May 12, 1999
John Wilson moved into a tie for first place in UK’s record books by hitting two home runs in the game as the Wildcats (24-28) defeated the Butler Bulldogs (26-25) in the second game of the three-team double header at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Butler scored in the top of the first inning, but UK tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Wilson hit his 22nd home run of the season. The Wildcats went ahead in the next inning, adding another run on Breck Price’s solo shot over the McDonald’s Home Run Wall in center field.
UK held the 2-1 lead until the fifth inning as Eric Storey belted his second home run of the game, a two-out, two-run shot over the right-center field wall. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the sixth and took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the inning.
The Wildcats continued their late inning rally routine by slowly chipping away at Butler’s lead in the last three innings as the seventh and the ninth innings proved to be the most important for Kentucky. After scoring one run in the sixth, Kentucky scored three runs in the seventh to pull to within one run of Butler. Aaron McGlone reached base on a fielder’s choice, Wilson doubled, and Vince Harrison walked to load the bases for catcher Jason Wolfe. After a costly error by Bulldog catcher Eddie Olszta that scored McGlone and advanced the runners, Wolfe singled to left field and drove in two runs.
Wilson came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a one run deficit and only one home run shy of tying Jeff Abbott’s 1994 record for home runs in a season. A solo shot over the center field wall tied the record at 23 as well as the game at seven-all. An error by short stop Andy Stoner put Vince Harrison on base and brought Robert Newton to the plate with no outs. Newton successfully laid down a bunt to pitcher Bob Juba, who committed an error to score Harrison from first and give the Wildcats the game, 8-7.
Kentucky returns to conference action on Friday, May 14, travelling to Baton Rouge, La., for the final SEC series of the season. The Wildcats are currently one game behind Florida for second place in the SEC East, and need to win one more than the Gators to qualify for the SEC Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., on May 19-23.
