UK Baseball’s Cody, McNeill Lift Kentucky to Series Sweep, 5-0 Week

Kyle Cody didn’t allow an earned run over six innings and Gunnar McNeill belted his third home run of the year, leading Kentucky to a 3-1 win over USC Upstate in the nightcap of a series-concluding doubleheader, on Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky (12-3) extended its winning streak to nine games with the result, with UK sweeping USC Upstate in the three-game set. UK opened the season with a six-game, two-week road swing before returning for a 10-game homestand, which concludes Tuesday, to prepare for Southeastern Conference play.
A native of Chippewa Falls, Wis., Cody (2-1) worked his second quality start of the year in the win, allowing only two hits and an unearned run in six innings of work, striking out seven and walking three. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound righty gave way to senior Zach Strecker with a 3-1 lead to open the seventh. Strecker fired shutout frames in the seventh and eighth, getting an out in the ninth inning with two strikeouts. Strecker threw 29 pitches with 25 going for strikes. After a pair of one-out singles vs. Logan Salow, freshman Justin Lewis came on to retire the final two hitters in the game for his second save of the year.
McNeill, a 6-foot-2 slugger out of Orlando, Fla., had his third homer and his third three-RBI game of the season. McNeill extended his hitting streak to nine games and has reached base safely in all 15 games of his Kentucky career. UK also got hits from Marcus Carson, Riley Mahan, Tyler Marshall, Storm Wilson and Evan White.
USC Upstate (8-9) starter Charlie Carpenter (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in three innings, striking out three.
UK will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Western Kentucky at 4 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky got on the board in the first inning, as White reached on a one-out single and Mahan replaced him on a fielder’s choice. McNeill then smashed his third homer of the year over the leftfield fence, giving UK a 2-0 lead.
In the third inning, White was hit by a two-strike pitch and Mahan singled to leftfield. After a wild pitch moved the pair into scoring position with one out, McNeill lined a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score White.
USC Upstate got on the board in the fifth inning, as Jake Beaver led off with a walk, taking second on a chopper back to the pitcher with two outs. Brandon Brundage then chopped a grounder up the middle, with the ball skidding off the mitt of a UK defender, allowing Beaver to score from second with an unearned run.
In the eighth, Wilson doubled down the rightfield line, taking third on a deep line out from White.
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BASEBALL
March 12, 2016
DUSTIN BEGGS IMPROVES TO 4-0 IN TWINBILL-OPENING WIN
Beggs First UK Pitcher since 2012 to Win First Four Starts of Season
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Dustin Beggs fired seven shutout innings to improve to 4-0 – the first Kentucky pitcher to win his first four starts since 2012 – leading UK to a 3-0 win to clinch the series for the Wildcats in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
A native of Roswell, Ga., Beggs (4-0) became the first Kentucky pitcher since Taylor Rogers in 2012 to win his first four starts of the season and just the third in program history. He improved his career mark to 11-4, ranking third in UK history in winning percentage (.733) and fifth in ERA (3.02). On the year, Beggs sports a 0.94 ERA, striking out 30 in 28.2 innings.
The only pitchers who can compare to Beggs start in the modern-era of Kentucky baseball (2002-2016) is Rogers, who started 4-0 with a 4.24 ERA in 2012 and Greg Dombrowski, who opened 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 2006.
Beggs allowed only six hits and a walk in his 7.2 shutout frames, marking his 12th career quality start and his fourth consecutive. A two-time MLB Draftee, Beggs threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 29 hitters he faced.
With two outs and a runner in scoring position in the eighth inning, UK turned to senior righty Bo Wilson in relief of Beggs. A native of Bradenburg, Ky., Wilson issued a walk before senior right-hander Zach Strecker came on to escape the jam. Freshman Sean Hjelle – a 6-foot-11 righty – pitched the ninth inning, earning his third save in as many opportunities.
Kentucky (11-3) won its eighth consecutive game and clinched its second consecutive series win with its result in the doubleheader opener. UK scored single runs in the first, second and fifth innings.
In his second career start – after filling in for preseason All-America third baseman JaVon Shelby – sophomore Tyler Marshall belted is first career home run in his first career multi-hit game. UK also got hits from Marcus Carson, Riley Mahan, Evan White and Storm Wilson, with Wilson ripping a double and Mahan driving in a run. Junior DH Gunnar McNeill went 2-for-3 with a RBI single in the fifth inning.
USC Upstate (8-8) starter Eric Birklund (0-1) suffered the hard-luck loss in a strong start. Birklund worked 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, walking three and striking out two.
Kentucky took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning as Wilson led off the frame with a double into the right-centerfield gap. White then grounded out to the right side with two strikes, moving Wilson to third, and Mahan followed with an RBI groundout.
Marshall gave UK a two-run lead with his first career home run in the second inning, drilling a 1-0 offering over the fence in rightfield.
The Wildcats stretched their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as White reached on a one-out single up the middle, scoring on McNeill’s well-placed single down the rightfield line.
Brent Ingram
University of Kentucky Athletics