Walkup tunes, bonus track

It might just be me, but I was personally intrigued to no end on the walkup song selections by UK players. Something about what song they chose to represent them at the plate, and the thought process behind it, fascinated me. So, some extra material that wasn’t able to make it into the paper.

- Drake is a very popular choice (maybe not that surprising, considering the artist’s reception at his recent concert in Memorial Coliseum). The lineup is bookended by Drake songs, with leadoff man Chris Bisson playing Drake’s verse off “4 My Town” and nine-hole hitter Taylor Black going with Drake’s “Still Fly.” Personally, I can’t say I love Black’s choice, but that’s probably because my roommate’s alarm clock is “Still Fly,” and there’s an unwritten rule that you have to hate alarm clock songs after months of hearing it way too early each and every morning.

- The hometown love is a big deal. Chris Bisson gets his second mention here — both Bisson and Drake are from Canada. Nick Kennedy, as mentioned in the paper, plays “California Love.” Mike Kaczmarek, who hails from Illinois, plays Common’s “Chi-City.” And I’m sure there are plenty more if I was able to get a full set list of the player’s songs. I think the hometown shout-outs might have to do with a little bit of subconscious homesickness (after all, some of these guys are playing ball far away from home) and a little bit of just representing where they come from (think of football players writing area codes on eye black).

- Here’s what a fan would hear on a typical day as the soundtrack of the lineup (in the general batting order of recent games).

1. Chris Bisson – Birdman, 4 My Town
2. Chad Wright – Justin Moore, Backwards
3. Gunner Glad – Wale, Nike Boots
4. Lance Ray – Bad Company, Bad Company
5. Andy Burns – DJ Khaled, All I Do is Win
6. Keenan Wiley – Randy Houser, Boots On
7. Marcus Nidiffer – Stevie Wonder, Superstitious
8. Cory Farris – Fabulous, My Time
9. Braden Kapteyn – Atreyu, Becoming the Bull
10. Taylor Black – Drake, I’m Still Fly

– I wish I had been able to look into what pitchers used. Kennedy said his first song was Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name,” because it defined him during his comeback from an arm injury that kept him out for over a season. Closers, in particular, always have interesting song choices, mainly because their mindset is usually so different from other pitchers.

Slightly off-topic post on the Drake experience

Now, I know this is a sports blog, and a Drake concert doesn’t really fit in that category, but he came to basketball games and professed his love for the team and hung with Coach Cal and John Wall, so I feel this blog can handle it for this one.

Anyway, I did really really love Drake’s concert. And between the 50 million shout-outs to UK, the few moments where Drake couldn’t help himself from cheesing while he was admiring the crowd’s love and the group dance with the basketball team on stage, I think Drake might have been having as much fun as we were.        (Click to read more) Read the rest of this entry »

Songs keep baseball in tune to win

They are the soundtrack to singles and strikeouts, foul tips and fly outs, bunts and bloopers, grand entrances and grand slams.

They are the walk-up songs, accompanying each batter as he strolls toward the batter’s box and each pitcher as he jogs toward the mound to fight for any one of the aforementioned results. Each individual player gets to pick his own song.

From Drake to Randy Houser, bumping bass to twangy tunes, the song represents the player each time he plays, like his uniform number. It is a part of a player’s identity and in baseball, the most individual of team sports, that counts for something.

“There’s more thought than there probably needs to be going into these songs,” reliever Nick Kennedy said. “But you look for something that defines you as a player and a person. There’s actually a lot of thought and preparation that goes into it.”

A player can choose a certain song for a variety of reasons. Senior outfielder Keenan Wiley chose Randy Houser’s “Boots on” to be his personal soundtrack at the plate.

“It’s kind of a picture of me, kind of how I grew up,” said Wiley, a Richmond, Ky., native.  “It reminded me of where I came from.”

Representation of a player’s hometown is a common theme. Kennedy, of Los Angeles, uses “California Love” as his backdrop to entering a game.

