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UK CLIMBS TO NO. 16 IN LATEST BASEBALL AMERICA POLL
Kentucky Makes First Appearance in Baseball America Top-25 at No. 16
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After
sweeping the two-time defending NCAA Champions, No. 2 South Carolina,
Kentucky has made its first appearance of the season in the latest
Baseball America weekly top-25 poll, it was announced on Monday
afternoon.
Kentucky (21-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference)
remains the only undefeated team in the nation while in the midst of a
school-record 21-game winning streak to open the season. The Wildcats
sit just two wins shy of equaling the SEC record for the longest
winning streak in the storied history of the program, as the 2010 NCAA
Champion LSU Tigers won 23 games. The 2000 South Carolina club posted
22 consecutive wins.
The Wildcats No. 16 ranking in
Baseball America is their highest since a No. 16 ranking on March 17,
2008. Last week, UK was ranked as high as No. 16 in the Collegiate
Baseball weekly poll, ranking No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll
and No. 24 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers top-30 ranking.
UK’s
three-game sweep of the two-time defending NCAA Champion South Carolina
Gamecocks was its first since the 2006 UK SEC Championship season. The
Gamecocks entered the series ranked as high as No. 2 and as low as No.
3 in the weekly polls, leading the SEC in ERA and opposing batting
average.
UK posted a 4-3 walk-off win on Luke Maile’s
two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth in the series lidlifter and
used a game-winning RBI and a winning effort on the mound from freshman
two-way standout A.J. Reed for a 4-3 win Saturday. On Sunday, UK posted
a 6-3 win over the Gamecocks to clinch the series sweep, UK’s first to
open SEC play since winning a school-record 44 games in 2008.
Kentucky’s
school-record 21-0 start set a new school record, eclipsing the
previous mark of 19-0 set in 2007 and 2008. The Wildcats are the lone
unbeaten team in college baseball, leading the nation with the 21-game
winning streak and the 21-0 overall record.
UK returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats at 4 p.m. ET at Marge Schott Stadium.
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