LEXINGTON, KY — Kentucky (22-14/5-10 SEC) avoided a weekend sweep by seventh-ranked Florida (25-10/10-5 SEC) with a 6-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats raced out to a 6-0 lead through three innings and held on as the Gators staged a furious rally highlighted by three home runs including a two-run shot by Josh Adams in the ninth that got the Gators back to within a single run.
Junior Lance Ray was a perfect 3-3 and sophomore Cory Farris was 2-4 with two RBI for UK, while sophomore Preston Tucker (2-5), freshman Austin Maddox (1-3) and Adams (1-2) each homered in the setback.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against sophomore Anthony DeSclafani (2-2). Junior Chris Bisson (2-5) smashed a leadoff single into left field and scored on sophomore Chad Wright’s double down the left-field line. DeSclafani issued a walk to redshirt senior Gunner Glad before getting sophomore Andy Burns fly out to center field. The righty induced a grounder from redshirt senior Keenan Wiley that forced Glad at second base but Tucker could not handle the relay throw on the potential double play, allowing Wiley to reach base. After Wiley moved to second on a wild pitch, Farris rifled a two-run double to right field for a three-run advantage.
UK tacked on two more runs on three hits in the second to build a 5-0 lead. Ray opened with a base-hit into right field and went to third on a hit-and-run single by junior Taylor Black (2-4). Bisson beat out an infield hit to drive in Ray with the fourth run and a grounder by Wright advanced his teammates into scoring position. Glad increased the Wildcats’ lead to 5-0 with a sacrifice fly into left field that scored Black.
An RBI single by Black in the third provided Kentucky with a 6-0 cushion. Wiley and Farris began the frame with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt by redshirt senior Marcus Nidiffer moved the runners over and ended the afternoon for DeSclafani. Over 2-1/3 innings, the righty surrendered eight hits and six runs in his first SEC start of the year. Freshman Steven Rodriguez issued a walk to Ray that loaded the bases with one down. After Black boosted the Wildcats’ margin to six runs with a base-hit into shallow left field, Rodriguez pitched out of further trouble.
Freshman Walter Wijas retired the first 10 Gators before sophomore Daniel Pigott ripped a single up the middle with one down in the fourth. Tucker raised his hitting streak to 10 games with a double into the right-field corner and Maddox drew a walk to fill the bags. Senior Matt den Dekker put Florida on the board with a high single off the wall overlooking right field, prompting a pitching change. Freshman Jordan Cooper (2-3) replaced Wijas (3-1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 K) and had sophomore Ben McMahan ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play that snuffed out any possible Gator rally.
Tucker crushed his sixth homer to straightaway center field with two down in the sixth for a 6-2 score. It was his second dinger in as many days and cleared the 390-foot mark with ease.
McMahan began the seventh with a single to right field and sophomore Tyler Thompson followed with a walk. A grounder by freshman Mike Zunino advanced his teammates into scoring position and the Wildcats made a call to the bullpen. Redshirt sophomore Joe Devine came in for Cooper (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 K) and struck out Adams before being replaced by junior Mike Kaczmarek. Freshman Nolan Fontana walked to load the bases and redshirt junior Nick Kennedy became UK’s fourth pitcher of the inning. The righty got Pigott to ground out to end the inning.
Maddox connected on his team-leading 12th homer to right field with one down in the eighth to bring Florida within 6-3. The rookie slugger hit a round-tripper in every game this weekend and is tied for the SEC home run lead with Auburn’s Brian Fletcher.
Rodriguez worked a career-high five scoreless innings in which he totaled a career-high five strikeouts and permitted four hits. Senior Chas Spottswood retired both Wildcats he faced to keep UF down by there heading to the ninth.
Zunino was plunked by Kennedy with one out in the final frame, causing Little to enter the contest. A wild pitch moved Zunino into scoring position and Adams bashed a two-run homer to right field to narrow the gap to 6-5. Fontana poked a single up the middle and Little responded by catching Pigott looking on strikes and having Tucker ground out to nail down his sixth save. The Wildcats held a 12-8 advantage in hits.
The Gators will conclude their eight-game road trip on Wednesday in Tampa against USF (16-19/8-4 Big East) at 7 p.m. The teams opened the season at McKethan Stadium and Florida claimed all three meetings.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Eastern Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(13) South Carolina 11-4 .733 28-8 .778
(9) Florida 10-5 .667 25-10 .714
(19) Vanderbilt 8-7 .533 29-9 .763
Kentucky 5-10 .333 22-14 .611
Tennessee 4-11 .267 18-19 .486
Georgia 3-12 .200 11-25 .306
Western Division Conference Overall
(Rank) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(8) Arkansas 12-3 .800 31-6 .838
(6) Louisiana State 11-4 .733 30-6 .833
(18) Mississippi 8-7 .533 24-13 .649
Auburn 8-7 .533 24-13 .649
Alabama 5-10 .333 22-14 .611
Mississippi State 5-10 .333 19-17 .528
(Rank) Ranking is the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll
RESULTS
SUNDAY / April 18
Kentucky 6, Florida 5
Mississippi 5, South Carolina 4
Louisiana State 6, Alabama 5 (14)
Arkansas 13, Georgia 5
Vanderbilt 3, Auburn 2
Mississippi State 14, Tennessee 6
FRIDAY / April 16
Florida 10, Kentucky 8
Tennessee 15, Mississippi State 13
Louisiana State 12, Alabama 5
South Carolina 5, Mississippi 0
Arkansas 10, Georgia 2
Vanderbilt 11, Auburn 6
SATURDAY / April 17
Florida 6, Kentucky 3
South Carolina 9, Mississippi 5
Louisiana State 9, Alabama 7
Arkansas 10, Georgia 2
Auburn 12, Vanderbilt 2
Mississippi State 11, Tennessee 7
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY / April 20
Vanderbilt at Lipscomb, 6 p.m.
