Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Highlights from Monday’s baseball/softball media at the University of Kentucky’s Wildcat Den.

Pre-season All-America CF Austin Cousino fields questions during UK Baseball Media Day. (Mark Maloney photo)

Leading off with baseball, as high as No. 8 (Collegiate Baseball) in the pre-season rankings.

The Wildcats are coming off a school-record 45-18 season, 18-13 in the Southeastern Conference, and an NCAA regional berth.

“We’re excited to get the season going. We’ve got a great group of kids,” Coach Gary Henderson said. “Lots of energy in the program. Lots of excitement with returning kids that have done well here, had good summers, had impressive falls. It’s a good group of kids. They like each other. They like to practice. They like to play. So it’s an exciting time for us.”

The Cats’ weekend (SEC) rotation sets up with left-handers Jerad Grundy, A.J. Reed and Corey Littrell.

“We’ve got four guys in my mind that could easily be weekend starters but, obviously, it’s only going to be three. And because of what we’ve got in the bullpen, it seems to make sense to hold the right-hander back.”

The right-hander being Chandler Shepherd, a sophomore out of Lawrence County.

“We need what he has in the bullpen, so that’s what we’ll start,” Henderson said. “Sometimes things change, and sometimes they don’t. There’s been years here we’ve been the same three guys the entire year. We’ll see how it goes. But that’s three talented kids and they’ll do a very good job of competing and throwing strikes.”

Having lost the powerful tandem of Michael Williams and Luke Maile, catcher is the most notable void to be filled.

“We’ve got Micheal Thomas, who’s in front right now,” Henderson said. “We’ve got three other guys — Greg Fettes is a redshirt freshman; Zach Arnold and Casey Schroeder are freshman. All three of the kids have been drafted, so we’ve got some talented kids back there.

“I’m really happy with Micheal Thomas’ progression  and development, maturity and growth and all those things that you look for. He’s done a great job. If anybody who’s followed the program at all during my time here … you know that I’m a big advocate of two catchers. Doesn’t mean that you have to do it that way; I just like to do it that way, for a couple of reasons. That’s exactly what we’ll shoot for this year. Micheal Thomas right now is the guy that we’re going to run out there early, and see which one of those other three guys can grow into that position.”

The baseball Cats open the season Feb. 15, facing UNC-Asheville at Wofford. The home opener, against Murray State, is set for Feb. 26.

* UK softball opens Friday, taking on California — the first of six games the Cats will play at Tempe, Ariz.

UK’s first 20 games will be on the road while finishing touches are being put on UK’s renovated home complex.

After playing at Tempe, the Cats will play in tournaments at San Diego, Spartanburg (S.C.) and Tampa. The home opener, against Marshall, is set for March 6.

UK will be home to the Southeastern Conference tournament, May 8-11.

Coach Rachel Lawson said she focused on adding power and speed in what is viewed as an outstanding freshman class. She anticipates that four or five newcomers could land starting jobs.

The Cats made their fourth consecutive NCAA appearance last season, finishing 30-30.

NINTH INNING — Carolina’s Adrian Morales led off with a single down the third-base line. Brady Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice, with Morales forced at second. Adam Matthews came in to run for Thomas. Matt Little got Evan Marzilli on a called third strike, and pinch-hitter Michael Roth on a pop to SS Taylor Black. FINAL SCORE: KENTUCKY 2, SOUTH CAROLINA 1.

EIGHTH INNNING — Carolina’s Jackie Bradley Jr. opened the inning by reaching on a wild-pitch third strike. He was erased, though, on a 6-4-3 sweet-play all-around double play. SS Taylor Black went into the hole to glove Christian Walker’s grounder, threw a strike to 2B Chris Bisson, who pivoted and zipped a bullet to first base, where Gunner Glad made a big stretch. Jeffery Jones singled and was replaced by pinch-runner Robert Beary. Beary stole second without a play as Matt Little’s breaking ball was in the dirt. When Little’s next pitch skipped a few feet from C Luke Maile, Beary tried to take third. Maile gunned to the ball to 3B Andy Burns, who made the tag in time. UK went down in order. Going to the ninth inning: Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1.

