Trailing by a game in the standings with just two weeks left in Southeastern Conference, wins are a precious for Kentucky. Facing Alabama - a team that had won seven times in 24 conference games - for a three-game set in the comforts of Cliff Hagan Stadium, the UK had an opportunity to gain some ground.

Behind starter Taylor Rogers, the Wildcats showed no intention of letting it go by.

Rogers worked around a single lackluster inning to post his third quality start in four outings and the UK offense had its best output in SEC play in two weeks en route to a series-opening 4-2 victory over the visiting Crimson Tide. Without question, Rogers set the tone for the rest of the series, which will wrap up on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

"It's something that I like to do: Come out each weekend and set the tone for us and let the other team know that's what we're here to do," Rogers said.

Since a start at Arkansas in which he made it through just four innings, Rogers has put together his best four-start stretch of his junior season. With his emergence, he has lowered his ERA from 5.07 to 4.60, looking the part of a Friday night starter.

"He did phenomenal," McCarthy said. "He's been having really good starts for us and we knew he was going to go out and do his thing. He kept throwing up zeroes and our offense felt good knowing that Taylor was going to go out and do his job."

It wasn't always smooth sailing for Rogers though. He allowed the first two batters he faced to reach in the first, before coaxing a pop up and a double play ball to escape. However, he would not make it out of the third unscathed.

After Thomas McCarthy snapped an 0-for-17 slump with a two-out, two-RBI double to give UK a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, four of the first five Alabama batters reached to open the third before Austen Smith's sacrifice fly chased home the second run of the inning to retie the score. Rogers would strike out the next batter to end the frame, his fourth through the first three innings.

 From there, Rogers didn't record a single additional punch out, but he didn't need to. After allowing six batters to reach through the first three innings, he allowed just two hits over his final four innings of work and faced the minimum three times, protecting the second two-run lead his offense gave him with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.

"I think as it went on, the command got better. It was just more of a mindset than anything," Rogers said. "The beginning of the game, I didn't have much body control and not much of a plan. I think moving forward in the game, it got better."

"I just thought that he was confident," head coach Gary Henderson said. "Every time that he left the ball up or was soft in the release, that he made the release on the next pitch. You didn't see him lose maybe three or four in a row like you had maybe earlier in the year or earlier in his career."

Rogers would exit after seven innings having allowed two runs on seven hits and just one walk, and Alex Phillips came on in his place. He would pick up right where Rogers left off. The left-handed senior needed just 18 pitches to record the game's final six outs, the last three of which came on strikeouts. He picked up his sixth save of the season and Kentucky's 17th as a team to tie a school record set in 1993.

"(It was) kind of an outing that we've come to expect out of him," Henderson said.

Not only did Rogers and Phillips protect the lead their offense gave them, they also protected the momentum the Cats have built in since their only four-game losing streak of the season. It started last Saturday, when Corey Littrell turned in eight dazzling innings against Florida to pitch UK to a 2-1 win.

"We were scuffling a little bit at the time but it's a long season, that's part of baseball. That was a big win for us," McCarthy said of the Florida finale. "It was a statement going into these last few weekends to get that win."

Since, UK has won two more in a row to run its winning streak to three games.

Even so, the Cats don't feel their performing at full capacity. They left eight runners on base and missed out on a handful of opportunities to add to the lead. Henderson, whose Wildcats lead the SEC most offensive categories, doesn't think it will take much for his club to heat back up.

"There's still lots of season left and all it takes is one or two of those guys to get hot and next thing you know, three or four of them are and we're right back to where we want to be," Henderson said.

Final two games of series to played on Saturday

Due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, the final two games of UK-Alabama will be played as a doubleheader on Saturday. Former UK star and current Washington Nationals farmhand Alex Meyer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch as part of Senior Day festivities, which will take place before the 2 p.m. opener. The Wildcats' approach will not change.

"It'll be just the same," Henderson said. "We've had more this year than any other year since I've been here, so we'll just go at it the same."

Gary Henderson



Taylor Rogers



Thomas McCarthy

The sixth-ranked Kentucky men's tennis opened the NCAA Tournament with an impressive 4-0 sweep over Radford Friday afternoon. But even as heavy favorites, head coach Dennis Emery felt the match left something to be desired. 

Dennis Emery



Eric Quigley

Kentucky was the favorite for the national championship and did not disappoint, winning the school's eighth title. UK was an even heavier favorite for the national attendance crown and the Big Blue Nation did not disappoint either.

For the seventh straight season and 16th time in 17 years, UK led the nation in average home attendance, the NCAA announced on Thursday. Fans packed Rupp Arena to the tune of 23,721 per game, well over Rupp's capacity of 23,000. Kentucky was actually third in the nation in total attendance at 426,978, but played one fewer home game than first-place Syracuse and second-place Louisville.

UK also made NCAA history by breaking the all-time all-game attendance record held by Syracuse since 1989. For Kentucky's 40 home, road and neutral games, 885,953 were in attendance (22,148 per game), eclipsing the previous record 855,053 by over 30,000.

Between the championship, Anthony Davis' stellar season and fans coming out in droves to watch, it certainly was an historic year.

From UK Athletics, thank you to all the fans who came out and supported the Cats.