“‘California Love,’ is a little tribute to my home state,” Kennedy said. “And it gives love to L.A. It ties back to my roots. It just felt right when I heard it.”

For others, the decision is less a reflection of their life and more a reflection of their musical tastes.

“I picked mine because I like it,” said Andy Burns of his song, DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” “It’s just a cool song.”

However, Burns’ choice has developed into something more than a personal playlist. Members of the UK baseball staff have tried to create an “Andy Burns dance” that plays off the lyrics — when the song says, “everybody’s hands go up,” well, everybody’s hands go up — to varying degrees of success.

“I heard that was going on at one point,” Burns said.  “I’m guessing it’s nowhere close to the John Wall dance.”
While it may not have developed into a campus-wide sensation just yet, Burns said the song did play a part in the habitual part of baseball. A slump can mean hitting the next-track button.

“If things are going bad, the song is one of the first things to go,” Burns said.

“I’ve had a good year with my song. Why change it?” Wiley said.

Perhaps that is the key to the importance of the walk-up song. It doesn’t imbibe the player, or his bat, with any added superpowers. It doesn’t add extra miles per hour to a pitcher’s fastball. But in an environment as ritualistic as that of a baseball clubhouse, the song is one of those constants that just needs to be there.
And on the road, where walkup songs are not played for visiting teams, the silence can break the ritual.

“I hear my song when I’m pitching at home,” Kennedy said. “Just to keep the habit going, I listen to my song on my iPod just to remind me it’s there. Having it there is just something that completes the routine.”

But even if performance were faltering, Burns would be wary of changing his tune.

“I’ve had a couple new ideas for songs,” Burns said. “But I don’t think the fans would like it too much if I switched it up.”

Five seniors celebrate softball’s successes

With the final out of Sunday’s softball doubleheader at the UK Softball Complex, five seniors saw the curtain close on their home-field careers.

The class of five is not one to forget. “First time in school history” seemed to be the phrase surrounding the current seniors through their recent seasons.

Under UK head coach Rachel Lawson’s direction and with the support of the underclassmen, the senior class achieved greater success than any before it.

“I can’t say enough about the senior class,” Lawson said. “They do everything right. They work incredibly hard in the classroom and in the weight room. I have never seen a day when they didn’t come out and give it their all. I think, because of that, our team has been able to take on a great culture. We have been able to come back from some adverse situations, which is something we struggled with in the past. To be the first to do all the things they have is just great. I hope they remember it forever.”

Second baseman Natalie Smith, pitcher Amber Matousek, outfielder Destinee Mordecai, shortstop Molly Johnson and outfielder Jennifer Young make up the group of decorated seniors. Each player appears in UK record books more than once.

Johnson, UK’s first All-American, and Smith not only serve the team as captains this season, but they also lead the team in batting average and hits.

Matousek tossed the first no-hitter of her career in February, notching only the second in school history.

But the group has been able to achieve more than individual success while playing under Lawson. On March 2, the Cats entered the ESPN.com top-25 poll for the first time in program history. Additionally, if the Cats are able to come away with one additional win this season, UK will mark its second consecutive 30-win season. The program has never before accomplished such a task.

The current senior class helped lead UK to its third SEC tournament last season. It was able to post its first postseason victory in school history in the tournament. It also achieved its first NCAA tournament appearance on the season.

“I am so proud of the things we were able to achieve last season under Coach Lawson,” Young said. “The improvements the UK softball program has made are amazing to be a part of. It is always a pleasure to come to practice and play in games with the other four seniors. It’s important for us to set a standard for the team and the upcoming freshmen. Just being able to say that you accomplished so much at Kentucky is a great feeling.”

Following the senior day celebration between games Sunday, the five Cats were left with mere memories of the place they called home for their career.