South Carolina Upstate at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Kentucky at Western Kentucky 7 p.m.
Troy at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.
Southern Mississippi at Mississippi, 7:30 p.m.
Alcorn State at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m.
Oral Roberts at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY / April 21
Florida at South Florida, 7 p.m.
Winthrop at Georgia, 6 p.m.
Tennessee at Western Carolina, 6 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Middle Tennessee, 6 p.m.
Northwestern State at Louisiana State, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY / April 23
Arkansas at Florida, 6:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
Louisiana State at Mississippi, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Kentucky at Auburn, 7:30 p.m.
Mississippi State at Alabama, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY / April 24
South Carolina at Georgia, 3 p.m.
Louisiana State at Mississippi, 3 p.m. (FSN)
Arkansas at Florida, 4 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 4 p.m. (CSS)
Kentucky at Auburn, 4 p.m.
Mississippi State at Alabama, 5 p.m.
SUNDAY / April 25
Arkansas at Florida, 1 p.m.
Louisiana State at Mississippi, 1:30 p.m. (CSS)
Kentucky at Auburn, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 2 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia, 2 p.m.
Mississippi State at Alabama, 3 p.m.
RANKINGS
April 12, 2010
USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES
1. Arizona State (28-3); 2. UCLA (25-3); 3. Virginia (27-7); 4. Texas (26-7); 5. Georgia Tech (27-5); 6. Louisiana State (26-6); 7. Florida State (25-7); 8. Arkansas (26-6); 9. Florida (23-8); 10. Coastal Carolina (27-5);
11. Texas Christian (23-7); 12. Louisville (25-6); 13. South Carolina (25-7); 14. Oklahoma (25-7); 15. Miami, Fla. (23-9); 16. Clemson (23-10); 17. Oregon State (20-8); 18. Mississippi (23-10); 19. Vanderbilt (26-8); 20. Kansas State (23-6);
21. Arizona (22-9); 22. Western Kentucky (26-8); 23. Southeastern Louisiana (26-7); 24. Cal State Fullerton (18-12); 25. UC Irvine (18-11).
BASEBALL AMERICA
1. UCLA (25-3); 2. Virginia (27-7); 3. Arizona State (28-3); 4. Texas (26-7); 5. Georgia Tech (27-5); 6. Florida State (25-7); 7. Florida (23-8); 8. Louisiana State (26-6); 9. Arkansas (26-6); 10. South Carolina (25-7);
11. Texas Christian (23-7); 12. Coastal Carolina (27-5); 13. Louisville (25-6); 14. Mississippi (23-10); 15. Miami, Fla. (23-9); 16. Oklahoma (25-7); 17. Clemson (23-10); 18. Oregon State (20-8); 19. Western Kentucky (26-8); 20. Virginia Tech (23-11);
21. California (20-10); 22. Cal State Fullerton (18-12); 23. Auburn (22-11); 24. Arizona (22-9); 25. Connecticut (22-7).
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
1. Arizona State (28-3); 2. UCLA (25-3); 3. Texas (26-7); 4. Virginia (27-7); 5. South Carolina (25-7); 6. Georgia Tech (27-5); 7. Louisiana State (26-6); 8. Arkansas (26-6); 9. Coastal Carolina (27-5); 10. Florida State (25-7);
11. Oklahoma (25-7); 12. Florida (23-8); 13. Miami, Fla. (23-9); 14. Oregon State (20-8); 15. Louisville (25-6); 16. Clemson (23-10); 17. Texas Christian (23-7); 18. Mississippi (23-10); 19. California (20-10); 20. Kansas State (23-6);
21. Western Kentucky (26-8); 22. Cal State Fullerton (18-12); 23. Auburn (21-11); 24. Pittsburgh (22-8); 25. Virginia Tech (23-11); 26. Virginia Military Institute (28-5); 27. Fresno State (20-13); 28. Washington State (17-11); 29. Southeastern Louisiana (26-7); 30. Vanderbilt (26-8).
NATIONAL COLLEGE BASEBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION
1. Virginia (27-7); 2. Arizona State (28-3); 3. Texas (26-7); 4. UCLA (25-3); 5. Georgia Tech (27-5); 6. Louisiana State (26-6); 7. Arkansas (26-6); 8. Florida State (25-7); 9. Florida (23-8); 10. Texas Christian (23-7);
11. Coastal Carolina (27-5); 12. Louisville (25-6); 13. South Carolina (25-7); 14. Miami, Fla. (23-9); 15. Oklahoma (25-7); 16. Oregon State (20-8); 17. Clemson (23-10); 18. Vanderbilt (26-8); 19. Mississippi (23-10); 20. Western Kentucky (26-8);
21. North Carolina (22-12); 22. Arizona (22-9); 23. Southeastern Louisiana (26-7); 24. Kansas State (23-6); 25. Cal State Fullerton (18-12); 26. East Carolina (20-12); 27. California (20-10); 28. UC Irvine (18-11); 29. Virginia Tech (23-11); 30. Kentucky (21-12).