BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — After pitching 7.2 shutout innings in his collegiate debut in a win over West Virginia on Saturday, Kentucky freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers has been tabbed Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, it was announced by the league office Monday morning.
A native of Littleton, Colo., Rogers had a splendid debut in an outing against West Virginia, a hot-hitting team that ranked third in the NCAA with a .360 team average in 2009. A 6-foot-3, 170-pound freshman, Rogers lasted into the eighth inning of his college debut, allowing only six hits and no runs, issuing only one walk and striking out two.
Rogers carried a perfect game into the fourth inning and retired, in order, the first 13 hitters he faced. Rated as the seventh-best freshman in the SEC and the 22nd-best freshman in college baseball by Baseball America in the preseason, Rogers filled up the strike zone with an efficient 85-pitch outing. He threw first-pitch strikes to 25-of-29 hitters he faced, forcing 15 groundouts and not allowing a Mountaineer base runner to reach scoring position until the fourth frame.
Kentucky returns to action in the home opener Wednesday, hosting Murray State at 4 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The game will be broadcast 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 WGVN 1580-AM and live online at UKathletics.com.
KENTUCKY HONORED FOR WEEKEND PERFORMANCE
After claiming the 2010 Caravelle Resort Invitational with three wins over the weekend, the Kentucky baseball team has been honored as one of the top performing teams of the opening weekend in college baseball.
Kentucky (3-0) was tabbed by Kendall Rogers of Yahoo! Sports college baseball as a “winner” out of the weekend. Mark Etheridge of SEbaseball.com tabbed the Wildcats as the No. 1 “most impressive team” to emerge out of the weekend.
The Wildcats posted three wins on the weekend, including a 16-5 shellacking of Virginia Tech to open the season on Friday, utilizing home runs from senior Keenan Wiley and sophomore Andy Burns and an eight-strikeout performance from sophomore right-hander Alex Meyer. Saturday, UK rode the arm of Taylor Rogers, who tossed 7.2 shutout innings in his first collegiate appearance. Sunday, UK faced off with host and No. 12 Coastal Carolina and battled the Chanticleers in a 3-2 pitching duel, claiming the win with a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. The win for the Wildcats marked just the third home loss for Coastal Carolina in the last two seasons.
