Oct. 11, 2013

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A dominant four-inning outing from junior right-hander Chandler Shepherd and a mammoth home run from junior A.J. Reed highlighted a seven-inning intrasquad scrimmage for Kentucky, on a perfect Friday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

A native of Louisa, Ky., Shepherd worked four shutout innings, facing one over the minimum, allowing two hits and striking out one. Sophomore right-hander Zach Strecker took over to toss the final three innings, not allowing a run and striking out four.

Black starter Kyle Cody – a 6-foot-7, 230-pound right-handed sophomore, worked four innings, allowing two earned runs, allowing four hits and no walks, striking out two. Austin Perry, Trey Bailey and Spencer Jack each worked an inning in relief.

Blue got hits from Austin Cousino, Max Kuhn, Micheal Thomas and Zach Arnold, with Arnold pelting a double off the wall. Blue also got the big swing from Reed, who went 2-for-3 with the two-run homer. Black got hits from Dorian Hairston, Kyle Barrett, Marcus Carson, Thomas Bernal and Matt Reida, with Barrett doubling into the opposite-field gap.

Blue got on the board in the first inning, as Cousino smashed a liner at second base, reaching after the ball popped out of the glove of Andrew Bryant. After stealing second base, Cousino scored on Thomas’ opposite-field single with one out.

Blue added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Kuhn led off with a single into leftfield, taking second on Thomas’ sacrifice bunt. Reed then launched a bomb over the fence in rightfield, soaring over the 30-foot wall, over the dumpsters and hitting a tractor on the fly in the parking lot.