DALLAS — After claiming the 2010 Caravelle Resort Invitational with wins over Virginia Tech, West Virginia and No. 12 Coastal Carolina, the Kentucky baseball team has climbed to No. 29 in the last top-30 poll, released by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Kentucky (3-0) jumped off to a great start to the season, riding solid pitching performances in all three games, including a shutout performance Saturday against West Virginia from freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers, who was honored as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week.
UK got a 15-6 win Friday against Virginia Tech, getting home runs from Andy Burns and Keenan Wiley and an eight strikeout performance from sophomore right-hander Alex Meyer, who picked up the win. Saturday, the Wildcats turned to Rogers, who twirled a gem, going 7.2 shutout innings with only six hits and one walk allowed to the Mountaineers, who ranked third in the NCAA with a .360 team average in 2009. Rogers picked up the win in the 6-0 shutout, with freshman Jordan Cooper closing out the contest on the mound with 1.1 shutout innings. Sunday, UK won a dramatic game against No. 12 Coastal, plating a run in the top of the ninth to hand CCU just its third home loss in the last two seasons, a 3-2 result.
The Wildcats will return to action Friday, hosting Bowling Green in the home opener at 4 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The game can be heard live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio). Bowling Green is picked to win the Mid-American Conference for the third consecutive year and is tabbed by Baseball America as a possible breakout team on the national scene in 2010.
NCBWA Top-30 Poll (2/22/10)
1. LSU
2. Florida State
3. Virginia
4. UC Irvine
5. Georgia Tech
6. Arizona State
7. Florida
8. Texas
9. TCU
10. Miami
11. Cal State Fullerton
12. North Carolina
13. Clemson
14. Rice
15. Louisville
16. Arkansas
17. Stanford
18. South Carolina
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Oregon State
21. East Carolina
22. Oklahoma
23. Ohio State
24. Ole Miss
25. San Diego
26. Southern Miss
27. UCLA
28. Texas A&M
29. Kentucky
30. Vanderbilt
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (2-0), Army (2-1), Baylor (3-1), Boston College (2-1), Connecticut (0-0), Dallas (3-0), Elon (3-0), Florida Gulf Coast (3-0), Florida International (3-0), Fresno State (3-0), Georgia (2-2), James Madison (0-0), Kansas (0-0), Lamar (3-0), Middle Tennessee (1-1), Mississippi State (3-0), New Mexico (2-1), Notre Dame (3-0), Old Dominion (3-0), Oral Roberts (0-0), Oregon (2-1), Pepperdine (2-1), South Florida (0-3), St. John’s (3-0), Tennessee (3-0), Texas State (3-0), Texas Tech (4-0), UC Riverside (3-0), UCF (3-0), UNC Wilmington (2-1), Washington State (2-0), Western Kentucky (2-1), Wichita State (0-0), Winthrop (3-0).
*UK opponents and SEC teams in bold.
