Courtesy of Kentucky Sports Information
LEXINGTON, Ky. — University of Kentucky junior right-hander Brandon Webb tossed his third complete game of the season and snapped his personal six-start winless streak as the Wildcats salvaged the finale of their three game series against No. 9 LSU with a 7-4 win on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
On UK’s “Senior Day,” all seven Kentucky runs were driven in by seniors as the Wildcats (32-18-1, 9-16-1 Southeastern Conference) out-hit the ninth-ranked Louisiana State Tigers for the first time in the series, 13-7. The Cats are 25-2-1 when posting more hits than their opponent this season.
Senior Aaron McGlone, the all-time UK hit leader, answered an LSU run in the first by hitting his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot, in the bottom of the inning. The Tigers (37-16, 17-9 SEC) regained the lead with a run in the third, but Jeff Meade gave the Cats their first lead in five meetings with LSU, driving a two-run single to centerfield in the bottom of the third.
The Tigers looked as if they were going to take the lead back in the next inning as they loaded the bases with no outs, but Webb wriggled out of the jam by sandwiching two strike outs around a shallow fly out to left field. Webb (6-3) settled down to retire 12 of the next 15 hitters as he held the top hitting SEC team scoreless on just one hit over the next five innings. Facing undefeated LSU starter Hunter Gomez, the Wildcats added to their lead in the sixth with a run on three straight hits, knocking the senior right-hander from the game.
Seth Morris started the rally with a one-out double, his 12th of the season, and moved to third on a single by Beau Moore who was in the lineup for the first time since straining ligaments in his left-throwing shoulder last Saturday at Arkansas. Morris then scored on a single by Andy Green, one of the second baseman’s two hits in the game.
Gomez (7-1) was touched for four runs (earned) on eight hits in 4-1/3 innings pitched, walking none and striking out four as he lost for the first time since May 29 of last year, an 11-10 defeat in relief against East Carolina in the second game of the NCAA Regional.
The Wildcats put the game away in the sixth as Breck Price went to the opposite field and connected for a three-run homer off reliever Heath McMurray to give UK a 7-2 lead. The long ball was the senior’s fifth of the season, all coming in the last 15 games. Catcher John Wilson went 3-for-4 on the day.
Winning for the first time since moving to 5-0 on March 24 at Tennessee, Webb held the Tigers to just five singles before a pinch-hit double in the ninth by Jeff Lipari made the score 7-3. On the afternoon, Webb allowed seven hits and four runs (three earned) while walking four and striking out nine in the sixth complete game of his career. Webb’s nine strikeouts give him 110 this season and leave him just 11 behind Rod Bolton’s 121 in 1990 for the single-season UK record.
Despite the UK win, Ole Miss lowered its magic number to clinch the eighth and final spot in the upcoming SEC Baseball Tournament to two with a win over Georgia, 6-3, on Sunday. For the Cats, that means their destiny is out of their hands as Ole Miss can eliminate them from the postseason with two wins over Arkansas next weekend. What the Rebels do against the Razorbacks would become meaningless if the Cats lose two games at Vanderbilt next weekend.
Further complicating UK’s postseason hopes is Tennessee, which passed the Cats for ninth-place in the SEC over the weekend with a three-game sweep of Vanderbilt. Tennessee closes their regular season at No. 1 South Carolina next weekend. Were the Cats to tie for eighth place in the conference with either Ole Miss or Tennessee, UK would get the tournament berth by way of winning two-of-three against each team in the season-series.
With the win, UK Coach Keith Madison earned his 670th career win in his 1,200th career game as the skipper of the Wildcats. Before the game Madison and the UK baseball program honored Green, McGlone, Meade, Price and fellow senior teammates Josh Paxton and Jason Wolfe.
Also recognized for their outstanding contributions to UK baseball were manager Missi Butler and senior Patrick Mahan, a Wildcat pitcher for the last three seasons before retiring this spring to become the voice of the Wildcats on the internet and the flagship radio station of UK baseball, WSAI AM 1580.
The Wildcats will tune up for the close of the SEC regular season next weekend at Vanderbilt by playing host to their final two home games of the season this week. UK will be looking for retribution against Western Kentucky on Tuesday when the two teams play at 6 p.m. EDT. The Hilltoppers ended UK’s school-record 24 game non-SEC win streak on April 19 with an 8-4 win in Bowling Green. On Wednesday, the Cats will play their final home game of the 2000 season, taking on Ohio University at 6 p.m.