LEXINGTON, Ky. — After opening up its 2008 season with 18 consecutive wins at home, the No. 10 Kentucky baseball team seeks to remain unblemished at Cliff Hagan Stadium, hosting the tradition-rich Mississippi State Bulldogs in a three-game set, beginning on Friday at Cliff Hagan.
Kentucky (23-4, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) meets the Bulldogs, who made the 2007 College World Series, Friday with a 6:30 p.m. ET first pitch. The game can be heard live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with the Voice of UK Baseball, Neil Price calling the action. Fans in Lexington can hear the game live on WLAP 630-AM and in Louisville on WKJK 1080-AM.
The series will mark the final appearance at Cliff Hagan Stadium for the SEC?s all-time winningest baseball coach, MSU skipper Ron Polk, who announced his retirement after a 34-season career. UK fifth-year head coach John Cohen, who claimed his 300th career win on Wednesday, played for Polk at Mississippi State from 1988-90, earning All-SEC honors as an outfielder in 1990, leading the Bulldogs to an appearance in the 1990 College World Series. Polk has claimed 1,363 total wins in his career.
UK notched a 7-3 mid-week win over a solid Western Kentucky team that sports upsets over then-ranked No. 5 Ole Miss and over the highly-touted Louisville Cardinals. UK rode two light-tower home runs from All-American centerfielder Collin Cowgill, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored. Fellow outfielder Sawyer Carroll added three RBI, finishing the game 2-for-4 with his 10th double of the year. Aaron Lovett notched his first win of the season, one of five UK pitchers to see action.
The Wildcats trail the all-time series with the Bulldogs 28-50, including a 16-17 mark in Lexington. Last year, MSU notched the series win, claiming a walk-of 5-4 win over UK in the Sunday rubber match in Starkville. The Wildcats secured a series-evening 10-6 win that Saturday, in front of 10,324 fans at Dudy-Noble Field. UK swept MSU in 2006, pilling up 31 runs in a dominating sweep in Lexington. The Wildcats have claimed wins in four of the past six meetings in the series.
The Wildcats have been paced throughout the year by an explosive offensive unit and a veteran pitching staff. UK leads the league in 10 offensive categories, including batting average (.346, 28-points higher then the next team), slugging percentage (.573), on-base percentage (.449), runs scored (264), hits (315), RBI (239), total bases (521), hit by pitches (46), sac bunts (34) and sac flies (18). On the mound, UK has the lone sub-3.00 ERA in the SEC, a 2.96 mark, 56-points lower then the next best team-ERA in the conference.
Most impressively, UK has the best fielding percentage in the league, a .978 clip, committing an SEC-low 22 errors on the year, as well as allowing the fewest stolen bases in the conference.
Leading the way for UK has been its two national player of the year candidates in the outfield, Cowgill and Carroll. Carroll leads the SEC in batting average (.458), on-base percentage (.554), and RBI (41). Cowgill, a preseason All-American, leads the team with 10 home runs, hitting for a .385 average, ranking second in the league in runs scored (37) and fourth in homers. Cowgill?s 33 RBI ranks tied for eighth in the league and his 84 total bases ranks second. One of the few five-tool players in college baseball, Cowgill has stolen 13 bases in 15 attempts, third-best in the league.
UK junior southpaw Chris Rusin (4-1, 2.52 ERA) will get the start for UK, taking the hill against MSU ace Chad Crosswhite (2-2, 11.78 ERA), returning from early-season injury, on Friday. Saturday, UK right hander Scott Green (2-1, 4.85 ERA) gets the call to face off with Lee Swindle (2-2, 4.91 ERA). Sunday, UK senior right hander Greg Dombrowski (4-0, 2.01 ERA) takes the hill to square off with Ricky Bowen (2-3, 6.62 ERA).
Records
Kentucky ? 23-4, 5-4 SEC
Mississippi State ? 13-15, 2-7 SEC
Rankings
Kentucky ? No. 10 (Collegiate Baseball), No. 14 (NCBWA), No. 21 (Baseball America), No. 17 (USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll), No. 24 (Rivals.com)
MSU ? not ranked
Schedule (times Eastern and subject to change) ? Lexington, Ky.
Friday, April 4 * 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 5 * 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 6 * 1 p.m.
Radio (BBSN with Neil Price)
Friday, April 4 * 6:30 p.m.
Lexington: WLAP 630-AM
Louisville: WKJK 1080-AM
Saturday, April 5 * 6:30 p.m.