Jordan Cooper

SEVENTH INNING — A one-out walk to Evan Marzilli and a two-out single by Scott Wingo signaled the end of RH Jordan Cooper’s game. UK’s true freshman, posting career-bests of 6 2/3 innings and five strikeouts, gave way to RH Matt Little, with runners perched on first and second and the top of the order awaiting him. Little’s second pitch skipped to the screen, a wild pitch that put runners on second and third. Little’s third pitch, though, resulted in Whit Merrifield fouling out to 3B Andy Burns. UK’s Lance Ray reached on a two-base fielding error by LF Marzilli, but was stranded. After seven innings: Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1.

SIXTH INNING — Carolina got only a one-out walk from Christian Walker. Kentucky went down in order. After six innings: Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1.

Evan Marzilli

Braden Kapteyn

FIFTH INNING — Carolina’s Evan Marzilli led off the inning with his second homer of the season, driving a 1-1 pitch over the wall, just to the right of the center-field batter’s eye. The Gamecocks then went down in order. UK’s Gunner Glad reached on a one-out walk. With Glad running, Lance Ray lined a single to right, putting runners on the corners. With Ray running, Braden Kapteyn stroked a two-run double to the gap in left-center. Keenan Wiley grounded to first, moving Kapteyn to third. Andy Burns bounced out. After five innings: Kentucky 2, South Carolina 1.

FOURTH INNING — Kentucky RH Jordan Cooper had an unconventional 1-2-3 inning. Adrian Morales, the third Gamecock hit by a pitch in as many innings, was picked off by Cooper for the third out. UK continued to reach base as Luke Maile drew a one-out walk. He didn’t get past first, though. UK has left runners on in every inning of the series, including a total of seven in this game. After four innings: Kentucky 0, South Carolina 0.

THIRD INNING — With two outs, Carolina’s Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch for the third time in two games. He was standed when LF Chad Wright ran down Christian Walker’s drive to deep left-center. UK’s Lance Ray drew a one-out walk and, as Braden Kapteyn struck out, stole second. Ray was stranded there. After three innings: Kentucky 0, South Carolina 0.

SECOND INNING — Carolina had a single and a hit batter, but didn’t make it past first base as UK turned a 3-6 double play, 1B Gunner Glad to SS Taylor Black. UK got a two-out walk by Luke Maile and Taylor Black was hit by a pitch. Chris Bisson’s single loaded the bases, with SS Bobby Haney making a nice stop in the hole to prevent a run from scoring. CF Jackie Bradley Jr. then ran down Chad Wright’s fly to left-center. After two innings: Kentucky 0, South Carolina 0.

FIRST INNING — South Carolina got a two-out single to left by Christian Walker, who was stranded when RHP Jordan Cooper got Jeffery Jones on a groundout to second. Kentucky got a leadoff single from Chris Bisson. Chad Wright reached on a fielder’s choice, then took third on Gunner Glad’s single up the middle. Lance Ray walked on a full-count pitch, loading the bases. Braden Kapteyn bounced into a double play, SS Bobby Haney (who stepped on second) to 1B Walker. After one inning: Kentucky 0, South Carolina 0.

Pre game — It’s getting close to game time for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference baseball contest matching No. 6 South Carolina against Kentucky, at UK’s Cliff Hagan Stadium. Carolina won Friday’s opener 13-9.

Starting lineups

SOUTH CAROLINA (36-9 overall, 17-5 SEC) — Whit Merrifield RF: Jackie Bradley Jr. CF; Christian Walker 1B; Jeffery Jones DH; Adrian Morales 3B; Brady Thomas C; Evan Marzilli LF; Bobby Haney SS; Scott Wingo 2B. Pitching: RH Sam Dyson (4-3, 4.58).

