LEXINGTON, Ky. — Junior Collin Cowgill belted his sixth home run in the past eight games and his second of the day, part of a three hit, four-RBI game for the All-America centerfielder, to lead the 10th-ranked Kentucky baseball team to a 13-4, series-evening victory over Mississippi State in the nightcap of a twinbill, on Saturday evening in front of a season-high 2,772 fans at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Cowgill, riding a team-best eight game hit streak, has compiled staggering numbers during his latest streak, batting .485 (16-for-33) with 12 runs scored, one double, six homers, 12 RBI and five walks during that span. Cowgill has launched four homers in his past three games, notching home runs in three consecutive games leading into Sunday?s rubber match with Mississippi State. Cowgill is the third Wildcat to homer in three or more consecutive games, joining Sawyer Carroll and Ryan Wilkes. For the year, Cowgill is batting .405 (45-for-111), with 10 doubles, two triples, a club-high 12 homers, adding 38 RBI. Cowgill has also drawn 21 walks, stealing 14 bases and adding four outfield assists. The Lexington native and former Kentucky High School Mr. Baseball finished the game 3-for-6 with four RBI and one run scored.
Kentucky (24-5, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) got a solid pitching performance from right-hander Scott Green who tossed seven innings, allowing three runs to pick up his third win of the season. Clint Tilford and Logan Darnell combined to toss the final two innings, with Darnell allowing an unearned run with two outs in the ninth inning. MSU starter Lee Swindle (2-3) took the loss, lasting just 1 2/3 innings before Forrest Moore, Andy Wilson and Jesse Carver combined to close out the game.
Ryan Wilkes and Brian Spear each added homers in the nightcap, with Wilkes finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks. Spear went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and two walks. Sophomore outfielder Keenan Wiley, hitting in the nine-hole in the nightcap after leading off in game two, tallied a team-best 4-for-5 day, with two runs scored and an RBI. Freshman shortstop Chris Wade added a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, joining Carroll and freshman Bryan Rose with multi-hit games, as UK rolled to 19 hits, a season-high in SEC games.
Kentucky and Mississippi State meet in the rubber match on Sunday, with first pitch at Cliff Hagan Stadium set for 1 p.m. ET. UK will send its all-time record holder for career winning percentage, Greg Dombrowski, to the bump to face off with Bulldog right-hander Ricky Bowen. Fans can catch the game live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with the voice of UK Baseball, Neil Price, calling the action. In Lexington, fans can hear the game on WLAP 630-AM and in Louisville on WKJK 1080-AM.
After registering just 16 doubles plays through UK?s first 26 games, the Wildcats have turned 11 twin-killings in the past three games, committing its first fielding error in the past five games. On the year, UK leads the conference with a .979 fielding percentage.
Mississippi State (14-16, 3-8 SEC) jumped on UK for a run in the first inning, beginning with a play that did UK in during a four-run inning in game one, a strikeout, wild pitch. Green got the first batter of the game to swing at a ball in the dirt, but catcher Tyler Howe could not hang on, allowing Grant Hogue to take first. Ryan Collins followed, delivering a single to third base, allowing Hogue to move to third. MSU slugging third baseman Connor Powers scored Hogue with a single through the left side.
UK answered in the bottom half of the second inning, getting four runs to take a 4-1 lead. After making two quick outs, UK got a single from Howe and a double from Wade. Wiley scored Howe with a single up the middle and Cowgill scored Wade with a single to third. Carroll completed the four-run frame with a two-RBI single into right field, scoring Wiley and Rose, who had walked.
MSU cut the lead to 4-3 in the third with two runs, as Tyler Moore led off with a single into left field. After Hogue sacrificed him over, Collins singled through the right side, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Nappi hit into an RBI groundout, scoring Moore. Power added another RBI scoring Collins with a double down the left-field line.
The Wildcats got four runs in the fourth to stretch its lead to 8-3. Rose laid down a leadoff bunt single, setting the stage for Cowgill?s second bomb of the day, a shot to left centerfield. Carroll drew a walk and Wilkes added his fourth home run of the season, a high-arching shot over the 30-foot monster in right field. Of Wilkes four homers on the year, all have come in SEC play as the senior hit three in consecutive games in UK?s SEC-opening sweep of Alabama.
UK added two runs in the sixth, as Chris McClendon led off with a single into left and Spear cleared McClendon of the bags with a line-drive shot in between the monster in right field and the party deck in right-center.
In the seventh, UK got another run, as Wiley led off with a double and Rose laid down his second bunt single of the game. Cowgill scored Wiley with a hard-hit infield single.
One inning later, UK got two runs in the eighth, as Spear and Wilkes led off with walks and Wade scored Spear with an RBI single up the middle. Rose scored Wilkes, hitting into a fielders choice.
Mississippi State got a run across in the ninth for the final margin. With Darnell on the mound, the southpaw issued a leadoff walk to pinch hitter Andy Rice. After Rice moved to second, Moore ripped a single up the middle. With Cowgill preparing to fire a strike to get Rice at third, the centerfielder bobbled the ball, allowing Rice to score on an error, just Cowgill?s second of the season.
