LEXINGTON ? Sean Coughlin blasted two home runs and drove in three to pace Kentucky?s offensive juggernaut to a 12-7 victory over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The Wildcats have scored 31 runs on 31 hits in the first two games of the series, both wins. Kentucky goes for the sweep Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Northwestern took a 2-0 lead after the first, but UK scored in each of the next eight innings to cruise to the victory. In the second, Matt McKinney singled to lead off and Justin Scutchfield reached on an error. Antone DeJesus singled home McKinney and Scutchfield scored on Ryan Wilkes sac fly.
Coughlin provided Kentucky?s lone run in the third with a lined shot over the wall in left center that gave UK a 3-2 lead. In the fourth Shaun Lehmann singled and scored on a Wilkes groundout.
Northwestern tied it in the fifth with a two-out rally. Aaron Newman was hit by a pitch and Jake Owens scored him with a triple. Antonio Mule made it 4-4 with an RBI single.
Coughlin struck again in the home half of the fifth with a two-run shot that scored Ryan Strieby. John Shelby followed with a walk and scored on a sac fly that made it 7-4. The home run was the fifth of the year for Coughlin, who passed Collin Cowgill for the team lead.
In the sixth, Northwestern scored once to make it 7-5, but Kentucky rallied for two runs in its half of the inning and a 9-5 lead. The visiting Wildcats scored again in the seventh, but DeJesus matched them with his first home run of the season, a towering shot down the right field line. The next batter, Wilkes, crushed one over the wall in right, but it bounced off the scoreboard ? which is in play ? for a single.
A pair of hit batsmen came around to score in the eighth for the final margin and Owens homered in the ninth for the final margin.
Aaron Tennyson earned the win for Kentucky after working 5 1/3 innings. He improved to 2-1 on the year while Brock Baber hurled the final 3 2/3 innings to pick up his second save.
Northwestern starter Dan Brauer lasted just four innings and did not factor in the decision. Andrew Smith came on to face four batters, allowing three to score. He suffered the loss to fall to 2-1.
Notes: Sean Coughlin hit two home runs to give him a team-high five for the season ? Coughlin is the first Wildcat to hit more than one home run in a game since John Shelby did against Arkansas last season ? Coughlin scored a career-high four runs ? Antone DeJesus had three hits to extend his hitting streak to 16 dating back to last season ? DeJesus has a hit in all nine games he has batted in this year ? Collin Cowgill did not record a hit for the first time this year ? Matt McKinney is 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored in the series ?Ryan Strieby was hit by two pitches to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 10 games ? Eight of Kentucky?s nine starters had an RBI ? Kentucky has 12 home runs, seven more than it had through 10 games last year ? The Wildcats have scored 31 runs have 31 hits in the series ? Brock Baber picked up his eighth career save, which ties him for sixth in school history.
