McClendon hopes to provide spark for Bat Cats

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Senior third baseman Chris McClendon, left, is batting .247 for the Bat Cats this season. (Photo by Britney McIntosh | Staff)

The UK baseball team is looking for a spark to keep its season alive.

After dropping six of their last eight and 13 of their last 17, the Cats (22-22, 7-14 Southeastern Conference) are staring their postseason fate dead in the eye. The top eight teams in the conference earn a spot in the SEC tournament, and the Cats are two games behind the current No. 8 seed, South Carolina.
Perhaps the best player to help provide the last bit of life for the Cats is “Sparky” — senior third baseman Chris McClendon.

“I wouldn’t say that my role is to actually hype people up,” McClendon said. “But I do have the nickname and that’s the way I like to play the game. I like to come out and bring some extra energy, bring an extra spark between the lines and try to get the team going with my personal abilities.”

McClendon battled hamstring and back injuries last year and has fought a nagging hamstring injury again this year. In a game against Marshall on March 31, McClendon was injured after running into a brick wall while chasing a foul ball.

Recently, McClendon has seemed to find his old form at the plate during a four-game hitting streak. He has hit .429 with three RBI during the hitting streak and has been a much-needed source of offensive production for the Cats.

“Where it hurt us the most is offensively,” junior center fielder Keenan Wiley said. “He was a really good hitter for us last year. He was one of the leaders for us on our team hits-wise and stats-wise. When you’re trying to produce runs in this league you need everybody you can. He’s an experienced guy and we’ve missed that.”

McClendon led all returning players on UK’s roster this year with a .346 batting average in 2008. But UK head coach Gary Henderson said injuries slowed McClendon for most of this season.

“He’s a guy that had a really good year last year,” Henderson said. “He’s a guy that should be able to provide some senior leadership, hit in the middle of the order and drive in runs. Unfortunately, he got a little bit behind and he pressed a little bit. The game is hard when that goes on.”

McClendon, as one of only four seniors, has a leadership role Wiley said hasn’t wavered. A self-proclaimed leader by example, McClendon said sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone and be more vocal to get the team fired up. With just three SEC series left, it may be more necessary to do that now than ever before.

For McClendon, a second straight trip to the postseason would be “awesome.”

“I want to go out on top; I don’t want to go out thinking we underachieved,” McClendon said. “We just have to go out and play hard. We’re two games out so everybody’s pretty excited about that. … We’re just going to go out and keep playing hard and I think you might see a pretty lively club. If we can make some ground up and make the playoffs I think anything can happen.”