March 28, 2008
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Columbia, S.C. – Kentucky homered five times and scored 12 runs in the first four innings on its way to a 15-3 victory over South Carolina in game one of a three-game SEC series. Kentucky is now 22-2 and 5-2 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 16-7 and 4-3 in conference play. Both teams meet on Saturday with first pitch set for 4 pm at Sarge Frye Field.
Kentucky starting pitcher Chris Rusin worked 8.2 innings and allowed three runs on nine hits to pick up the victory. He finished with six strikeouts and is now 4-1 on the year. Carolina starting pitcher Mike Cisco suffered his first loss of the year and is now also 4-1 this season. He allowed 12 runs on 12 hits in three-plus innings of work.
The Wildcats struck early with six runs in the first inning, all coming with two outs against Cisco. Brian Spear was hit by a pitch, Sawyer Carroll singled and Chris McClendon had a RBI base hit to get things started for Kentucky. They would then load the bases on an infield hit from Ryan Wilkes. With a 3-2 count, designated hitter Tyler Howe drew a walk to score the second run of the inning for the Wildcats. Kentucky then extended that lead to 6-0 on a grand slam home run from Chris Wade. The Kentucky shortstop drilled an 0-1 pitch from Cisco over the left field wall to give UK a six-run cushion.
Kentucky would continue to put runs on the board with two in the second inning, two in the third inning and two in the fourth. Spear and McClendon had RBI doubles in the second inning, Marcus Nidiffer hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Carroll knocked a two-run homer in the fourth inning as Kentucky raced out to a 12-0 lead. They would add a single run in the fifth inning on a solo homer from Collin Cowgill against Gamecock reliever Alex Burrell.
South Carolina would score a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run double from Phil Disher that scored Kyle Enders and Andrew Crisp. Kentucky scored single runs in the sixth and eighth innings with Carolina scoring a final run in the ninth inning on a RBI double from Harley Lail.
Kentucky finished with a 16-9 advantage in hits including three from Spear and McClendon and two apiece by Carroll, Wade and Nidiffer. Wade had four RBI with Nidiffer finishing with three RBI on a pair of home runs. Whit Merrifield and Justin Smoak had two hits apiece to lead the Gamecocks. Andrew Crisp doubled in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.
Live audio broadcast for Saturday’s game is available at gamecocksonline.com and on the Gamecock Radio Network including flagship station 107.5 FM with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody on the call. A video tape delay can also be seen at gamecocksonline.com. Live video coverage on Saturday is unavailable due to SEC regulations.
