Kennedy dices up Aces in 2010 debut (photo courtesy UKAthletics.com)
The University of Kentucky baseball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Tuesday, defeating the University of Evansville 7-1 at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington.
Kentucky held a 3-1 lead from the third inning all the way into the bottom of the eighth, where they tacked on four more to ensure their series-opening win over the Aces.
The Wildcats (10-1) got a solid start from freshman Jordan Cooper, who went four innings to get the win. Cooper (1-0) scattered six hits in four innings of one-run baseball, and struck out four.
Junior Kyle Jackson blanked Evansville (3-9) the next two innings before giving way to Nick Kennedy.
Kennedy, in his first appearance of the season, threw three shutout innings to earn the save. The submarine pitcher missed most of last season due to injury, but looked great in his 2010 debut.
Kentucky was paced offensively by Andy Burns, whose fourth homer of the season in the eighth contributed to a big inning for the Cats. Burns went 2-5 on the day with two RBI.
Aside from Burns, UK was helped by Gunner Glad, Keenan Wiley, Braden Kapteyn, and Michael Williams, all of whom had two-hit games.
UK looked good in its first game dealing with the absence of All-American Chris Bisson, who will miss some time after suffering a broken nose caused by a hit by pitch last Saturday. Bisson’s nose had to be surgically reset, and UK expects him to miss at least a week.
Look for the Wildcats to continue to scratch their way through the early part of this season. Teams are defined by how well they respond to adversity, and UK’s had their share. With the permanenet absence of perhaps its best overall player (James Paxton) and a temporary void left by Bisson’s injury, these next few games will be a test for Kentucky. So far, so good.
Kentucky wraps up its mid-week series with Evansville Wednesday at 4 p.m.
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