KENTUCKY (24-21, 7-15) — Chris Bisson 2B; Chad Wright LF; Gunner Glad 1B; Lance Ray RF; Braden Kapteyn DH; Keenan Wiley CF; Andy Burns 3B; Luke Maile C; Taylor Black SS. Pitching: RH Jordan Cooper (2-4, 5.70).

UMPIRES — Randy Watkins HP; Keith Sanders 1B; Tony Maners 3B.

Weather – 55 degrees, wind 23-30 mph to LF.

UK Coach Gary Henderson brought in closer Matt Little to open the bottom of the ninth. Attendance is reported at 4,039, a U of L regular-season record and fourth-largest all-time at Patterson Stadium. Little, a right-hander, got Drew Haynes to ground out to second. Jeff Arnold singled up the middle and Adam Duvall was hit by a pitch. That brought Andrew Clark to the plate with the potential tying run. His double to left-center scored Arnold and put Duvall on third with one out. Ryan Wright brought both runners home with a bloop single to right-center. Make the score 9-9, one on, one out and U of L home-run leader Phil Wunderlich stepping to the plate. Wunderlich lined a single to left, pushing Wright up to second. With Little behind Stewart Ijams 2-0, UK Coach Gary Henderson went to his bullpen and righty Braden Kapteyn. Two quick balls, the second sailing to the screen, loaded the bases. Zak Wasserman lined a 1-0 pitch over shortstop to drive in Wright with the game-winning run. Final totals:

Kentucky   9-12-0
Louisville 10-17-3

UK scores five in top of ninth

With one out in the top of the ninth, consecutive singles by Chris Bisson, Chad Wright and Gunner Glad scored a run to cut Louisville’s lead to 6-5. Lance Ray doubled to right, driving in Wright with the tying run. An intentional walk to Keenan Wiley loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Navarro Hall, who walked on four pitches to force Glad in with the go-ahead run. Cory Farris hit a potential double play ball to second baseman Ryan Wright, who flipped to shortstop Adam Duvall for an out. Duvall’s relay to first, though, was both late and off target, the ball going into the U of L dugout. That allowed Ray and Wiley to score, and Farris to advance to second. Marcus Nidiffer fanned to end the frame. Going to the bottom of the ninth: Kentucky 9, Louisville 6.

Eighth inning

U of L brought Tony Zych in to pitch. A single and two hit batsmen loaded the bases for UK with two outs in the eighth. Neil Holland came out of the bullpen to strike out Marcus Nidiffer, though, ending the threat. Louisville pushed the lead to 6-4 when Phil Wunderlich led off with his 14th homer of the season. Going to the ninth inning: Louisville 6, Kentucky 4.

Seventh inning

U of L made a pair of defensive changes. Right-hander Justin Amlung took over on the mound and Drew Fitzpatrick replaced Kyle Grieshaber in left field. Amlung retired Cory Farris, but walked Luke Maile. Neiko Johnson came in to run for Maile. With Johnson running, U of L called for a pitchout, but the ball slipped out of catcher Jeff Arnold’s hand as he prepared to throw. One out later, Chris Bisson cranked a no-doubt home run to right. His third homer of the season cut Louisville’s lead to 5-4 and knocked out Amlung. Left-hander Dean Kiekhefer took over on the mound. He got Chad Wright on a grounder to third. In the bottom half, Marcus Nidiffer took over catching duties for UK. Jeff Arnold led off for U of L with an infield single to the hole at short. A groundout moved him to second, but Andrew Clark was called out on strikes and Ryan Wright groundout out. After seven innings: Louisville 5, Kentucky 4.

