Oct. 4, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Home runs from veterans Troy Frazier, Chris Wade and Brock Wright highlighted a Saturday morning intrasquad scrimmage for the Kentucky baseball team, on a beautiful Saturday morning at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Frazier and Wright each lifted roundtrippers to dead centerfield in the same inning, both multi-home run jacks. Wade, a sophomore shortstop who earned freshman All-America honors in 2008, turned on the first homer of the day, sending a line drive over the left-field fence for a three-run homer off a 2-2 count.

In addition to the power display, sophomore Neiko Johnson collected two hits, including a double to the opposite field. Catcher Marcus Nidiffer, a top-prospect in the Valley Collegiate Baseball League this summer, added two doubles and a pair of RBI. Johnson, a 5-foot-9 middle infielder who played primarily second base as a reserve to Gold Glove winner senior Ryan Wilkes in 2008, belted the first home run of the fall practice season last weekend, a 3-2 homer hit to the opposite field.

Freshman middle infielder Andy Burns and sophomore outfielder Bryan Rose were among the Wildcats to collect hits.

On the bump, several pitchers saw action, including starters Gunner Glad (RH) and Clint Tilford (RH). Freshman Alex Meyer (RH), Braden Kapteyn (RH) and Sean Bouthliette (RH) all pitched innings, with Meyer dazzling for the second consecutive weekend in team scrimmages, hurling two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, one hit and one hit batter. Meyer, an Aflac High School All-American in 2008, is one of five high school All-Americans in the 2009 UK recruiting class (Burns, Kapteyn, Cory Farris, Michael Williams) – the top class in the history of the program.

The fall practice season began on Sept. 26 and will run through the month of October for Kentucky. The fall season will conclude with the annual Blue and Black Fall World Series, a three-game set tentatively scheduled for early November. Game dates and times for the FWS are to be determined.