“For me, it is so exciting to succeed like this,” Matousek said. “Coming in as freshmen, we didn’t win many games and we didn’t get to experience the postseason. After last year, I realize this is what I came here to do. This is what I play softball for. To go to the SEC tournament, to go to regionals — I just want to be able to advance past that now. “

Men’s tennis focused on NCAAs

By Ethan Levine

With a top-10 ranking, home-court advantage and a first round bye, the last thing the UK men’s tennis team expected to see was the two-time defending conference champions in the Southeastern Conference tournament. But that’s exactly who they saw on the other side of the net when the Mississippi Rebels took the courts of the Hillary J. Boone Tennis Center. After a long, competitive match, the Cats fell to the Rebels 4-0. Along with the loss fell the hopes of a conference title.

“I thought the first time we played Ole Miss we were much more aggressive, both on the court and emotionally,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “This time we let Ole Miss come to us. We didn’t handle being the favorites well and that caught the coaches off guard.”

Ole Miss began by sweeping both doubles matches, including taking down the nation’s No. 25 doubles pair in Brad Cox and Eric Quigley. Quigley’s luck didn’t improve as the match transitioned to singles play. UK’s top player, and the No. 13 player in the nation, lost for the first time in the month of April to Marcel Thiemann 6-4, 6-2.

“I can’t speak for one of my guys, but I’m sure (Eric Quigley) was disappointed,” Emery said. “One thing I love about Eric is he has so much character, and he has the ability to bounce back from losses well. So I know he will bounce back.”

The 19th-ranked Rebels stayed on the attack in the other matches as well.

UK junior Brad Cox fell in No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-4. In a tiebreaker, UK’s lone senior, Alex Lambropoulos, fell 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in No. 6 singles to seal the Cats’ fate.

“I don’t know where the loss ranks in my career, but it certainly ranks outside of the top ten,” 28th-year head coach Emery said. “I knew it would be a close match. You always want to win in front of your home fans, but I knew it was going to be a tough match for us.”

Next for UK is the NCAA tournament, which begins on May 14. The Cats’ will learn their tournament fate on May 4 when the entire field is announced.

While UK believes it will make the field, its tournament opponent and seeding are yet to be determined.  The goal is to reach the NCAA team championships, beginning May 21, and to send players from UK to the individual championships, beginning May 26.

Emery plans on using the Ole Miss loss as a teaching tool for his team, as well as a motivational tool to prepare his team for its biggest matches of the season.

“I think the loss was a good wake up call,” Emery said. “We hadn’t taken a loss in a while, having won 12 out of our last 13 matches going into the conference tournament. For us to win regionals and reach the final 16, we will eventually face a team similar to Ole Miss, and we can’t let that team attack us like Ole Miss did. It’s as good a learning tool as any, and it’s better to have learned it now than to learn it at the NCAAs.”

UK’s balanced offense exciting, entertaining, possibly effective

Plenty of arguments exist as to whether or not baseball is an exciting sport. Ultimately, it’s a very personal decision based on a multitude of factors.

UK’s brand of baseball seems to favor the side of being an exciting brand to watch.

The Cats’ offense is diverse in their approach. They hit the long ball (ranking third in the Southeastern Conference with 53 home runs). They run and then run some more (leading the league in stolen bases with 75). They swing a lot and put balls in play (ranking second-to-last in walks drawn with 141).

“It definitely has to do with our skill set,” said third baseman Andy Burns, who leads the team in home runs with 11. “Every guy has the potential to hit one out of the yard or steal a base late in the game.”

That dual-threat nature of the lineup puts pressure on the opposing pitcher who has to worry about the guy in the batter’s box and the guy on the bases.

“It messes with the pitchers, knowing that the guy on first can steal and the guy at the plate can hit a homer,” outfielder Keenan Wiley said.

This type of offense was something UK set as a goal entering the season.

“We expect a more exciting offense,” UK head coach Gary Henderson said before the season. “It will be more diversified, more power, more stolen bases, a much more competitive club offensively.”