Sixth inning

Kentucky went down in order for the first time in the game. The Wildcats changed pitchers to open the bottom of the inning, turning to right-hander Sam Kidd. After getting one out, Kidd hit a batter and walked one, U of L’s first free bases of the game. So UK Coach Gary Henderson brought right-hander Nick Kennedy in from the bullpen. U of L Coach Dan McDonnell countered with a left-handed pinch-hitter, Zak Wasserman. His single to right loaded the bases. Phil Wunderlich scored from third on a passed ball, barely beating the throw from catcher Luke Maile to Kennedy. One out later, Drew Haynes’ shot up the middle deflected off Kennedy’s glove into left field. Stewart Ijames and Wasserman both scored, although Haynes was out when he tried to advance to second on the throw to the plate.  After six innings: Louisville 5, Kentucky 2.

Fifth inning

UK’s Chad Wright had a one-out single negated when Gunner Glad grounded into a double play. UK lefty Mike Kaczmarek retired the only batter he faced in the bottom of the inning. UK Coach Gary Henderson then went with a righty, Walter Wijas. Jeff Arnold put down a bunt single but was stranded there. After five innings: Kentucky 2, Louisville 2.

Fourth inning

Cade Stallings

Both teams changed pitchers to open the inning, calling on lefties. The Cardinals went with Bob Revesz, the Wildcats with Mike Kaczmarek. UK’s Cory Farris lined a one-out single but was caught by center fielder Drew Haynes when he tried to leg out a double. Luke Maile walked but was stranded. U of L’s Andrew Clark, Ryan Wright and Phil Wunderlich welcomed Kaczmarek with consecutive singles to load the bases. Clark scored when Stewart Ijames grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Cade Stallings doubled down the left-field line to plate Wright. A groundout ended the inning and left the score tied. After four innings: Kentucky 2, Louisville 2.

Third inning

UK wasted a two-out double by Lance Ray. U of L got a two-out hit from Adam Duvall, but left-fielder Chad Wright nailed him trying to stretch the hit to a double. After three innings: Kentucky 2, Louisville 0.

Second inning

Chris Bisson

Lance Ray

UK added another unearned run. With one out, Michael Williams reached first base when right fielder Stewart Ijames unsuccessfully tried to fend off the sun and instead dropped the ball for an error. Cory Farris singled through the right side, moving Williams to second. Luke Maile blooped an RBI-single down the right-field line, with Farris advancing to third. A fielder’s choice tapper and fly out prevented further damage. In the bottom of the inning, Ryan Wright led off with an infield single, took second on Phil Wunderlich’s single through the left side and moved to third on Ijames’ lineout to center. Cade Stallings struck out, though, and Kyle Grieshaber was robbed of a hit to end the inning. UK second baseman Chris Bisson went behind the bag and first baseman Lance Ray made the stretch and scoop on snare Bisson’s throw. After two innings: Kentucky 2, Louisville 0.

First inning

Kentucky struck for an unearned run. Gunner Glad reached on a two-out ground-rule double that one-hopped the wall in right field. Lance Ray struck out, but the wild pitch by Derek Self got past catcher Jeff Arnold and went back to the screen. Arnold’s throw to first baseman Andrew Clark was high, but second baseman Ryan Wright backed up the play and caught the ball on the fly. Glad never hesitated and continued around third for the plate. Wright’s throw home, where Self was covering, was too late to nab the sliding Wildcat. Ray was caught stealing for the third out. UK right-hander Jordan Self retired the Cardinals in order, getting a pair of groundouts and an infield fly. After one inning: Kentucky 1, Louisville 0.

Pre-game

It’s 63 degrees and mostly sunny at Patterson Stadium in Louisville, where Kentucky is visiting U of L’s 12th-ranked Cardinals.

UK is looking for a season sweep, having won 5-0 three weeks ago at Lexington.

A ceremonial first pitch has been thrown by U of L (and former UK) basketball coach Rick Pitino – high and inside if a right-hander had been at the plate.

The starting lineups:

KENTUCKY (23-17) — Chris Bisson 2B, Chad Wright LF, Gunner Glad 3B, Lance Ray 1B, Keenan Wiley CF, Michael Williams DH, Cory Farris RF, Luke Maile C, Taylor Black SS. Pitching: RH Jordan Cooper (2-3, 6.49).