Lexington: WLAP 630-AM
Louisville: WKJK 1080-AM
Sunday, April 6 * 1 p.m.
Lexington: WLAP 630-AM
Louisville: WKJK 1080-AM
Tentative Pitching Matchups
Friday vs. MSU
LHP Chris Rusin (Jr., 4-1, 2.52 ERA) vs. RHP Chad Crosswhite (Jr., 2-2, 11.78 ERA)
Saturday vs. MSU
RHP Scott Green (Jr., 2-1, 4.85 ERA) vs. RHP Lee Swindle (Jr., 2-2, 4.91 ERA)
Sunday vs. MSU
RHP Greg Dombrowski (Sr., 4-0, 2.01 ERA) vs. RHP Ricky Bowen (So., 2-3, 6.62 ERA)
Stadium
Cliff Hagan Stadium (3,000)
Promotions
Coaches Clinic on Saturday
Saturday, April 5th
Cliff Hagan Stadium
8:00 am ? Registration
8:30 ? 11:30 ? Clinic
Join 2006 SEC and National Coach of the Year John Cohen and the Wildcat Baseball Coaching staff for a morning of baseball instruction. Take away drills, techniques and much more as you move towards the 2008 season. In addition to the FREE clinic, each coach in attendance will receive a free general admission ticket to that day?s game between UK and Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Visit UKathletics.com/baseball for more information or email questions to nschwake@uky.edu.
Parking
Parking at Cliff Hagan Stadium is free.
We will utilize two lots: the C8 lot behind Shively Sports Center, and brand-new Parking Structure 7 on the corner of Complex Drive and Jerry Claiborne Way. Both parking lots are only steps away from Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Fans who park in the PS7 lot will be given a parking value card to exit the structure free of charge. Value cards should be picked up at the baseball ticket booth prior to the 5th inning.
Fans should not use the university ?R? lots adjacent to the dorms or on the south side of Nutter Training Facility. These lots are patrolled by the university 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fans that park in these lots may be ticketed or towed. Plenty of parking will be available in the C8 and PS7 lots.
Tickets
SINGLE GAME TICKET PRICES
$5 – General Admission Seating – Adults
$2 – General Admission Seating – Kids/Seniors
SEASON TICKET PRICES
$35 General Admission
SEC Coaches Teleconference Quotes, April 3, 2008
Kentucky Head Coach John Cohen
Opening statement ?
?We really like our club. It is an experienced group. I always say when you enter league play your going to get punched in the mount and we certainly got punched in the mouth at Auburn and South Carolina. Winning on the road in this league is very difficult. I think the thing that is different about this team is that we play infield defense and have the best depth on the mound we have ever had. The offense, as we all know, comes and goes and we feel like we have a very solid club. But at the same time, I really like the defense and the pitching that this group brings to the table. We will see what happens this weekend, I know Mississippi State has had several injuries that they did not anticipate, but I also know they have one of the best coaching staffs in the country and they played Georgia very closely this weekend. We look forward to being at home more then anything else.?
On how he heard that Coach Polk was retiring ?
?A lot of the guys that I played with, or who are around the program called. It is like a big family, the Mississippi State family is a family because of Ron Polk. When Ron Polk asks you to give money back to the program or to reach out to you, everyone steps forward, it is that type of family. It is something that I have enjoyed being apart of and the support that I have gotten from the Mississippi State family, even while being at Kentucky, has been amazing. I would not be doing what I am doing today if not for playing baseball at a place like Mississippi State for someone like Ron Polk.?
On if the Mississippi State job is a premier job ?
?Oh, there is no question, no question about that. I have to honest with you, I don?t know if there is a job in the SEC that is not a premier job in the country. The SEC is a premier league and Mississippi State is certainly a premier job. It is premier facilities, premier fan support, it is everything. You can draw a direct correlation between all of that in our league and draw a straight line to Mississippi State because that is where it all started, at Mississippi State and Ron Polk. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mississippi State and Ron Polk for putting college baseball into the forefront at an early time.?
On if playing MSU the weekend after Coach Polk announced his retirement is ironic ?
?It is a bit ironic just from the standpoint that I get to spend time with him and be around him this weekend, talk about what is going on in his life. It is amazing – it gets a little emotional for me when I think about Mississippi State without Ron Polk over there wearing that No. 1 uniform. But I can tell you, the nature of my personality is that the second we step on that field and crank it up, there is no Mississippi State in the other dugout, it is another SEC opponent that we have to play well against to do everything we want to do at the University of Kentucky. That is the switch that all of us as coaches flip, before the game is one thing, when the game starts it is one thing.?
