Hot start propels UK baseball to victory in home opener

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By Kevin Erpenbeck

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Six runs in the first four innings was all it took for UK baseball to win its home opener 7-1 over Wright State University,  and continue its strong start to the 2014 campaign.

The Cats (6-2) are now riding a four-game win streak. UK head coach Gary Henderson stressed the importance of playing error-free baseball.

“We made nine errors in the first four games, and now we’ve had four errorless games. That’s a pretty good turnaround,” Henderson said. “Sometimes, early in the year, that defense can be tough. The fact that we’ve been able to put four zeroes up in the error column in a row is really encouraging.”

Despite not making any errors in the game, UK was not void of mistakes early in the game.

The Cats began the first inning by issuing a walk to Wright State’s leadoff batter, senior centerfielder Kieston Greene. UK sophomore pitcher Dylan Dwyer further helped Greene around the bases by getting tagged with two balks, allowing him to score on the second call.

UK responded in the bottom half of the inning with a run-scoring double from junior centerfielder Austin Cousino. He scored later in the inning on an RBI single from junior third baseman Max Kuhn.

Responding to the early inning hiccup was essential, Henderson said.

“It’s always nice to answer,” Henderson said. “You always want to give somebody credit when they score, but we certainly did that to ourselves. We got to be cleaner than that. But anytime we give up a run in the first, we want to answer back, and we did.”

Dwyer answered for his mistakes later, allowing two hits in his three total innings of work.

Cousino reached base in four out of his five appearances, collecting three hits and scoring twice. Out of the 123 games in his career, he has now reached base in 114 of them.

The centerfielder said playing to the team’s strengths will help them overcome challenges early in the season.

“These mid-week games can be challenging,” Cousino said. “It was great to see guys going the other way, and guys get hit and take walks. These (mid-week games) are going to be a test to us to really stick to our approach in how well we play. Our offensive game did a really great job executing today.”

For sophomore right fielder Kyle Barrett, it was a game he will not soon forget. Barrett hit his first career home run in the fourth inning, a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 6-2.

“It felt great,” Barrett said. “That’s not my job, but running into one every now and then feels good. I just need to get on base and let the guys behind me do that.”

UK faces a quick turnaround in its opening homestand, facing the University of Dayton on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Cousino said the key to continuing their winning ways will be moving past their victory over Wright State as quickly as possible.

“We’ll enjoy this one for now,” Cousino said. “But we’ll come back expecting to play tomorrow.”