Cat Scratches caught up with head coach Dennis Emery and all-time singles wins leader Eric Quigley on the eve of men's tennis' run in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will play host to the Radford Highlanders at the Boone Tennis Complex on Friday at 3 p.m. as they look to begin their run toward what they hope will be the first Final Four in school history.

Emery and Quigley talked about the tournament, the weeks off preceding it, the advantage of hosting and Quigley's legacy in the two videos below. Stay tuned this weekend of coverage.

Emery



Quigley

Somewhat improbably, Kentucky had gone 48 outings in 2012 without giving fans any free baseball. The Wildcats had played 18 one-run ballgames and even more back-and-forth affairs, but not once did they go to extra innings.

At least until a trip to Bloomington, Ind., to face the Hoosiers.

There, with sunset approaching in a stadium with no lights, UK came out on top in its first such game this season in a bizarre 6-5 victory that took 12 innings and balk to score the winning run.

"Anytime you go extra innings and get a win, you feel like you've done something," head coach Gary Henderson said. "To go 12 (innings) and get a win was great."

The Cats (38-11, 15-9 Southeastern Conference) will now go about the business of trying to convert whatever momentum they gained from the win, their second in a row since losing a season-high four straight, into crucial conference victories as the season's final stretch approaches.

The first chance they'll have to do so will come against Alabama (18-30, 7-17 SEC) as UK plays host to the Crimson Tide for a three-game set beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Taylor Rogers (5-3, 4,81 ERA) will get the ball coming off his best three-start stretch of the season, and will be opposed by dynamic freshman Spencer Turnbull (2-4, 4.56 ERA), who recently tossed seven no-hit innings against first-place South Carolina before having his outing cut short due to inclement weather.

The two starters will certainly make their marks on the game, but Rogers has lasted more than six innings just twice in 12 starts, Turnbull once in eight starts. The fact that the bullpens could loom large bodes well for the Cats, as UK relievers have been solid all season, and even better in the win at Indiana.

Pitching 10 innings in relief of Chandler Shepherd, six relievers combined to allow just one earned run on 12 hits. They struck out 13 Hoosiers and walked just one, and that was intentional, "which doesn't count," according to Henderson.

The only of UK's bullpen arms to toss more than 2.1 innings was freshman A.J. Reed, who turned in one of the best performances of his short career. He allowed one unearned run on four hits over 5.1 innings, striking out six. It was also his sixth consecutive appearance without a walk, a stretch than spans 13.1 innings.

"He was throwing the ball with some aggression and he was throwing it at the knees for the most part," Henderson said. "He did a great job. I think it was 40 strikes out of 54 fastballs, very good. He was ahead in the count, he was on the attack."

Though he has scuffled of late at the plate, Reed has been a key cog in the UK lineup from his first collegiate game. Getting his bat back on track would certainly be a boost, but the Wildcats have enough offensive threats to compensate if he doesn't. However, Reed's abilities as a pitcher could make him indispensable down the stretch. Outings like the one he turned in against IU are exactly what Henderson is looking for as he tries to identify how he will navigate his pitching staff through the rigors of the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

"He's got it in him, there's no question about that," Henderson said. "To be able to see that (Wednesday) was great."

As an instructor, Henderson was also elated by the timing of Reed's excellent game. On the day before the trip to Indiana, Henderson raved about how Reed had thrown "exceptionally well in the bullpen (Monday), in fact as good as he's ever thrown." Of course, he would turn around and do the same when it counted two days later, a non-coincidental occurrence Reed can be sure he'll be reminded of by his coach.

"He's probably going to hear that, there's no doubt about that, how you can back up a good practice session with a good outing, a good game," Henderson said. "He's really talented. We need to continue to have him move forward."

Before Henderson can really begin thinking about Reed's postseason prospects, the Wildcats will be looking to close out a record-setting regular season strong. Six games remain in conference play, and even though UK hit an inevitable rut in the SEC, the team remains just a game back of South Carolina and LSU in the standings. The final push begins this weekend, on Friday evening more specifically.

"I think you have to let the kids know we haven't lost the ability to accomplish any of our goals," Henderson said. "They're all there. The most important thing is getting Friday night's ballgame so you put yourself in a position to win a series."

We already knew John Calipari's coaching staff of John Robic, Kenny Payne and Orlando Antigua was among the nation's best, but ESPN provided a little more proof on Thursday.

ESPN's College Basketball Nation Blog is doing a series of top 10 lists on Thursday's during this offseason, and the category tackled today was top assistants in the game under the age of 40. The list, while admittedly not a definitive one, features assistants "who have put themselves in a position to earn head coaching jobs in the future."

Antigua, who just signed a new contract with UK along with the rest of Coach Cal's staff, came in at No. 1 on the list. Here's what Myron Medcalf said about the coach who just finished his third season in Lexington:

1. Orlando Antigua (Kentucky): The former Pitt standout helped John Calipari sign another top-ranked recruiting class. But he's also assisted Calipari in developing the young prodigies who have come to Lexington. After Kentucky won the national title in April, he was a candidate for multiple jobs, including Duquesne. And it's just a matter of time before he's leading his own show. He turns 40 next year.

The Kentucky Effect strikes again.

LINK: ESPN NAMES ORLANDO ANTIGUA TOP ASSISTANT UNDER 40