Without a shutdown starting pitcher — none of the three starters have a sub-5.00 ERA — the offense has had to consistently manufacture runs. It’s happened because of a balanced lineup. Six players have five or more home runs, and seven players have six or more stolen bases.

“Every guy brings something to the table,” Burns said. “We have a lot of weapons. It’s a good thing to know you can have what it takes to win.”

The offense hasn’t always had enough to win, though. UK is now 23-17 on the year with a 6-12 mark in the SEC. The Cats currently sit in a tie for ninth place with Tennessee, two wins behind Alabama for the final spot in the SEC Tournament. They have won just one conference series, against Alabama.

Perhaps even more troubling is UK’s inability to drive all those runners home.   UK ranks second-to-last in batting average with runners on base. But the hitters continue to just focus on what they can do, and that’s to score runs.

“Our guys have been more relaxed at the plate these past few weeks,” Burns said. “Everyone in the lineup is doing something, so that takes pressure off everyone else. As a group, we’re just trying to have fun and score runs.”

Lance Ray heating up

A big part of the offensive surge lately has been Lance Ray’s productivity at the plate.

Over the last five games, Ray has reached base safely in 15 of 22 plate appearances.

That includes last weekend’s series at Auburn in which Ray headlined the offense in two of the three games. In the first game, a 13-6 loss, Ray ripped three doubles in four at-bats. In the third game, an 8-7 loss, Ray went 2-for-3, including a three-run home run in the sixth inning that tied the game.

Ray didn’t see much playing time early in the year, but his recent hot streak has made it difficult to keep him out of the lineup. He is now hitting .362 with a robust .690 slugging percentage in 51 at-bats.

“(I’m) very glad to see Lance Ray get some hits,” Henderson said following a recent game where Ray was the offensive star.

Then Henderson checked to see where Ray’s average stood after his recent outburst at the plate. He saw how far it had risen.

“Isn’t that something,” Henderson said simply. “How about that?”

Phillips should learn from scrimmage

In the press box at Commonwealth Stadium during Saturday’s Blue/White Game, Penn State’s spring game was on TV. Standing in the right spot, you could see the score of Penn State’s Blue/White Game and the scoreboard at Commonwealth.

The differences between the two Blue/White scrimmages were so many, it’s unreasonable to even compare the two.

UK’s version of the spring game finished with a score of 60-25, a blowout win for the offense utilizing a convoluted scoring system “designed” to help give both sides an even chance of winning.

UK head coach Joker Phillips said he initially planned on splitting the two sides into full squads — offense, defense and special teams — but because of injuries, enough players weren’t playing. So the teams split: one was offense, the other defense. Off they went with a scoring system unfit for any sort of school-sanctioned, open-and-advertised-to-the-public event.

The offense was awarded every time it recorded a first down, whereas the defense was only rewarded if it forced a punt or a turnover. No points for sacks or tackles for losses.

After the game, Phillips defended the system. He said it was fair, and the defense needed to see the score and take responsibility in getting off the field.

Those on the field didn’t agree.

Said defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin: “A point every first down? What do you expect? That’s skewed. That made it look like we did nothing. We did something.”

But the scoring system was just one issue Saturday.

Overall interest in the Blue/White Game was low this year. It doesn’t look like it will get higher anytime soon, either.

Reasons to be excited for football season were there Saturday. The backup tailbacks, Donald Russell and Jonathan George, were superb. Each of the three quarterbacks contending for the starting job looked strong enough to at least keep his name in contention.

Assuming you weren’t one of the few who attended the game Saturday — the official attendance said 9,000 but it looked closer to 900 — this year’s game didn’t give any incentive to make the effort next year.

UK’s game may never provide an atmosphere like Penn State’s, which had 55,000 in attendance at University Park this weekend. And nobody could’ve held off the severe weather that rolled in just minutes after the players left the field.

But Phillips could have set up the game to be more competitive.

Now he’s set up the season with much less anticipation than he could have.

After all these years, I guess Joe Paterno knows what he’s doing.

