Wade LeBlanc Spectacular to Beat Kentucky, 6-2
5/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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LEXINGTON, Ky. - Alabama freshman pitcher Wade LeBlanc held Kentucky to just two runs on six hits, as he threw a complete game and struck out six batters on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The win improved LeBlanc's record to 8-4 and the Crimson Tide to 28-22 (9-16 Southeastern Conference). UK fell to 22-26 with the loss, and 6-19 in SEC play.
"Alabama has a talented team and maybe the best pitching staf that we've seen all year," said UK head coach John Cohen. "We definitely have our hands full this weekend and we will have to compete to give ourselves a chance."
Alabama got on the board first when Evan Bush touched UK starter Craig Snipp for a home run in the top of the first inning, his seventh of the season. Snipp then settled in to hold the Tide scoreless over the next four innings.
The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, as Caleb Stewart led off with a triple and scored when Mike Breyman doubled. Breyman later came in to score the go-ahead run on Billy Grace's double.
LeBlanc cruised from that point on, not allowing another UK hit until Jake Kungl laced a single back up the middle with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Tide scored twice in the top of the fifth. Charlie Lyons singled and scored on Allen Rice's triple. Bush plated Rice a batter later with a double, his third hit of the game. Bush finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.
"Tonight was a game where we hit the ball hard several times, but didn't get much to fall," said Cohen. "Three times we hit a hard ball that bounced off a defender and we still ended up being out on the play. That's baseball and we'll have to come back ready to hit again tomorrow."
Kungl led the UK offense with two hits. Spencer Graeter was 1-for-3 with a walk. Rice, Lyons, Zac Welch and Michael McCallister all had two hits each for the Tide. Snipp (2-7) took the loss for Kentucky, allowing four earned runs over five innings, while striking out six.
The two teams will continue the three-game series on Saturday with a 7 p.m. (ET) start. Kentucky will honor its 10 seniors with Senior Night festivities starting at approximately 6:45 p.m. Senior Seth Stanley (6-2) will go to the mound for the Wildcats, where he will be opposed by Alabama's Brent Carter (6-3). All the action can be heard live on 96.1 FM in Lexington.
ALABAMA POST-GAME BASEBALL NOTES
*Alabama won its third straight SEC series opener and second straight on the road with its 6-2 win over the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
*The Crimson Tide has now won eight straight games over Kentucky here in Lexington, dating back to the 1996 season. Bama has swept the last two series in the Bluegrass state in 2001 and 2002.
*All six of Alabama runs in the game were scored with two outs. Sophomore third baseman Evan Bush had three, two-out RBI in the win, while junior DH Allen
Rice (2-for-5, 2 R 2B, 3B, RBI), junior first baseman Zac Welch (2-for-5, 2 2B, RBI) and sophomore catcher Charlie Lyons (2-for-4, R, RBI) added one,
two-out RBI each.
*Bush went 3-for-4 in the game to extend his career best hitting streak to 11 straight games. During the streak, Bush is batting .432 (16-for-37), with
five runs scored, four doubles, one home run and six RBI.
*The 11-game hitting streak ties Rice for the second-longest streak on the team this season. Rice opened the year by hitting safely in his first 11 games.
Junior infielder Rocky Scelfo has the longest hitting streak this season for Alabama, with a 12-game hitting streak.
*In addition to the 11-game hitting streak, Bush has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games (20-for-54, .370) and 17 of his last 20 games (27-for-73, .370),
dating back to April 3, 2004.
*The Rainbow City native has also hit safely in nine straight SEC games, dating back to April 24. During the nine-game SEC hitting streak, Bush is batting
.419 (13-for-31) in those nine SEC games.
*Bush is 11-for-23 (.478) in his last seven SEC games.
*Bush homered in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning to give Alabama 1-0 lead. It was Bush's team-leading seventh home run and first home run
since April 3, 2004. It was his first home run in 18 games and 68 at-bats for the Crimson Tide.
*Bush added a two-out, RBI double in the fifth inning for his team-leading sixth game-winning RBI this year. He has the game-winning RBI in each of the
Tide's last two SEC wins against Florida and Kentucky.
*Freshman left-hander Wade LeBlanc (9 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) notched his fourth straight complete game and NCAA-leading eighth complete game this season
in the Crimson Tide's 6-2 win at Kentucky.
*The eight complete games ties Gene Lary (1955) for second place on the school's single-season complete game list. Frank Roland holds the Alabama
single-season record with 10 complete games in 1956.
*LeBlanc also notched his eighth win of the 2004 season, to tie the UA single-season record for wins by a freshman. B.J. Green (1998), Scott Murphy (1999)
and Taylor Tankersley (2002) also share the record with eight wins on the mound as a rookie.
*In those four straight complete games, LeBlanc has allowed only three earned runs (0.77 ERA) in 35 innings on the mound against No. 6 South Carolina, No.
6 LSU, No. 10 Florida and Kentucky. The South Carolina, LSU and Kentucky games were all on the road.
*LeBlanc gave up two runs on three hits in the fourth inning to see his scoreless inning streak snapped at 13 1/3 innings. The streak dated back to the
eighth inning at LSU on May 1, 2004. He pitched a nine-inning, complete-game shutout last week against No. 10 Florida at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
*The Wildcats scored two runs on three extra base hits in the bottom of the fourth inning as Mike Breyman and Billy Grace collected RBI doubles. Grace's
two-out RBI double scored Breyman and marked the first time since April 23 that LeBlanc has evened trailed in a game.
*In addition his performance on the mound, LeBlanc also flashed some leather in the win, recording four assists and one putout in the game, with a three
sparkling defensive plays.
*Freshman Michael McCallister (2-for-3, 2 BB, R) had two hits in the win over Kentucky, the most in an SEC game this season for the right fielder. He
finished the game by going 2-for-3, with a walk and reached base in each of his first three plate appearances.
*Alabama sophomore catcher Charlie Lyons (2-for-4, R, RBI) broke an 0-for-29 slump in Friday's game against Kentucky. After grounding out in his first
at-bat, Lyons then stroked back-to-back singles in the fifth and sixth inning helping the Tide score three runs and take a 4-2 lead. His two-out RBI single in the sixth inning was his first RBI since April 14, 2004.
*The two teams will meet again on Saturday, May 15 at 6:07 p.m. (CT) in a game that will be televised by Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS). The game will be shown in Tuscaloosa on Comcast Cable channel 29.
*Junior left-hander Brent Carter (6-3, 3.74 ERA) will start on the mound for Alabama in Saturday's game against the Cats.
