Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

He has yet to experience a game as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, but Gary Henderson continues to make noise — music, actually — on the baseball recruiting trail.

Henderson, who moved from pitching coach to head coach when John Cohen bolted to Mississippi State last year, has a recruiting class this year that is ranked No. 4 in the nation by Baseball America. UK opens the season Feb. 20 with a four-team tournament at Coastal Carolina, along with Troy and James Madison. The Cats’ home opener is set for Feb. 27 against Western Michigan.

Henderson’s recruiting crop for the 2010 season has grown by two since we last told you of six pitchers and a catcher who committed during the fall signing period.

Since then, Henderson has added a pair of transfers: RHP Matt Little of Virginia Beach, Va., and LHP Bryce Robinson of Kokomo, Ind.

Brent Ingram, UK’s switch-hitting media relations contact for baseball, has the full scouting report. He notes that Little comes from Louisburg (N.C.) College and Robinson from Georgia Tech.

Little, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior with a mid-90s fastball, was named by PGcrosschecker.com as the sixth-best prospect in the 2008 Coastal Plains League. Playing for the Peninsula Pirates, he was 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA over 16 games, including four starts. He worked 45 innings, with 40 strikeouts, 37 walks and 24 hits — no homers — allowed, with a league-low .168 batting average by opponents.

At Louisburg, a junior college, he was 4-4 with a 2.88 ERA in 2007.

Bryce Robinson

Robinson, a 6-1, 180-pound freshman, was listed by Baseball America as the 99th best high school prospect last season, a four-star recruit. A three-time team MVP for Kokomo and two-time all-state selection, he hit a school-record 14 homers and posted a career mark of 19-2 with a 1.20 ERA. Kokomo won the state title in 2007, when Robinson struck out 93 with a 0.96 ERA, allowing just nine runs (seven earned) over 51 innings. He also played quarterback and was three-year captain of the Kokomo football team.

Henderson’s recruiting class for this season includes two “Top 100″ high school prospects – No. 5 Alex Meyer (RHP, Greensburg, Ind.) and No. 38 Andy Burns (IF, Fort Collins, Colo.).

The rest of the 2010 class is made up of: LHP Jon Carlson (Rolling Meadows, Ill.); RHP Jordan Cooper (Shelbyville, Tenn.); RHP Joe Devine (Mount Carmell, Ill.); RHP/OF Sam Kidd (Ohio County); C Luke Maile (Covington Catholic); LHP Taylor Rogers (Littleton, Colo.), and RHP Walter Wijas (Elk Grove Village, Ill.).