James Pennington is a journalism senior. E-mail jpennington@kykernel.com.

Undrafted Cats land with NFL teams

Former UK linebacker Micah Johnson has been invited to the New York Giants’ rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis after going undrafted over the weekend, according to the New York Giant’s website.

Johnson was, perhaps, the most notable former UK player to not have his named called by an NFL team. Johnson was a former first-team All-SEC selection.

Other former Cats who went undrafted, but have signed with NFL teams, include offensive tackle Justin Jeffries, who signed with the San Diego Chargers, tailback Alfonso Smith, who signed with the Arizona Cardinals, tight end T.C. Drake, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, and offensive lineman Zipp Duncan, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Defensive tackle Corey Peters (Atlanta Falcons), Trevard Lindley (Philadelphia Eagles) and John Conner (New York Jets) were each drafted within the opening seven rounds.

UK softball swept by LSU, says goodbye to seniors

Though this weekend’s rain was enough to postpone the second game of UK’s final home series, it was not enough to put a damper on senior day for the five graduating Cats.

UK (29-21, 11-14 Southeastern Conference) played host to No. 12 Louisiana State (39-10, 17-5 SEC) in a three-game series. Saturday’s early game was called after five innings due to rain. The second game of the supposed doubleheader was pushed to an early Sunday start, forcing two games on the day.

UK’s runs came early, but not often. The Cats had opportunities to score additional runs but they were unable to capitalize on those chances. UK’s failure to produce with runners in scoring position was a trend that carried over to Sunday’s doubleheader, as it lost 9-3 in game one.

LSU built an 8-0 lead through five and a half innings before UK found its first offensive success in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior catcher Megan Yocke led off with a solo home run before the Cats could mark three more hits and two additional runs. But LSU’s pitcher was able to escape the inning with runners stranded, as she did much of the game.

Despite UK leading off most innings with good production, it left 11 runners stranded on base.
“As a coach, there are better things I could have done to put runners in motion,” UK head coach Rachel Lawson said. “When they got the leads early in the game, it put us on our heels. We had to generate more hits than we wanted to. It just really took us out of our game plan.”

Sophomore Rachel Riley earned the loss in the pitching circle for UK, dropping her to 10-7 on the season.

Following the break in which five UK seniors were honored, the second game of the day kicked off. The five seniors, pitcher Amber Matousek, left fielder Jennifer Young, right fielder Destinee Mordecai, second baseman Natalie Smith and shortstop Molly Johnson, each started for the Cats in their final game at the UK Softball Complex.

The third game proved to be the closest of series, remaining tight all the way to the Cats’ half of the seventhinning. LSU was still able to come away with a 3-1 victory in front of the 760 fans, the second-most crowded game in UKhistory.

Mordecai posted UK’s only run with a home run over the left-field wall in the bottom of the fifth inning. Matousek received the pitching loss in game two, dropping her to 3-3.

“LSU is just a great team,” Lawson said. “They have a great pitching staff and they were able to keep us off balance. That trickled over to the other parts of our game, which allowed them to relax and string some things together. There hasn’t been another team that has been able to do that to us consistently all season.

“We are obviously disappointed with the weekend but we realize post-season play is still our main focus. We’re just going to get back to work on Tuesday and work on the things that we didn’t do well in this series.”

Mathies named to Young All-America team

Add yet another award to freshman guard A’dia Mathies’ resume.

On Sunday, Mathies was named to the seventh annual Gballmag.com Young All-America team for her significant contributions to her team’s success during her rookie campaign. Nine other players joined Mathies on the list, including Southeastern Conference opponent Jasmine James, a guard for Georgia.

Mathies averaged 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals for the season. She also set the school record for steals by a freshman with 93.

Mathies has already picked up UK’s first SEC Freshman of the Year award, in addition to being named to the Full-Court Press Freshman All-America team, All-SEC second team, All-SEC Freshman Team and SEC All-Tournament Team.