia, S.C.
With the sweep, Kentucky remains one game out of second place in the Eastern Division and one game out of the SEC Tournament later this month. Florida swept Vanderbilt in Nashville this weekend to move into a tie for first place with the Gamecocks. If Kentucky ties with the Gators or South Carolina for first or second place in the division, UK would receive a bid to the tournament because of winning the series against both schools.
Friday night’s game was rained out after a constant downpour flooded the field, leaving puddles of water standing in the outfield. A double header was scheduled for Saturday, weather permitting, with the first game being televised on Fox Sports South. Mother Nature had different plans, though, and the televised game was cancelled, as the rain did not cease until 6 p.m.
The opening game of the series began Saturday night at 7 p.m., four hours after the scheduled 3 p.m. start. Junior Nathan Kent took the mound for the Wildcats, looking to extend his three-game win streak and earn his third consecutive SEC victory of the season.
South Carolina scored one run in the bottom of the first to take the early lead, but Kentucky answered with five unearned runs in the third, all coming with two outs in the inning, to take a commanding 5-1 lead. A walk to Taylor McInnis and a RBI single by Andy Green put one run on the board and a runner on first, bringing Beau Moore to the plate. An easy grounder to second baseman Jay Lambert appeared to end the inning, but Lambert could not field the ball cleanly and Moore reached on the error. The miscue proved costly as Aaron McGlone rifled a shot over the left-centerfield wall to give the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. John Wilson followed with another home run, his league-leading 19th of the season, to give UK a four run advantage.
The Gamecocks never quit, scoring six runs in the fourth as the UK lead slowly slipped away. Three doubles, a single, and a walk led to four of the runs and Adam Poe hit his third home run of the season to put South Carolina in the lead, 7-5.
The Wildcats turned their hats into rally caps and scored three runs in the seventh inning to regain the lead, but fell behind in the bottom of the inning. NCAA Stolen-Base Leader Brian Roberts broke out of a hitting slump and belted a three-run blast down the right field line to tie the game at 10-all. Kent was taken out of the ball game and relieved by Josh Paxton who pitched 2.2 innings of one-hit baseball.
Coach Keith Madison used his baseball savvy and kept the Wildcats in the game. Breck Price moved from right field to pitcher in the tenth inning and intentionally walked two batters to load the bases and put speedster Roberts on third with only one out. A grounder to shortstop Vince Harrison appeared to lead the Gamecocks to victory, but quick fielding by Harrison and great coverage of home plate by Wilson got the force out and kept the Cats in the game.
McGlone provided late inning heroics in the eleventh inning, sending his second home run of the game over the outfield wall, and putting the Wildcats one run ahead of the Gamecocks. Consistent pitching by Price earned him his second victory of the season and the Cats their 19th of the year as Kentucky won the opening game, 11-10.
Sunday served as Day Two of the series, with two seven-inning games being scheduled to begin at noon. The sun shone brightly and not a cloud was in the sky as the games were played, quite a change from the previous two days. Brandon Webb took the mound for Kentucky and pitched 5.1 innings of five hit baseball. The sophomore had struggled in his previous starts and settled down Sunday, leaving the game with a two run lead, but picking up the win. Robert Newton gave Kentucky the winning run with his fourth home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning.
Ben Shaffar came in to pitch in the seventh inning, and earned his first save of the season. The junior worked his way out of trouble, and got Tim Angiolini to strike out to end the game.
Shaffar started the second game, picking up a win and a save on the same day, a first for the right hander. He threw for seven strikeouts and earned his team-leading fifth victory of the season. Beau Moore belted a two-run blast over the right-center field wall that has yet to land and added to the UK scoring drive. The Wildcats won the final game of the series and picked up their first sweep since the 1996 season when the team swept South Carolina in Lexington. UK has defeated the Gamecocks in 15 out of the last 19 games played and bumped USC out of the SEC East lead with the sweep.
The Wildcats have been on a roll in the conference, winning the last three series and four of the last five. Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday, May 5, facing Cincinnati in Lexington at 6 p.m. before playing host to Auburn in the last home SEC weekend for the Wildcats.