On drawing walks offensively and not issuing them from the mound ?
?It is something that we work very, very hard at. We have PowerPoint?s, we have film, we work our tails off as a staff to understand what the big inning is all about. You stay away from the big inning on the mound and you are going to win games. You create big innings offensively and you are going to win games. All of that comes from the walks, the hit batsmen, creating the error offensively and staying away from it defensively. It doesn?t matter how you draw it up, it doesn?t always turn out that way. We punched out 11 times last night against a very good Western Kentucky team, and were fortunate enough to win the game, 7-3. We do, our players really understand how to throw it in the strike zone and Gary Henderson is one of the best in the country at preparing a pitching staff to throw strikes and get balls in play early in the count.?
On Chris Rusin?s performance so far in 2008 ?
?He has been brilliant. In fact, we lost 2-0 on a Friday night in Auburn and I thought he was outstanding. Tommy had mentioned to me after the game how he thought Chris Rusin was on top of his game, I just wish we could have given him some support that evening. He has been great, Chris Rusin has been phenomenal. Greg Dombrowski, with the amount of two-seam movement that he has, to not walk people the way he has is terrific as well.?
Mississippi State Head Coach Ron Polk
Opening statement ?
?I just want to let you know that I am very proud of our kids, they have really battled through a tough part of the season. It is a delightful group to coach and I really mean that. I told someone last night that what separates teams in the SEC, is who survives the pro draft of underclassman, and we didn?t, and which team is made up of returning players, and we don?t have that. As well as who gets lucky and doesn?t have a team full of injuries and we sure have had injuries. We have a chance to get better, if we can get healthy and stay healthy.?
On playing Kentucky ?
?We are playing a fine Kentucky team coached by a good friend, former player of mine, John Cohen. I have the utmost respect for John and the job he is doing at Kentucky. We are coming up there with Brandon Turner, finally, but he isn?t going to play any defense, we are going to try to sneak him in there as a DH. Aaron Weatherford threw last night, struck out three in one inning, would have loved to have had that kid the last month. Right now, he will be coming to Kentucky. Cody Freeman, our outstanding freshman catcher, who was leading the team in hitting, is out for about two weeks with a patella displacement as well as a tear in the labrum in his shoulder. Justin Pigott our Friday guy is out for another week and a half. Last night, our DH Jason Nappi was sick and didn?t get to play. It has been very interesting. Chad Crosswhite is now healthy and he will go on Friday. Saturday we will go with Lee Swindle and on Sunday with Ricky Bowen.?
On his relationship with UK coach John Cohen ?
?John and I call each other a lot. I get a lot of calls from former players, former coaches. I got a lot of them out there, just finished a series with David Perno, who was my assistant at Georgia. John is always interested in what I am doing and I appreciate that. He is like a son to me and I am a father to him. I like his makeup and the way he goes about doing his business, he has a lot of energy, as I did when I was his age, and has done a great job at Kentucky. I am looking forward to seeing him, but not looking forward to playing at their ballpark, because they certainly play well there. John will be impressed with the way we play – it is the way he played, with a lot of intensity, energy and character. John has done a tremendous job and I am proud of John Cohen, just as I am proud of a lot of our former players who have turned coaches. John has been a special person in my life and I am looking forward to seeing him.?
On John Cohen the player at Mississippi State ?
?John, I had to discipline a few times because he was so high energy and high strung. We loved his intensity, we liked the fact that he was a gamer. He was high strung, no question about it, he had to be calmed down and he had points of emphasis that I stressed to him and I think that is why he probably has some respect for me being in his life at the time.?
On if he knew John Cohen would be as successful at Kentucky as he has been ?
?I knew John would do well. I knew when he was at Missouri as an assistant that he would be great. When he got his first head job at Northwestern State, he did a great job there. Pat McMahon made a great hire by bringing him to Florida. When he got the job at Kentucky I knew he would be great, which is not the greatest job because of the weather and facilities, which were upgraded by my good friend Keith Madison. Some things were working against him and he has fought through that. He has put a great staff together and he has done a great job, has a new stadium going up soon. He won the SEC Championship two years ago, he struggled a bit last year because he had an inexperienced team and lost Cowgill. He has done exactly what I thought he would do, give that team a very good energy boost and that is what John Cohen is all about.?
