LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sawyer Carroll doubled twice and drove in a run, and Clint Tilford and Brock Baber combined to allow only one earned run, as the UK Black team edged the UK Blue in game seven of the annual Kentucky Baseball Fall World Series.
Game seven concluded the team fall practice season for Kentucky, and the Black squad asserted its dominance throughout the seven inning, seven-game series, finishing with a 6-1 series advantage.
Kentucky returns nearly all of its 2007 34-win season roster, including sluggers Sawyer Carroll, Collin Cowgill, and right hander Scott Green – who was recently tabbed as the 12th best prospect in college baseball by Baseball America. Cowgill and Carroll were two of the offensive standouts during the series, with Cowgill batting .350 (7-for-20), with two home runs, seven runs scored, and four RBI. The former 2007 preseason All-American, was joined by middle infielder Ryan Wilkes on the Blue team, with Wilkes batting .316 (6-for-19) with three doubles, and one triple.
Carroll, who hit .350 with an Southeastern Conference leading 23 doubles in 54 games in 2007, helped lead the Black team with a .292 (7-for-24) batting average in the series. Carby added three doubles, six runs, three steals, and four RBI. Middle infielder Kevin Carby hit .375 (6-for-16) in the series with three doubles, one triple and a series-high seven RBI. Catcher Tyler Howe led all hitters with a .450 (9-for-20) average, including two doubles, a triple, five RBI. Howe drew six walks in the series, good for a series-high .577 on-base percentage. Adding to the Black prowess was outfielder Brock Wright, who batting .412 (7-for-17) with five runs, three doubles, and six RBI. Fellow outfielder Troy Frazier added a .375 (7-for-17) average, with five runs, two doubles, one triple, one homer, and seven RBI.
On the mound for the Black in the series, Tilford toiled in three games with two starts, accumulating a 2-0 record and adding a save. The sophomore from Paducah, Ky., pitched nine innings, allowing only one earned run. Right hander Greg Dombrowski started two games for the Black, working nine innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run, striking out nine. Sidewinding reliever Baber added two saves.
In game seven, Tilford got the start, working four innings, allowing his first earned run of the series. In the fifth inning, Baber relieved Tilford and worked the final three frames without allowing a run. Tilford got the win and Baber earned the save.
Blue outfielder Bryan Rose got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning, sending a broken-bat, 3-2 offering from Tilford into the right-centerfield gap for his first home run of the series.
In the next half inning, Black answered with a four-run frame to take a 4-1 lead. Corner infielder Anthony Ottrando led off with a walk and Neiko Johnson hit into a fielders choice. Blue?s starter Green, fielded Johnson?s attempted sacrifice bunt and fired errantly to second base in an attempt to get the lead runner. Wright walked to load up the bases and Ottrando came around to score after catcher Dan Killian couldn?t handle a Green pitch for a passed ball. Carby got Johnson home on a RBI ground out, and Carroll emptied the bases with a double into the left-center field gap. After Carroll stole third, Frazier scored Carroll with a single deep in the infield.
Johnson manufactured a run in the fourth, drawing a two-out, hit by pitch and immediately stealing second. Wright drove Johnson in with a RBI single through the left side for a 5-1 Black lead.
In its final offensive chance in the series, Black plated four runs. Pitcher Logan Darnell got his first at bat of the series, and the sweet-swinging left-hander belted a single into center field. Wright singled through the right side and Carby drove in his second and third RBI of the game with a triple into the right-center field gap, scoring after the cutoff man made an errant throw. Carroll came up with a two-out double and scored the final run of the game on a Howe RBI triple down the right-field line.
Kentucky opens its 2008 season on February 22, at the Coca-Cola Classic in Mobile, Ala.
