LEXINGTON ? Kentucky pounded out 17 hits and tied a season high in runs in its 19-1 victory over North Dakota State on Friday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Senior Aaron Tennyson hurled his second career complete game, allowing only four hits to earn the victory. He struck out a career-high six and walked only two. Tennyson improved to 3-1 on the season and is 9-2 in his last 11 decisions.
?You can?t say enough about (Aaron) Tennyson today,? Kentucky coach John Cohen said. ?He was in command all game long and did a great job keeping them off balance.?
The Wildcats? explosive offense got on track early and never let up. Leadoff hitter Antone DeJesus walked, stole a base and scored on a sacrifice fly before Kentucky registered its first hit. With two outs in the opening frame Ryan Strieby tallied UK?s first base knock. Sean Coughlin followed with a doubled to make it 2-0.
In the second inning, the first five batters all reached safely as the Wildcats put a five-spot on the board. A two-run home run in the third by Shaun Lehmann made it 7-0.
The Bison sandwiched two hits around a walk to leadoff the fourth for their lone run. Kentucky answered with two in its half of the inning and scored two more in the fifth for an 11-1 lead. Three of those four runs came on homers as Michael Bertram hit a solo shot for his first of the year and Ryan Strieby launched a two-run bomb, his third.
The sixth was the only inning UK didn?t score, going three-up, three-down. However, the offense regained its stroke in the seventh with two runs before capping the afternoon with a four-run eighth.
Strieby benefited the most from Kentucky?s outburst, tallying four hits and driving in a career-high five. Bertram and Matt McKinney each had three hits while Sean Coughlin and Collin Cowgill had two a piece.
Coughlin roped a ball that easily cleared the wall in right center, but struck the top of the scoreboard, which is in play, for a single.
With all the hits, what stood out most from the ballgame was that DeJesus did not have one. The sophomore had his 19-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-4 performance. He did walk twice, score a pair of runs and drove in one.
?Everybody on the squad had a really good approach at the plate today,? Cohen said. ?We did a tremendous job of taking the ball back up the middle and it resulted in a lot of base hits. You don?t like to see Antone?s hitting streak come to an end, but he?s the kind of player who can start a new streak tomorrow.?
Tennyson was in control throughout, retiring the side in order five times and getting 21 of 27 outs via strikeout or ground ball. He retired eight straight early on and ended the game by sitting down nine consecutive batters. Only two base runners got past first base all afternoon, one scoring.
The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Kentucky is expected to send Greg Dombrowski (3-0, 1.71) and Craig Snipp (3-0, 1.57) to the mound.
Prior the game, the Wildcat coaching staff will hold a free coaching clinic in the Nutter Fieldhouse, which his adjacent to Commonwealth Stadium. The clinic runs from 9 a.m. until Noon and is open to anyone.
