LEXINGTON, Ky. — Striving for perfection with two outs in the seventh inning, junior right-hander Scott Green allowed a perfect-game busting single through the middle of the infield – his only blemish of the day ? as the No. 17 Kentucky baseball team rode the arm of Green and got a home run from Sawyer Carroll and two round-trippers from Tyler Howe, dominating the Butler Bulldogs, 14-0 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Green tossed the gem of his career, lasting a career-best seven innings, striking out nine batters and allowing just one hit. Green didn?t issue a walk for the second consecutive start, just Green?s second collegiate starting nod since April 1, 2005. In his first start of the season last Saturday, Green worked five innings striking out 10 Fairfield batters to pick up the win.
With a streak of 20 consecutive batters retired in the contest without a walk or base hit, Green faced Grant Fillipitch with a 2-1 count and two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Fillipitch connected on a seeing-eye single to the left-field side of the second-base bag, just out of the reach of UK?s athletic shortstop Chris Wade. Green, a Baseball America selection as the 21st best prospect in college baseball, had been untouchable through Fillipitch, getting several stellar defensive plays in the process and only running the count to three balls twice.
Howe, UK?s senior backstop, boosted his first two homers of the season, part of a 2-for-5, three-RBI day. Carroll ripped his third homer of the season, and the second in as many games, equaling his home run total from a year ago in just seven games. Carroll finished with a 3-for-4 game, with a club-best four RBI. Wade finished with a 3-for-5 performance, driving in two runs.
Aaron Lovett closed out the contest, working the final two innings, striking out two and allowing two hits.
Kentucky (7-0) got the scoring started in the second inning, plating one run on a hit and an error. Howe led off hitting into a fielding error and Ryan Wilkes moved him to second with a sacrifice. Chris Wade drove in Howe with his Southeastern Conference-leading sixth double of the season.
After two scoreless offensive innings and Green dominating on the bump, UK struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Collin Cowgill drew a walk advancing to second on balk and moving to third with his team-best fifth steal of the game. Carroll immediately scored Cowgill with a homer to the opposite field. Frazier reached on a fielding error and Howe plated him with his first homer of the game, a shot to the opposite-field gap.
In the seventh, UK got Howe?s second homer of the day, a no-doubt shot over the 30-foot high monster towering over right field.
The Wildcats busted open the game in the eighth inning, exploding for eight runs. Spear drew a lead-off walk and Carroll and Frazier loaded the bags with walks of their own. Carroll and Spear scored on a fielder choice hit into by Howe that went as a throwing error. After Neiko Johnson, pinch runner for Howe, moved to second on a wild pitch, Chris Bisson drew a walk and Wade scored Frazier with an RBI single. Spencer Korus delivered an RBI single, scoring Johnson and Keenan Wiley reached on a fielders choice, allowing Wade and Bisson to score. Cowgill got hit by a pitch and with him and Wiley on Carroll knocked in two more runs with a two-run double into left center field.
