2018 KENTUCKY BASEBALL WEEK 3 IN REVIEW

 
OVERALL RECORD: 11-1
WEEK RECORD: 4-0
 
LAST WEEK
Feb. 27 – Win, vs. Western Kentucky, 4-3
Mar. 2 – Win, vs. #19 Houston^, 14-2 (7 innings)
Mar. 3 – Win, vs. #20 Sam Houston State^, 7-2
Mar. 4 – Win, vs. Louisiana^, 10-4
^Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic (Houston, TX)

THIS WEEK (5 home games)
Mar. 6 – vs. Eastern Kentucky (4 p.m., Cliff Hagan Stadium, Lexington, Ky., SECN+)
Mar. 7 – vs. Northern Kentucky (4 p.m., Cliff Hagan Stadium, Lexington, Ky., SECN+)
Mar. 9 – vs. #3 Texas Tech (4 p.m., Cliff Hagan Stadium, Lexington, Ky., SECN+)
Mar. 10 – vs. #3 Texas Tech (1 p.m., Cliff Hagan Stadium, Lexington, Ky., SECN+)
Mar. 11 – vs. #3 Texas Tech (1 p.m., Cliff Hagan Stadium, Lexington, Ky., SECN+)

 
PLAYER OF WEEK NOMINEE
LUKE HEYER (Senior, INF/OF)

• Batted .667 (10-of-15) in four games with six runs, six RBI, two doubles (one a ground rule double) and three home runs.
• Also drew two walks and stole a base.
• Had 21 total bases for the week and slugged 1.400.
• During the Shriners College Classic at Minute Maid Park over the weekend he hit .727 with 1.727 slugging percentage (five runs, six RBI, two doubles, three home runs).
• Crushed two home runs in the win over #19 Houston, including off All-American Trey Cumbie, and another in the win over #20 Sam Houston State.
• Recorded the game-winning RBI in wins over #19 Houston and #20 Sam Houston State.
• His infield single in the bottom of the ninth vs. Western Kentucky kept alive what would end up being a four-run rally that ended up in the Cats’ first walk-off win under coach Nick Mingione.
• A third baseman by trade, he slid into LF with the injury to All-American Tristan Pompey that kept him out of the starting lineup all week.
• Is now hitting .462 in 11 games this season with 13 runs, 16 RBI, 3 doubles, 7 home runs, 5 walks and 3 steals. He owns a 1.077 slugging percentage and .543 on-base percentage.

 
TEAM NOTES

• Kentucky’s 11-1 start to the season is the best for the program since the 2013 club also opened up 11-1.
• The offense has …
  • Hit a home run in all 12 games this season.
  • Scored 77 runs in the past seven games.
  • Recorded 62 extra base hits this season.
  • Scored 31 runs on 39 hits in two games in Houston.

• The team hit .343 this week with 35 runs, 19 extra-base hits and a .440 on-base percentage.
• The pitching staff had an ERA of 2.12 for the week with 36 strikeouts and just six walks.
• UK is 6-0 in the state of Texas the past two seasons, with five of the wins against ranked foes.

 
 
PLAYER NOTES

BEN AKLINSKI (Junior, OF)

• Hit .353 with four runs, two doubles and six RBI for the week.
• Had a career-high four RBI vs. Houston.

 
LUKE BECKER (Senior, INF)

• Recorded the first two triples of his career in back-to-back games vs. #19 Houston and #20 Sam Houston State.

 
 
T.J. COLLETT (Sophomore, C/1B)

• Has a career-long 11-game hitting streak
• Collett’s home run gives him seven on the season.
• He has homered in back-to-back games and in six of the past eight games overall.
• For the weekend Collett hit .583 with two doubles, two home runs, five runs and five RBI.

 
 
KOLE COTTAM (Junior, C/1B)

• Became the 51^st member of Kentucky’s 100 Hit Club with his home run on Friday vs. Houston.

 
 
SEAN HJELLE (Junior, RHP)

• Got the win vs. Houston (3/2) by 6.0 innings while giving up six hits and two runs (one earned), walking one and striking out two.
• Hjelle is now 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA in his first three starts.
• Hjelle’s 18 career wins move him into a tie with Doug Sutton (1986-88) for 11^th on UK’s career list.
• In two starts in the state of Texas the junior is 2-0 and has given up one earned run in 15.0 innings of work. He threw a complete game shutout at Texas A&M last March.
• His career winning percentage of .783 (18-5) ranks third on the school’s career list.

 
 
RYAN JOHNSON (Junior, OF)

• Hit .357 with six runs, four RBI, a double and two home runs for the week.
• Johnson’s home runs vs WKU and Houston concluded a three-game home run streak for him. He is the second Wildcat to do that this season, joining T.J. Collett.

• Nine of his 14 hits this season have been for extra bases (six doubles, three home runs).

 
 
TRISTAN POMPEY (Junior, OF)

• Pinch hit twice during the week, drawing a walk and lacing a double.
• Now owns a 44-game reached base safely streak.

 
 
TROY SQUIRES (Senior, C/1B)

• Squires now has 25 SAC bunts in his career, moving him from seventh to fourth place on the career SAC bunts list. He is currently tied with Justin Scutchfield (2003-06) and two behind Matt Reida (2011-14) for third.
• Squires has been hit by eight pitches this season and 22 for his career.
• Had two-run, two-strike, two-out game-tying hit in bottom of ninth vs. WKU.

 
 
ZACK THOMPSON (Sophomore, LHP)

• Earned the win vs. Sam Houston State by going 6.0 innings with four hits, no runs, one walk and seven strikeouts.
• Thompson is now 10-3 in his career for a .769 winning percentage, ranking fourth on UK’s career win-loss percentage list.
• Thompson has only allowed 6.19 hits per nine innings in his career, which ranks second on UK’s all-time list.

 
 
JUSTIN LEWIS (Junior, RHP)

• Got the win against Louisiana, the 11^th of his career.
• Pitched 6.0 innings, giving up seven hits, four runs (two earned) walking one and striking out seven.
• For the season, Lewis has struck out 27 hitters and walked just two.
• His career winning percentage of .733 ranked fifth on UK’s all-time list.