LOUISVILLE (32-7) — Jeff Arnold C, Adam Duvall SS, Andrew Clark 1B, Ryan Wright 2B, Phil Wunderlich 3B, Stewart Ijames RF, Cade Stallings DH, Kyle Grieshaber LF, Drew Haynes CF. Pitching: RH Derek Self (6-0, 3.95).

UMPIRES – Keith Shartzer HP, Bryan Donnelly 1B, Scott Kennedy 3B.

Gary Henderson

Comments from Kentucky baseball coach Gary Henderson on the Wildcats’ 11-6 victory over Xavier, Tuesday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Marcus Nidiffer

Kentucky 11, Xavier 6: UK defensive changes in the seventh: Marcus Nidiffer (pinch-hitter) remained in the game as catcher; Gunner Glad moved from third base to first; Andy Burns took over at third, batting in the No. 7 slot where 1B Lance Ray had been. Nothing for Xavier in the top of the inning.

Chad Wright

The Wildcats got a one-out single up the middle by Lance Ray. Marcus Nidiffer, pinch-hitting for Luke Maile, flied to center. Ray moved to second when Taylor Black was nicked by a pitch. Ray and Black scored on Chad Wright’s second double of the game, this one to the left-field corner. Wright came home on Chris Bisson’s third hit of the game, a sharp single to right-center. Bisson advanced on his second steal of the game and Braden Kapteyn walked. Xavier went to the bullpen, calling on 6-foot-5, 260-pound RH Zac Richard, who escaped further damage.

Kentucky 6, Xavier 5: In the fifth, Xavier greeted reliever Kyle Jackson with back-to-back singles up the middle by Bobby Freking and Phil Bauer. Freking was forced at third when Matt Kleifges tried to bunt the runners ahead. Ryan Bellamy singled to shallow left, which should have loaded the bases. When Chad Wright bobbled the ball in left, though, Bauer was able to score. Nick Kennedy came in to take over from Jackson on the mound. Kennedy caught Bellamy straying from first but Bellamy broke for second and 1B Lance Ray’s throw to second hit the runner in the back. Kennedy caught Seth Willoughby looking at a third strike, but walked John McCambridge to load the bases. Kennedy left the bases jammed, striking out Drew Schmidt.

Taylor Black

Kentucky 6, Xavier 4 — With one out in the top of the fourth, Xavier’s John McCambridge reached on a bunt single, stole second and took third on a groundout. He scored on Neil Lindgren’s grounder, which 2B Chris Bisson muffed for his second error of the game.

The tie didn’t last long. Lance Ray led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single. One out later, Taylor Black crushed his first homer of the season, far over the left-field wall, to make it 6-4. Xavier starter Brian Muransky struck out Chad Wright, then gave way to RH Josh Deeg.

To open the fifth, UK called to the bullpen for RH Kyle Jackson.

Cory Farris

Kentucky 4, Xavier 3 — RH Jordan Cooper took over UK pitching chores from Sam Kidd to open the third inning. Cooper walked leadoff man Ben Thomas. Bobby Freking singled up the middle, Thomas taking second. Phil Bauer bunted the runners to second and third. Both scored on Matt Kleifges’ single down the right-field line. Kleifges tried to stretch the hit to a double, but was gunned down, RF Cory Farris to SS Taylor Black.

Kentucky came back in the bottom of the inning with Cory Farris’ one-out, two-run homer to right. Chris Bisson, who led off the inning with his second hit of the game, also scored.

                           This just in from Richmond …

Eastern Kentucky has defeated Miami (Ohio) 7-3 at Turkey Hughes Field. Both teams are 8-10 after the Colonels snapped a four-game losing streak. LH Greg Terry (2-1) worked six innings to get the win. Jayson Langfels, Richie Allen and Jacob Daniel each had two hits for EKU. Anthony Ottrando and Michael Garcia each drove in two runs.

