6/2/09

Possible Met 1st Rounder - LHP Chris Rusin




Kentucky… senior… 6-2, 190… L/L… 2009 Wallace Preseason Watch List… 2008 First-Team All-SEC (coaches)… drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 draft by the Athletics… very little support in2008, but still turned a 6-3, 3.33 ERA…. Good fastball and excellent command of breaking ball

3/10: http://www.kentuckyscout.com/: After firing eight shutout innings and striking out nine in a win over Indiana State Saturday, Kentucky senior southpaw Chris Rusin has been tabbed the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Monday morning.

Rusin, a native of Canton, Mich., had a dominating performance Saturday in No. 29 UK’s 5-0 win over hot-hitting Indiana State. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound lefty, allowed only six hits and walked just one batter in his eight frames, at one point retiring nine consecutive ISU hitters. Rusin’s pitching dominance came against an Indiana State team that entered the Saturday tilt with a 9-3 record and an average of over eight runs per game.


5/9 http://www.ukathletics.com/: Behind senior southpaw Chris Rusin’s fourth complete game of the year and the eighth complete-game of his career, the Kentucky baseball team secured its first series win over Auburn in Lexington in 20 years, posting a 6-3 win on a beautiful senior night, Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Rusin, a senior from Canton, Mich., made the most of his final career start in Lexington on senior night, going nine innings, with six hits allowed, scattering three runs, walking three and striking out nine. With his club-best sixth win of the year, Rusin now has 22 career wins, moving him into a tie for fourth place with Matthew Coleman (1986-89) in the UK record books. Rusin’s eighth career complete game moves him into 10th in UK career history, and with 270 career strikeouts, Rusin sits just one behind Brian Reed (1991-94) for second most strikeouts in the 105-year history of the program. MLB set-up man Scott Downs (1995-97) holds the school record with 293 career punch-outs.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior was dominating from the opening pitch, retiring the first 18 hitters he faced in order, allowing only one hit, with the runner later out attempting to steal. Rusin, a 2008 first-team All-Southeastern Conference starting pitcher, did not allow a lead-off man to reach until the top of the seventh, when Auburn struck for two runs on two hits. On the year, Rusin has now totaled a 6-4 record and a 3.96 ERA, striking out 104 in 86.1 innings. Rusin’s 104 punch-outs in 2009 marks just the 10th player in program annals to eclipse the 100-strikeout mark in a season, with his 104 ranking eight-best, while junior James Paxton – who struck out 12 in game one Saturday – checks in with 109 strikeouts in 73 innings, the seventh-best total in program history. As a team, UK has struck out 479, just 23 strikeouts shy of the school record for team strikeouts in a season, set in 1995, a total of 502.

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