A.J. Reed leads UK into season opener
Wildcat A.J. Reed reaches out and rips a base hit. He would finish the day 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, a walk and a home run. in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, March, 2, 2013. Photo by James Holt
February 25, 2014
By Josh Huff
Fresh off a successful weekend at the Old Dominion Tournament in Virginia, UK baseball opens its home schedule against Wright State University on Tuesday.
The Cats head into the game with their offense firing on all cylinders after a barrage of runs over the weekend.
UK arrived at Old Dominion University on Friday in the midst of a two-game losing streak that was broken with a 16-2 win against St. Joseph’s University.
Junior pitcher and first baseman A.J. Reed was named The Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week as well as the SEC Player of the Week on Monday after becoming the first UK player to hit two home runs in one inning since 2007. Reed connected on a two-run home run and a grand slam in UK’s nine-run fifth inning.
“All I’m trying to do is go up there and put a good swing on a strike,” Reed said. “Luckily for us and for myself, I did that a couple times.”
He also got the victory on the mound, after allowing six hits and one run in seven innings. Reed’s effort on Friday pushed his record to 2-0 with a 1.50 earned run average.
In the second game of the tournament, UK strung together a comeback in the late innings to defeat Old Dominion 7-5.
Down 5-4 going into the seventh inning, Reed tied the game with a solo home run. Freshman outfielder Storm Wilson punched a go-ahead two-run single to seal the win.
In the final game, UK blanked St. John’s University 13-0 in a game where Reed continued his torrid start, hitting two more home runs, one in the second inning and one in the fifth inning.
His weekend total added to five home runs and 11 RBI. UK scored 36 runs as a team in those three games.
The Cats have scored 69 total runs in their first seven games after averaging 5.16 runs per game a season ago.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can drive the ball in the gaps and hit doubles. I’ve been trying to lead the way and show these guys I’m not any different than them and stick with our approach,” Reed said. “That approach has been working so far and being able to do that and have some success really shows that it works.”
Reed, the Terre Haute, Ind., native, feels confident in UK assimilating to the confines of Cliff Hagan Stadium for the first time since last May.
“We’re just going to go out there, play our game and attack, and I think we’ll do just fine,” Reed said.
He said the team plays well at home.
“Being at home is a real big confidence boost for us because we like playing in our park,” he said. “So we’re going out here, play our game and get some wins.”