                 Back to the Wildcats and Musketeers …

Kentucky 2, Xavier 1 — In the top of the second, back-to-back errors by SS Taylor Black and Chris Bisson to start the inning and a two-out hit batsman loaded the bases for Neil Lindgren. RH Sam Kidd caught Lindgren looking at strike three.

Keenan Wiley led off the UK second with a double to right-center, then took third on a wild pitch. Lance Ray walked. After Luke Maile took a called third strike, Taylor Black put down a sacrifice bunt to score Wiley.

Xavier 1, Kentucky 1 – Xavier scratched out a run in the top of the first. John McCambridge led off with a high-hop single that pitcher Sam Kidd couldn’t field cleanly. A groundout moved McCambridge to second. He scored on Neil Lindgren’s looping single down the right-field line.

UK countered in the bottom of the inning. Chad Wright led off with a double to the gap in left-center, then took third on Chris Bisson’s bloop single down the left-field line. Braden Kapteyn’s line-drive single to right scored Wright.

Kentucky (15-5) is taking on Xavier (4-14) at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Starting lineups

XAVIER — John McCambridge CF; Drew Schmidt 2B; Neil Lindgren C; Ben Thomas DH; Bobby Freking 1B; Phil Bauer SS; Matt Kleifges LF; Ryan Bellamy RF; Seth Willoughby 3B. Pitching — RH Brian Muransky (0-4, 10.66).

KENTUCKY –Chad Wright LF; Chris Bisson 2B; Braden Kapteyn DH; Cory Farris RF; Gunner Glad 3B; Keenan Wiley CF; Lance Ray 1B; Luke Maile C; Taylor Black SS. Pitching — RH Sam Kidd (1-1, 6.91).

Umpires — Keith Schartzer HP; Scott Kennedy 1B; Bob Howard 3B.

Kentucky scored a run in the ninth and had the bases loaded with no outs, but could not score again as Murray State held on for a 7-5 non-conference baseball game at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Jason Laws

The Thoroughbreds (as Murray is known in baseball only) put up an unearned run in the top of the second.

Jason Laws reached on a fielding error by first baseman Gunner Glad. DH Colton Moore hit a potential double-play grounder to Neiko Johnson. But the second baseman tried to tag Laws. He missed, dropped the ball, then put his throw towards first base into the UK dugout to put runners on second and third with no outs.

UK right-hander Sam Kidd got Jonathan Craycraft on an infield fly, but Laws scored when Bryan Propst grounded out to short.

Braden Kapteyn

The Wildcats took little time to tie. Braden Kapteyn led off the bottom of the second with his first homer of the season, lining a shot over the left-field wall.

Wes Cunningham

Murray’s three-run third got going when Zach Noonan drew a one-out walk. He moved to second on Elliot Frey’s single up the middle. Wes Cunningham cashed in with his sixth homer of the year, to the scoreboard in center field.

In the bottom of the inning, UK wasted a two-out double by Chad Wright.

Murray kept up the attack in the fourth, again helped by a UK defensive lapse.

Jonathan Craycraft, out of Henry Clay High School, led off with a ground ball. Second baseman Neiko Johnson bobbled the ball for his second error of the game. Bryan Propst’s single moved Craycraft to second and Cory Hodskins bunted the runners to second and third.

Brandon Elliott’s bloop single down the right-field line scored Craycraft and moved Propst to third. UK Coach Gary Henderson pulled right-hander Sam Kidd in favor of Kapteyn, the DH.

Kapteyn hit the first batter he faced, Noonan, to load the bases, then walked Frey to force in a run.

Another scored on Cunningham’s single to right, making it 7-1.

Only a nifty double play contained the damage, as Kapteyn got Laws to ground into a 3-6-1 (Glad-to-Black-to-Kapteyn) double play to end the inning.

The Wildcats scored a run in the bottom o f the inning. With one out, UK loaded the bases on Cory Farris’ line single off the glove of first baseman Cunningham, a bunt single by Gunner Glad and a Cunningham throwing error that enabled Keenan Wiley to reach base. Farris scored when Michael Williams grounded out to first.

