LEXINGTON ? The Kentucky baseball team opens NCAA Tournament play for the fifth time in school history on Friday night when it faces Ball State in the first round of regional play at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The game will be a battle of postseason inexperience as the Wildcats are making their first appearance since 1993. The Cardinals have not played in the NCAA Tournament since 1969. The other game of the regional features Big East champion Notre Dame against Southern Conference champ College of Charleston.
Senior southpaw Craig Snipp (7-4, 3.47) gets the nod on the mound for UK. The Louisville native won his final three starts of the regular season, including a complete-game effort to clinch the Southeastern Conference championship at Georgia.
The Cardinals send ace Ben Snyder (7-5, 4.71) to the hill. The sophomore lefthander is a fireballer who has fanned 99 batters in 101.1 innings.
Snyder will have to contend with Kentucky?s explosive offense, which led the SEC in runs, home runs, doubles, slugging percentage and on-base percentage during the season. The Wildcats were particularly potent at home, averaging 9.5 runs per contest while posting a 29-4 record, including 13 straight wins.
For the Bluegrass Bombers, Ryan Strieby, Sean Coughlin, Collin Cowgill and John Shelby have each topped 15 home runs. They are only the fifth quartet in SEC history to hit at least 15 long balls in a season. All four have also driven in better than 50 runs led by Strieby?s school-record 77.
Records
Kentucky ? 42-15
College of Charleston ? 43-15
Notre Dame ? 45-15-1
Ball State ? 37-20
Regional Seeds
No. 1 Kentucky
No. 2 College of Charleston
No. 3 Notre Dame
No. 4 Ball State
Rankings
Kentucky ? No. 8 Collegiate Baseball
College of Charleston ? No. 23 NCBWA
Notre Dame ? No. 15 Baseball America
Ball State ? not ranked
Schedule (times Eastern); Lexington, Ky. (Cliff Hagan Stadium ? 3,136)
Friday, June 2, 2006
Game 2 – Notre Dame vs. College of Charleston * 2 p.m.
Game 1 ? Ball State at Kentucky * 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Game 3 ? Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 * 2 p.m.
Game 4 ? Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 * 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Game 5 ? Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 * 2 p.m.
Game 6 ? Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 * 7 p.m.
Monday, June 5, 2006
Game 7 ? Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 * 7 p.m.
Tickets
Game 1 is sold out. General admission tickets for other games are available for $7 at the gate or by calling the UK ticket office at (859) 257-1818.
Radio
Friday: WLAP 630-AM in Lexington (UK?s game only)
Saturday/Sunday/Monday: TBA
Television Friday: UPN in Lexington; FSN in selected markets (UK?s game only)
Saturday/Sunday/Monday: UPN in Lexington; FSN TBD (UK?s games only)
Pitching Match-Ups
Friday vs. Ball State
LHP Craig Snipp, Sr. (7-4, 3.47) vs. LHP Ben Snyder, So. (7-5, 4.71)
Saturday/Sunday/Monday
TBA
Projected UK Line-Up (Avg-HR-RBI)
C (L) Sean Coughlin (.319-17-53)
-or- (R) Justin Scutchfield (.228-0-11)
1B (R) Ryan Strieby (.344-20-77)
2B (R) John Shelby (.286-17-53)
3B (L) Michael Bertram (.343-5-33)
-or- (R) Matt McKinney (.300-2-14)
SS (S) Ryan Wilkes (.256-1-23)
LF (R) Shaun Lehmann (.229-7-29)
CF (L) Antone DeJesus (.332-4-30)
RF (R) Collin Cowgill (.308-16-58)
DH (L) Billy Grace (.292-6-26)
Quick Notes
? Kentucky won its first SEC championship in school history with a 20-10 league record.
? With a No. 4 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball on May 15, Kentucky cracked the top five for the first time in school history. The highest UK ranking before this year was 14th in March 1994.
? Kentucky coach John Cohen is the third person in SEC history to win a conference championship as a player (Miss. State, 1989) and a coach (Kentucky, 2006). Jim Whatley (Alabama player ? 1933, 34; Georgia coach ? 1953, 54) and Jake Gibbs (Ole Miss player ? 1959; Ole Miss coach ? 1972, 77) are the others.
? Kentucky is the first team in SEC history to complete a worst-to-first turnaround after going from 7-22 in the league last year to 20-9 this year. It is the first 20-win conference season for UK.
? Kentucky broke the school record with its 42nd win of the season. The previous best was 41 in 1991. It is only the third 40-win season in UK history.
? Kentucky has four players with at least 15 home runs (Ryan Strieby, John Shelby, Sean Coughlin, Collin Cowgill) for the first time in school history.
? Of the 18 teams to win a share of the SEC Championship since 1991, 14 have gone on to reach the College World Series, including six straight since 2001.
? Kentucky is in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in school history and first since 1993. The Wildcats are hosting a regional for the first time in school history.
? John Cohen was named the SEC Coach of the Year and Ryan Strieby is the SEC Player of the Year.
? Collin Cowgill was named a second-team Academic All-American this year.
