Lexington, (Ky.) ? Alabama freshman pitcher Wade LeBlanc held Kentucky to just two runs on six hits, as he threw a complete game and struck out six batters on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The win improved LeBlanc?s record to 8-4 and the Crimson Tide to 28-22 (9-16 Southeastern Conference). UK fell to 22-26 with the loss, and 6-19 in SEC play.
?Alabama has a talented team and maybe the best pitching staf that we?ve seen all year,? said UK head coach John Cohen. ?We definitely have our hands full this weekend and we will have to compete to give ourselves a chance.?
Alabama got on the board first when Evan Bush touched UK starter Craig Snipp for a home run in the top of the first inning, his seventh of the season. Snipp then settled in to hold the Tide scoreless over the next four innings.
The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, as Caleb Stewart led off with a triple and scored when Mike Breyman doubled. Breyman later came in to score the go-ahead run on Billy Grace?s double.
LeBlanc cruised from that point on, not allowing another UK hit until Jake Kungl laced a single back up the middle with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Tide scored twice in the top of the fifth. Charlie Lyons singled and scored on Allen Rice?s triple. Bush plated Rice a batter later with a double, his third hit of the game. Bush finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.
?Tonight was a game where we hit the ball hard several times, but didn?t get much to fall,? said Cohen. ?Three times we hit a hard ball that bounced off a defender and we still ended up being out on the play. That?s baseball and we?ll have to come back ready to hit again tomorrow.?
Kungl led the UK offense with two hits. Spencer Graeter was 1-for-3 with a walk. Rice, Lyons, Zac Welch and Michael McCallister all had two hits each for the Tide. Snipp (2-7) took the loss for Kentucky, allowing four earned runs over five innings, while striking out six.
The two teams will continue the three-game series on Saturday with a 7 p.m. (ET) start. Kentucky will honor its 10 seniors with Senior Night festivities starting at approximately 6:45 p.m. Senior Seth Stanley (6-2) will go to the mound for the Wildcats, where he will be opposed by Alabama?s Brent Carter (6-3). All the action can be heard live on 96.1 FM in Lexington. Live audio and stats are available at www.ukathletics.com, as well as live video for users with ?Extreme Access.?
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