SAN ANTONIO ? The Kentucky baseball team broke open a pitchers duel with a six-run eighth on Saturday to beat Army, 9-2, at Wolff Stadium.
With UK holding onto a tight 3-2 lead heading into the eighth, Ryan Strieby worked a one-out walk to get the rally started. Three singles and an error later, it was 6-2 and the Wildcats had chased two relief pitchers. Antone DeJesus broke Army?s back with a two-out, three-run double to stretch the lead to six.
Before the bats came alive, sophomore pitcher Greg Dombrowski was magnificent to give Kentucky the lead. He allowed just two unearned runs in seven innings of work while striking out three and walking none. Of the eight hits he allowed, three were infield hits and two were bloop singles.
With the lead in hand, Dewayne Oxford and Zach Dials each worked a scoreless inning to close out the game.
Army, the two-time defending Patriot League champions, fell to 0-2 on the year while Kentucky improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2000.
Outside of errors that led to the Black Knight?s two runs, the Kentucky defense was spectacular. The Wildcats turned three double plays, threw out two runners at the plate and gunned down a runner trying to stretch a single in to a double.
Shaun Lehmann, who had one outfield assist, manufactured Kentucky?s first run in the third. He doubled to lead off, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home on a DeJesus sac fly.
Lehmann scored again in the fifth after reaching on an error that allowed him to take second. DeJesus singled to bring him home.
With his 3-for-5 performance, DeJesus extended his hitting streak to 10 games dating back to last year and drove in a career high five runs.
The Wildcats wrap up the weekend on Sunday when they face UT-San Antonio. On Friday, UK rallied to beat the Roadrunners, 10-4, in the first meeting of the two schools.
Notes: Kentucky improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2000 ? The Wildcats have scored at least nine runs in all three games this year ? Kentucky has won eight straight games against non-conference foes ? Wildcat pitchers have two quality starts in three games this season ? Kentucky pitchers have struck out 22 and walked two this year ? Greg Dombrowski has two career starts, winning both ? Antone DeJesus recorded a career-high five RBIs ? DeJesus has a 10-game hit streak dating back to last season ? Michael Bertram has a hit in all three-games this season ? Sean Coughlin is 5-for-8 in two starts this year ? Ryan Strieby has drawn five walks in the past two games ? Kentucky is 3-0 all-time against Army.
