BATON ROUGE, La. — The No. 11 Kentucky baseball team hits the road for the first time in 20 games, as it travels to Baton Rouge to face off with the LSU Fighting Tigers in a three-game set, beginning Friday at 8 p.m. EDT at Alex Box Stadium.
Kentucky (21-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) is off to the best start in the 103-year history of the Wildcat baseball program, opening up 19-0 to start the season. Last weekend, UK took one of three games from No. 9 Arkansas at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season to the Razorbacks in the SEC opener last Friday. Kentucky 19-game winning streak ranks as the longest such streak in the history of UK baseball.
Kentucky will start off the weekend throwing southpaw Chris Rusin on Friday. The sophomore has accumulated a team-high 29 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings of action. Rusin will face off with acclaimed LSU lefty Charlie Furbush. On Saturday, Kentucky will run out another lefty in the form of junior Andrew Albers. Albers has earned a team-best 4-0 record in six starts on the season, striking out 20 batters in 27 1/3 innings. LSU will throw junior right hander Jared Bradford on Saturday and freshman righty T.J. Forrest on Sunday. Kentucky will counter on getaway day with preseason All-American right-hander Greg Dombrowski.
LSU (14-9, 1-2 SEC) owns one of the greatest college baseball traditions in the nation, winning five national titles and appearing in the College World Series 13 times. The Tigers opened up a new era during the offseason, introducing former Notre Dame head coach Paul Mainieri as the new skipper.
The Wildcats have been paced by a forceful lineup, racking up 260 runs on 280 hits. Leading the charge at the plate for UK have been seniors Mike Brown and Sean Coughlin. Brown leads the team in batting average, reaching at a .461 clip – ranking second in the SEC behind only Edward Easley of Ole Miss. Brown leads the league in two other categories ? on base percentage (.583) and runs scored (34). Brown ranks fourth nationally in on-base percentage and ninth in runs scored.
Coughlin, a preseason All-American catcher, leads the league and the nation in RBI, pounding out 44 during the opening 23 games of the season. On that pace, Coughlin would plate an astronomical 107 RBI, shattering the school-record set by 2006 SEC Player of the Year Ryan Strieby. Coughlin is batting .410 and is currently carrying a team-best 16-game hitting streak.
Fans in Lexington can catch the action live from Baton Rouge throughout the weekend on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Dick Gabriel and Neil Price(630 WLAP-AM).
TEAM RECORDS
No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats (21-2, 1-2) at LSU Fighting Tigers (14-9, 1-2)
DATES/TIMES
Friday, March 23 ? 8 p.m. EDT; Saturday, March 24 ? 5 p.m. EDT; Sunday, March 25 ? Noon EDT
STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium (7,760)
KENTUCKY IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
No. 11 by Collegiate Baseball
No. 16 by USA Today/ESPN
No. 15 by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
No. 25 by Baseball America
RADIO (Big Blue Sports Network with Dick Gabriel and Neil Price)
Friday: WLAP 630-AM
Saturday: WLAP 630-AM
Sunday: WLAP 630-AM
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads, 34-17
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday
UK? So. LHP Chris Rusin (2-1, 4.88 ERA, 27.2 IP, 11 BB, 29 SO)
LSU ? Jr. LHP Charlie Furbush (3-2, 2.89 ERA, 37.1 IP, 7 BB, 34 SO)
Saturday UK ? Jr. LHP Andrew Albers (4-0, 2.63 ERA, 27.1 IP, 5 BB, 20 SO)
LSU ? Jr. RHP Jared Bradford (4-1, 2.68 ERA, 37.0 IP, 7 BB, 34 SO)
Sunday UK ? Jr. RHP Greg Dombrowski (3-1, 3.95 ERA, 27.1 IP, 3 BB, 21 SO)
LSU ? Fr. RHP T. J. Forrest (1-1, 0.82 ERA, 11.0 IP, 2 BB, 9 SO)