Defensive changes for Kentucky: Glad moves to second base. Coming in to play first, batting in the leadoff spot, is Lance Ray.

In the fifth, Murray loaded the bases with two outs via a walk, error and hit batsman. Nick Kennedy came out of the bullpen to retire Noonan.

Chad Wright

Gunner Glad

UK cut the margin to 7-3 when Chad Wright knocked a one-out homer to the party deck in right-center, his second dinger of the season.

UK’s sixth error of the game helped put Kennedy in a jam in the sixth. With one out and runners at second and third, Kennedy fanned Colton Moore and got Craycraft to ground out.

Glad led off the bottom of the sixth with his third hit of the game — a home run to the scoreboard. Glad has two homers this season.

Neither team scored in the seventh or eighth.

Murray right-hander Dan Huff, who threw more than 130 pitches gave way to Chris Craycraft to start the ninth. Craycraft, a right-hander out of Henry Clay, began his collegiate career with UK.

After Luke Maile drew a leadoff walk, Wright laced his third hit of the game, a single through the right side. Pinch-runner Brian Adams advanced to second. Andy Burns drew a full-count walk to load the bases for pinch-hitter Chris Bisson.

His sharp single to center scored Adams and kept the bases loaded with no outs.

However, a hard-hit grounder by Farris was fielded by Cunningham, who stepped on first and threw home just in time to double-up Wright. Laws, the catcher, did well to hang on to the ball.

Glad flied to left, leaving Murray with the 7-5 win.

Starting lineups

Murray State — Zach Noonan, LF; Elliot Frey, CF; Wes Cunningham, 1B; Jason Laws, C; Colton Moore, DH; Jonathan Craycraft, 2B; Bryan Propst, RF; Cory Hodskins, 3B; Brandon Elliott, SS. Pitching: RH Dan Huff (0-2, 5.60).

Kentucky — Neiko Johnson, 2B; Chad Wright, LF; Andy Burns, 3B; Braden Kapteyn, DH; Cory Farris, RF; Gunner Glad, 1B; Keenan Wiley, CF; Michael Williams, C; Taylor Black, SS. Pitching: RH Sam Kidd (1-0, 6.23).

Umpires — Nathan Huber, HP; Brandon Cooper, 1B; Clarence Coleman, 3B.

James Paxton

The 2009 Major League Baseball Draft selections include four Kentucky Wildcats, the fourth consecutive season in with four or more Cats were drafted.

In addition, seven of UK’s recruits for the 2010 season were taken in the draft.

Over the last four drafts, 22 Wildcats have been selected, including seven who went in the fifth round or better.

Chris Rusin, Cubs fourth-rounder

The Toronto Blue Jays picked Paxton in Tuesday’s supplemental first round, 37th overall.

The Chicago Cubs took Rusin in Wednesday’s fourth round, 140th overall.

Chris Wade

Shortstop Chris Wade, a third-year sophomore shortstop out of Lexington Christian Academy, was picked by the Florida Marlins in 11th round.

Clint Tilford

The Colorado Rockies selected junior right-hander Clint Tilford in the 31st round.

UK signees who were selected:

* RHP Steven Inch (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), sixth round, Phillies;

* RHP Jordan Cooper (Shelbyville, Tenn.), 17th round, Pirates;

* RHP Keith Butler (Morgantown/Butler County), 24th round, Cardinals;

* LHP Taylor Rogers (Littleton, Colo.), 37th round, Orioles;

* RHP Sam Kidd (Hartford/Ohio County), 39th round, Phillies;

* C Luke Maile (Crestview Hills/Covington Catholic), 43rd round, Red Sox;

* CF Brian Adams (Cumming, Ga.), 45th round, Reds.

Adams is a UK football signee, projected as a receiver after having played primarily at quarterback in high school. He is considering playing both football and baseball for UK.