TUSCON, Ariz. — After opening up its season with a sweep of the 23rd annual Coca-Cola Classic in Mobile, Ala., the Kentucky baseball team climbed up to No. 17 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top-25 poll, released on Monday.
Kentucky (3-0) opened up its season in impressive fashion, piling up 33 runs in three games and allowing just seven runs (1.80 ERA) from the opposition, behind consistent and at times dominant pitching performances from each of its weekend starters. Equally impressive, UK struck out 25 batters and walked only one, that coming from freshman lefty Mike Kaczmarek, who walked the first batter he faced in his collegiate career before ending the inning without any further damage.
The Wildcats opened with a 10-1 season-opening win over Xavier, behind starter Chris Rusin and home runs from Sawyer Carroll and Bryan Rose. Sunday, UK completed the sweep and de-facto championship with a 13-3 run-ruled game with Fairfield, that saw Scott Green strike out 10, walking zero, in five innings, and a 10-3 win over South Alabama in a intensity-charged atmosphere at USA?s Stanky Field.
Offensively, UK welcomed the return of slugger Collin Cowgill to the lineup. The Most Valuable Player of the Coca-Cola Classic, Cowgill finished the weekend with a .308 average (4-for-13), hitting for the cycle over the tourney, with a double, a triple, and a home run to complement five RBI. Cowgill also excelled in a new role in center field, making several diving catches to save extra-base hits, in addition to throwing out a runner at the plate from moderately deep in center in the season opener with Xavier. Carroll, starting in right field full-time after serving as UK?s everyday first baseman in 2007, finished .444 (4-for-9), with a club-high six runs, two doubles, a home run and a team-best six RBI.
Kentucky opens up its home season on Tuesday with a 1 p.m. ET opening game of a freshly scheduled double-header with Oakland at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Game time was originally slated for 4 p.m. ET, with a second game scheduled for Wednesday. With the threat of inclement weather, UK was forced to change the two scheduled games on Tuesday and Wednesday to a double-header, starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, with game two coming following game one, tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
