May 5, 2007
Columbia, S.C. – Kentucky scored five runs in the fourth inning and behind 6.2 innings of work from starting pitcher Andrew Albers defeated South Carolina 8-4 in game two of a three-game SEC series. Kentucky improves to 31-14-1 and 10-12-1 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 34-14 and 12-11 in the conference. The rubber game of the series is set for 1:30 pm on Sunday at Sarge Frye Field with live audio broadcast and gametracker stats available at uscsports.com.
Eight of nine Kentucky starters had at least one hit in the game including four multi-hit games for the Wildcats. Sawyer Carroll, Sean Coughlin, Antone DeJesus and Keenan Wiley each had two hits. Matt McKinney also drove in three runs for UK.
Albers allowed just four runs, two earned in his 6.2 innings with six hits allowed while striking out three and walking one. He improves to 6-3 on the year. Reliever Aaron Lovett earned his fifth save of the season with 2.1 innings of work to close the game for Kentucky.
South Carolina starting pitcher Harris Honeycutt went four-plus innings and allowed six runs on six hits to suffer the loss. He is now 7-4 on the year. He struck out four batters while walking one but hit two batters as well.
Kentucky took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Ryan Wilkes hit a single up the middle to lead off the frame, advanced to second base on a hit and run and reached third on a wild pitch. With one out, McKinney hit a short pop up that was caught by Travis Jones in short right field. Wilkes broke on the catch and beat Jones’ throw to home plate to give the Wildcats a one-run lead.
South Carolina bounced back in the bottom half of the second to take a 2-1 lead as Jon Willard drove a two-run homer to right field to give the Gamecocks a one-run cushion. Willard followed up a one-out single from Andrew Crisp with his fifth homer of the year and also his third career homer against the Wildcats.
The Wildcats regained the lead in the fourth inning with five runs against Honeycutt with two outs. Sean Coughlin drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a double down the left field line by Tyler Howe. With two outs and runners on second and third base, Matt McKinney drove a 2-2 pitch for a triple to left center. McKinney would then score on a RBI single from Keenan Wiley followed up by a two-run homer from Mike Brown that gave Kentucky a 6-2 edge. Kentucky added a run in the sixth inning with Wiley bunting for a base hit, sacrificed to second base and scoring on Antone DeJesus’ RBI single.
South Carolina crept back within three runs in the seventh inning scoring a pair of unearned runs against Albers. Harley Lail opened the inning with a double and Jon Willard reached base on a dropped pop up by second baseman Brian Spear. With two outs and runners on first and third for the Gamecocks, Travis Jones delivered again at the plate with a double to right center to score Lail and Steven Reinhold and cutting the Kentucky lead to three runs. Kentucky stretched it back to four in the eighth inning with Sawyer Carroll collecting an RBI single.
Carolina relief pitcher Alex Farotto worked a career-high five innings in relief of Honeycutt. He allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Jones went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Gamecocks at the plate. He is 7-for-9 in the series against Kentucky.
