Feb. 16, 2007

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Antone DeJesus tripled and drilled a sixth-inning grand slam to lift 26th-ranked Kentucky to a 12-1 win over Furman in the 2007 season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Furman Stadium.

DeJesus, a junior from Amherst, Ohio, led off the game with a triple off Paladin starting pitcher Matt Klinker and scored on Sawyer Carroll's ground out to stake the Wildcats to an early 1-0 lead.

Later in the sixth, with Kentucky leading 6-0, DeJesus came to the plate with the bases loaded and deposited an offering by Furman freshman pitcher Barry Benton over the right field fence to stretch the Wildcat advantage to 10-0.

DeJesus' two big hits highlighted a 14-hit Kentucky attack, which featured three hits from Ryan Wilkes and pair of base knocks by Matt McKinney and Jason Kipnis.

Kentucky pitchers Andrew Albers and Aaron Lovett, meanwhile, handcuffed Furman's bats, limiting the Paladins to only six hits. Albers (1-0) surrendered only a pair of singles and one walk while notching four strikeouts over the first five innings, and Lovett followed with four strong innings of work to earn the save.

Furman registered its lone run in the eighth after Joey Rodgers led off with a triple and came home on a Connor Lind RBI single. Spence Gibbs, starting at shortstop for an injured Marcus Rose, collected two of the Paladins six base hits.

Klinker took the loss after working 5 2/3 innings and yielding eight hits and seven runs, all earned, while striking out six.

The two teams play game two of the series on Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. game at Furman Stadium. The Paladins will start freshman righthander Richard Magrath, and the Wildcats will counter with sophomore lefthander Chris Rusin (5-0, 4.03 ERA in 2006).

Sunday's series finale is scheduled for noon.