Post by Babyboomer on Mar 3, 2008 18:54:34 GMT -5
TUSCON, Ariz. -- The Kentucky baseball team, off to a 9-0 start, has climbed eight spots in the latest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper top-30 poll, ranking as the No. 9 team in the country, the newspaper released on Monday morning.
The Wildcats pounded Oakland and Butler by a combined score of 88-14 during the 6-0 week, pummeling the Bulldogs during the four-game series 61-7. In the opening nine games of 2008, UK has totaled double-digit runs in every contest, hitting for a .376 average, while scoring 11.1 runs per game. Overall, UK has outscored opponents, 121-21.
Last week, UK ranked as high as No. 17 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and No. 23 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll. A year ago, UK climbed as high as No. 8, while soaring as high as No. 4 during the Wildcats first-ever SEC Championship run in 2006.
After the weekend, UK checked in the two remaining polls not to list UK yet this season in the top 25. The Wildcats checked in at No. 24 in the latest Baseball America poll and No. 18 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Kentucky leads the SEC in 11-of-14 team offensive categories and in 7-of-15 pitching categories. UK ranks as the league leader in batting average (.376), slugging (.65), on-base percentage (.502), runs scored (121), RBI (112), doubles (31), triples (5), home runs (15), total bases (204), total plate appearances (416), walks (61) and hit by pitches (24).
On the bump, the Wildcats rank as the SEC leader in ERA (1.82), opposing batting average (.197), innings pitched (79), wins (9), fewest runs allowed (21), fewest earned runs allowed (16), and the fewest walks (11). The Wildcats rank second in the league in strikeouts, sitting down 90 batters in 79 innings. UK junior right-hander Scott Green ranks third in the league in strikeouts (19) while Friday night starter Chris Rusin ranks second in the league in innings pitched (14) and 11th in strikeouts (13).
Kentucky returns to action Wednesday, in a crucial non-conference tilt with Evansville, beginning at 4 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The mid-week showdown with Evansville kicks off what will be a pivotal week for the UK club, as the Wildcats will be facing three perennially successful teams in seven consecutive contests, wrapping up non-conference play before its SEC opening series with Alabama March 14-16. Kentucky will play host to Purdue in a four-game set Friday-Monday and Eastern Michigan, a team that won over 20 games in its conference a season ago, in a doubleheader next Tuesday.
ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=36&url_article_id=21653&change_well_id=2
The Wildcats pounded Oakland and Butler by a combined score of 88-14 during the 6-0 week, pummeling the Bulldogs during the four-game series 61-7. In the opening nine games of 2008, UK has totaled double-digit runs in every contest, hitting for a .376 average, while scoring 11.1 runs per game. Overall, UK has outscored opponents, 121-21.
Last week, UK ranked as high as No. 17 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and No. 23 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll. A year ago, UK climbed as high as No. 8, while soaring as high as No. 4 during the Wildcats first-ever SEC Championship run in 2006.
After the weekend, UK checked in the two remaining polls not to list UK yet this season in the top 25. The Wildcats checked in at No. 24 in the latest Baseball America poll and No. 18 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Kentucky leads the SEC in 11-of-14 team offensive categories and in 7-of-15 pitching categories. UK ranks as the league leader in batting average (.376), slugging (.65), on-base percentage (.502), runs scored (121), RBI (112), doubles (31), triples (5), home runs (15), total bases (204), total plate appearances (416), walks (61) and hit by pitches (24).
On the bump, the Wildcats rank as the SEC leader in ERA (1.82), opposing batting average (.197), innings pitched (79), wins (9), fewest runs allowed (21), fewest earned runs allowed (16), and the fewest walks (11). The Wildcats rank second in the league in strikeouts, sitting down 90 batters in 79 innings. UK junior right-hander Scott Green ranks third in the league in strikeouts (19) while Friday night starter Chris Rusin ranks second in the league in innings pitched (14) and 11th in strikeouts (13).
Kentucky returns to action Wednesday, in a crucial non-conference tilt with Evansville, beginning at 4 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The mid-week showdown with Evansville kicks off what will be a pivotal week for the UK club, as the Wildcats will be facing three perennially successful teams in seven consecutive contests, wrapping up non-conference play before its SEC opening series with Alabama March 14-16. Kentucky will play host to Purdue in a four-game set Friday-Monday and Eastern Michigan, a team that won over 20 games in its conference a season ago, in a doubleheader next Tuesday.
ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=36&url_article_id=21653&change_well_id=2
