May 14, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Kentucky baseball team fell, 9-6, to Western Kentucky in non-conference action at WKU’s Nick Denes Field Tuesday night. With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 17-33 on the season, while the Hilltoppers improve their record to 34-16.
The Hilltoppers didn’t wait long to light the scoreboard when David Lower blasted a leadoff home run over the left field wall on UK starter Mark Galvin’s first pitch of the game. After a Ryan Cattell single to left, Antone Towns ripped a double down the left field line to score Cattell and Nick Turner answered with a RBI single to give WKU a 3-0 edge after one inning of play.
WKU tacked on another run in the second when Travis Brown reached on a fielding error by shortstop Brad Pickrell and come home on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Townsend. Coach Keith Madison saw enough and signaled for senior lefty Bryan Felkel to relieve Galvin after 1.2 innings of work.
Ryan Cattell appeared to give the Toppers a six-run cushion when he launched a high fly ball over the center field wall but a hard-charging Seth Morris leaped and lunged his left arm behind the fence for a miraculous grab to quell the WKU scoring threat. The play brought applause from all 470 fans in attendance – a season high for Western Kentucky.
The Cats finally plated a run in the fifth when Robert Newton doubled to the gap in right-center and scored on Spencer Preston’s single to left to shave WKU’s lead to 4-1.
Both runs scored by the Hilltoppers in their half of the fifth were unearned as after retiring two straight to begin the inning, Felkel forced Turner to ground to third but an errant throw by Russ Rutherford allowed the first baseman to advance to second. Turner and Trevor Keesling, who reached on a hit-by-pitch, crossed home to put WKU up 6-1.
Morris continued to “wow” the crowd when he blasted his 12th home run of the season over the left-center fence in the top of the sixth to shave WKU’s lead to 6-3. The Cats offensive barrage continued when Cory Hahn cracked a two-run homer to left in the seventh to bring UK within one, 6-5. WKU added three more in the eighth off reliever Scott Wade.
UK will next play host to No. 11 Florida this weekend in a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Cliff Hagan Stadium to end the 2002 season. Sophomore right-hander Cory Hahn (3-7, 4.34 ERA) will contend with senior southpaw Jimmy Ramshaw (4-3, 4.54 ERA) in Friday’s opener at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be televised by the Sunshine Network and broadcasted live on WLXO 96.1 FM in the Lexington, Ky., area with Drew Deener on the call. Broadcasts and in-game scoring can be accessed at UKAthletics.com.
UK000 012 201 - 6 7 3WKU310 020 03X - 9 11 1Win: Hinchman (1-2)Loss: Galvin (0-2)Save: Wilhite (7)Time: 2:50Attendance: 470
– UK –
