April 15, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. – University of Kentucky left fielder Aaron McGlone’s solo homerun in the second-inning off Georgia starting pitcher Matt Steele movedMcGlone into first place on the all-time UK hit list and gave the Wildcatsa 1-0 lead they would never relinquish in a 7-1 win over the Bulldogs onSaturday afternoon at Foley Field.
One day after Chris Clark held UK to a season-low five hits, the Cats(27-9-1, 6-9-1 Southeastern Conference) pounded out 16 hits. McGlone, whosefourth homer of the season was the 242nd hit of his UK career, went 3-for-5in the game, needing just a triple for the cycle. Andy Green also movedpast the former UK hit-king Mike Botkin with his 242nd career hit, alead-off double in the fifth. Both hitters equaled Botkin’s 241 safetieswith hits off Clark in last night’s contest.
The Cats got a dominating pitching performance from Scott Wade who wentthe distance for the second time this season. The freshman right-handerlimited the Bulldogs (23-15, 9-7 SEC) to one run (earned) on six hits,striking out two and walking none. In his best start in SEC play, Wade(7-2) got 15 fly ball outs and never allowed more than four Bulldogs to batin an inning.
The Wildcats continued the trend they set in Friday’s ballgame – when UK’sleft-handed hitters accounted for four of the team’s five hits whiledriving in and scoring all three UK runs – as the Cats built a 7-1 leadthrough five innings off UGA pitchers Matt Steele and Bill Sharpton.
Wildcat left-handed hitters were 5-for-10 off the right-handed Steele whiledriving in four runs and scoring four more. McGlone’s home run was the bigblast, but Beau Moore’s run scoring single to center in the third inning,his first of three hits in the game, gave UK a 2-0 lead.
John Wilson’s RBI single giving UK a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning knockedSteele (5-3) from thegame. Steele lasted four-plus innings allowing seven runs (earned) on 10hits while walking none and striking out six. Sharpton was greeted by runscoring hits off the bat of McGlone and Robert Newton that extended thelead to 7-0. UGA finally shut down the UK hit parade with left-hander TroyDavis closing the game with three scoreless innings.
Five players contributed multi-hit games for the Cats on Saturday as JeffMeade – in addition to McGlone and Moore – collected three hits whileWilson went 2-for-5 and Newton went 2-for-4.The Bulldogs and Wildcats play the rubber game of their three-game seriestomorrow afternoon with first pitch at Foley Field scheduled for 1:30 p.m.EDT.
