Overall Record: 32-22, 14-16 SECRecord Last Week: 2-2, 2-1 SECRecent ResultsTuesday, May 13 – lost at Murray State, 3-4 (12 innings)Thursday, May 15 – won at Georgia, 13-0Friday, May 16 – won at Georgia, 10-0Saturday, May 17 – lost at Georgia 10-11Upcoming Schedule (times Eastern)Tuesday, May 20 * vs. No. 19 [No. 8 seed] Alabama (SEC Tournament; Hoover, Ala.) * 5:30 p.m. Player of the week nomineeMax Kuhn6-1 – Jr. – 3B – Zionsville, Ind. Week Stats: .526 (10-for-19), 6 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1.000 SLG, .591 OB%, 1.000 FLD%Notes: Junior third baseman Max Kuhn had a prolific week in leading Kentucky to a series win at Georgia to conclude the regular season, batting .526 (10-for-19), with two homers and 10 RBI … Kuhn added six runs, three doubles, a 1.000 slugging and a .591 on-base percentage … Kuhn came to the plate 22 times during the week and he reached base safely in 13 appearances … In the series at Georgia, Kuhn hit .643 (9-for-14) with three doubles, a homer and seven RBI, scoring five runs … Kuhn started off the week by belting a three-run, two-out, game-tying homer in the seventh inning at Murray State on Tuesday … In the series opener at UGA, Kuhn went a career-high 4-for-5 with four RBI and a pair of doubles, scoring three runs … He followed that with a 3-for-4 game with a homer, double, walk and two RBI … In the series finale on Saturday, Kuhn was 2-for-5 with a RBI … On the year, Kuhn has hit .327 with 16 doubles, seven homers and 50 RBI, drawing 38 walks with a .441 on-base percentage. Pitcher of the week nomineeA.J. Reed6-4 – Jr. – LHP/1B – Terre Haute, Ind. Week Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 8 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, .120 opp. avg. Week Stats: .444 (8-for-18), 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO, .889 SLG, .500 OB%Notes: Junior two-way star A.J. Reed continued to engrave his name on the national player of the year awards, concluding his regular season as the SEC leader in wins, homers, RBI, slugging and OPS and falling .0002 percentage points shy of the lead in average, narrowly missing the triple crown … He worked eight shutout, three-hit innings on Thursday at Georgia to clinch a SEC Tournament berth for the Wildcats, their third consecutive trip to Hoover … Reed also went 4-for-5 at the plate in the pitching performance, driving in three runs … A native of Terre Haute, Ind., Reed allowed just a two-out walk in the second and eighth innings, and one-out singles in the third and fourth innings, also working around a two-out single in the sixth … Reed retired 14 of the final 16 hitters he faced, starting the game by retiring five consecutive hitters … With 10 wins, Reed became the fifth player in school history to reach double-digit wins and the first since Greg Dombrowski went 10-2 during UK’s 2006 SEC Championship season … Reed is now tied with Dombrowski and Matthew Coleman (1987) for third in UK single-season history in wins … On the year, Reed leads the SEC with his 10-2 mark, owning a 2.11 ERA in 14 innings, working 98 innings and striking out 66 … In his three-year career, Reed has 17 wins and a 2.88 ERA – the fourth-best in UK history – working 234 innings and striking out 169.Team notesThe Kentucky baseball team completed its regular season with a four-game road swing, traveling to Murray State on Tuesday, before concluding the stretch at Georgia. UK suffered a 4-3 loss at Murray State in Paducah in 12 innings on Tuesday, before posting a 13-0 win at UGA in the opener and a 10-0 win on Friday to clinch the series, with Georgia avoiding UK’s first sweep in Athens in 38 years with a 11-10 win on Saturday. Kentucky (32-22, 14-16 Southeastern Conference) will return to action in the SEC Tournament, facing No. 19 Alabama, the No. 8 seed, with UK earning the No. 9 seed in its third consecutive berth in the league tourney. First pitch on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala., and the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET. It marks UK’s first trip to three consecutive SEC Tournaments since 1991-94, a school-record four straight berths. The Wildcats suffered a 4-3 loss in 12 innings on Tuesday at Murray State, as the Breds jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Max Kuhn tied up the game with a two-out, three-run homer in the seventh inning. The two teams then traded shutout innings, with UK’s Chandler Shepherd, Andrew Nelson and Spencer Jack shining in relief, before the Breds got a two-out walk-off single under the diving glove of UK’s rightfielder Storm Wilson. Kentucky then traveled to Athens and rode another dominating performance on the mound from A.J. Reed in a 13-0 win in the series opener, clinching an SEC Tournament berth. UK got four-hit games from Reed and Kuhn, with Reed working eight shutout, three-hit innings to improve his league-leading wins total to 10. On Friday, UK posted another shutout win (10-0), getting a combined shutout from Kyle Cody and Nelson, with Nelson earning his first career SEC win with the final 4.2 innings. Reed hit another homer in a three-hit game, also adding to his SEC walk total. The series clinching win marked the fourth consecutive series win over Georgia for the Wildcats, with UK’s back-to-back shutouts markings its first in two straight league games since 1976. Georgia then jumped out to an 11-3 lead after the seventh inning in the finale, riding a strong start from power-armed freshman Robert Tyler. UK then stormed back with six runs in the eighth inning, including a leadoff homer from Reed and a grand slam from Matt Reida. The Wildcats rallied with a run in the ninth inning and got the tying run to second base with one out, but Reida’s 11-pitch at-bat ended in a lineout to centerfield to salvage the series for the Bulldogs. UK will be facing Alabama for the fourth time in 2014 on Tuesday, with UK suffering a series loss in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to open league play from March 14-16 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. UK suffered a quirky loss in the opener of the series, with the Tide getting a strong start from Spencer Turnbull. Reed, who suffered the hard luck loss on the mound, had his game-tying homer robbed by outfielder Ben Moore – his Cape Cod League teammate – before coming up with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game. Reed lined into a triple play to end the threat, keeping the Tide in front for the series-opening win. In the middle game of the series, Chandler Shepherd pitched a gem as UK posted a 7-2 win, with Cousino and Micheal Thomas belting homers. In the rubber match, UK took a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning, getting two outs and owning a runner on first base, before Austen Smith belted a game-tying homer over the leftfield fence and Nelson was going for a complete game in his first career SEC start. UK worked into the 10th inning before shortstop Mikey White hit a walk-off homer to give the Tide a 5-3 win and the series victory. Alabama leads the all-time series with Kentucky, 59-37, including a 4-2 mark in neutral site games. In the last meeting, UK swept the Tide in Lexington in 2012. UK got a 4-2 win in the series opener, with two runs in the second and third innings and a strong outing from Taylor Rogers and Alex Phillips for the win and save, respectively. Thomas McCarthy led UK at the plate with a two-RBI double in the second inning. The Wildcats then swept a doubleheader on Saturday vs. Alabama, with UK posting a 7-6 comeback win in the first game, rallying from down 5-1 with a five-run bottom of the seventh inning. After Bama got the run back in the eighth, UK answered the winning run, with Austin Cousino getting hit by a leadoff pitch and scoring on a bases-loaded walk from Michael Williams. Jerad Grundy worked five innings and allowed just one run, with Trevor Gott getting the fin in relief. In the series finale, UK posted an 8-1 win to sweep the Tide, getting homers from Cousino, Williams and Brian Adams. Corey Littrell worked 6.2 innings for the win in the finale, with Sam Mahar getting a save – his second of that week – with 2.1 innings, allowing just two singles. In the 2011 meeting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama swept UK with a 4-0 win in the opener, a 6-5 win in the middle game and a 8-3 win in the finale that saw UK standout righty Alex Meyer take a line drive off the shin that forced him to miss several weeks.The Wildcats have hit .304 as a team in 2014, with a .457 slugging and a .402 on-base percentage. UK has belted 104 doubles, 10 triples, 47 homers and scored 430 runs, stealing 60 bases. On the mound, UK has a 4.04 team ERA in 54 games, owning nine saves in 481.2 innings, allowing 509 hits and 167 walks, striking out 335. Defensively, UK has a .968 fielding percentage, turning 51 double plays and allowing 60 steals. Individually, UK has been led by A.J. Reed, who came up .0002 percentage points in batting average shy of winning the SEC triple crown in the 2014 regular season. Reed finished with a .359 mark in 54 games, with 14 doubles, one triple, 23 homers and 70 RBI, leading the nation in homers, slugging (.788) and (1.280) OPS. Leftfielder Ka’ai Tom has hit .339 with 11 doubles, two homers and 33 RBI, stealing 13 bases. Third baseman Max Kuhn has batted .327 with 16 doubles, seven homers and 50 RBI, with first baseman Thomas Bernal owning a .320 average with eight doubles, one homer and 26 RBI. Rightfielder Storm Wilson has a .316 average with six doubles, four homers and 19 RBI, with centerfielder Austin Cousino hitting .305 with 14 doubles, four triples, four homers, 33 RBI and 15 steals. Catcher Micheal Thomas owns a .303 average with eight doubles, one triple, seven homers and 43 RBI. Second baseman JaVon Shelby has a .259 average with six doubles, two triples, four homers and 21 RBI, with outfielder Kyle Barrett hitting .259 with five doubles, one homer, 18 RBI and 10 steals. Shortstop Matt Reida has a .235 average with seven doubles, four homers and 33 RBI, stealing five bases and sporting a .346 on-base percentage. Last weekend, UK used the rotation of Reed (10-2, 2.11 ERA), Kyle Cody (3-0, 2.53 ERA) and Zack Brown (0-1, 5.85 ERA). Reed has worked 14 series openers, tossing 98 innings, allowing 27 walks and 66 strikeouts. Cody owns 16 games and four starts, tossing 32 innings with five saves, striking out 15. Brown made his first career SEC start on Saturday and has appeared in 17 games with three starts, tossing 20 innings. Junior Chandler Shepherd (5-3, 3.55 ERA) has worked in 13 games with nine starts, with Dylan Dwyer (5-3, 5.46 ERA) appearing in 14 games with 10 starts. In relief, UK has been paced by Spencer Jack (3-1, 1.34 ERA) who has three saves in a staff-high 24 relief outings. He has worked 33.2 innings, allowing 24 hits and seven walks, striking out 28. Zach Strecker (0-1, 4.11 ERA), Logan Salow (2-3, 5.16 ERA), Taylor Martin (0-0, 6.00 ERA), Ryne Combs (1-2, 6.55 ERA) and Sam Mahar (1-0, 7.53 ERA) have each appeared in double-digit games in relief.

Related Stories

View all