UK baseball back in hosting conversation after strong weekend
Plus some of the weekend's best standouts from an impressive sweep of South Carolina.
At Kentucky baseball’s media day in February, head coach Nick Mingione was asked what needed to happen for the program to move off the NCAA Tournament bubble discussion and solidly into the field of 64.
“At the end of the year, two out of the last three years, we’ve been one or two wins away. Quite frankly, I’m tired of that,” Mingione said. “I’m to the spot where ‘let’s be five or six games up like we were in ‘17 and we’re talking about if we’re going to be a national seed or just a regional seed.’ That’s the goal.”
Consider that goal accomplished following a weekend sweep of No. 3 South Carolina. With an elite RPI and strength of schedule — something Mingione focused on heavily when scheduling the season — Kentucky should now be considered a lock to make the tournament for the first time since 2017. According to Hunter Shelton of Wildcats Today/Sports Illustrated, all 34 SEC teams that won at least 14 SEC games made the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky’s 9-2 win over South Carolina on Sunday made it 14-10 in the SEC.
But the sweep means Kentucky should once again set its sights on being an NCAA Tournament host. The Wildcats are back to No. 1 in the RPI and strength of schedule. Six of the final seven regular season games are against teams in the RPI top 25, so it’s unlikely the Wildcats would drop more than just a few spots despite the outcome. Kentucky wraps up its nonconference slate at Kentucky Proud Park on Tuesday against Tennessee Tech before traveling to Knoxville for a series set against Tennessee. The final series of the year is at KPP against Florida.
I think an argument could be made that even a 1-5 finish to the SEC season should put Kentucky in consideration to host because of how strong its metrics are. However, Kentucky has put itself in a spot where it’s playing for a top-eight seed in the season's final two weeks. Why does that matter? Because teams that are selected in the top eight are guaranteed to host a super regional if it advances past the regional round.
Of course, there’s still a lot of baseball left. But this weekend further confirmed how quickly things can change in the SEC. Kentucky had lost four straight series coming into the weekend and needed to do some work to solidify its standing in the NCAA Tournament. But with three straight wins, it’s reasonable to have the conversation of Kentucky earning a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
STRONG PITCHING SETS THE TONE
In his first SEC start, Kentucky redshirt freshman Travis Smith set the tone for the series. Smith tossed a career-high six innings, allowing four hits and just one earned run in a 7-3 victory. He walked two in the first inning but just one in the final five innings. Smith also struck out five batters. It was one of the best outings of the season for any Kentucky starter up to that point.
However, Zack Lee delivered one of the best starts of the Mingione era in Sunday’s finale. The senior from Effingham, Illinois, allowed just two earned runs over 6.2 innings of work. The only damage was on a two-run homer by Dylan Brewer in the third inning. Otherwise, Lee was excellent. He struck out a career-high 12 batters on 105 pitches. It’s encouraging to see Lee string together quality starts. He threw well enough to win in last week’s 3-2 loss to Vanderbilt.
Tyler Bosma’s start on Saturday wasn’t quite as good as Smith and Lee, but junior reliever Austin Strickland tossed a career-high five innings out of the bullpen in a 14-7 win. He allowed three earned runs but struck out six in the victory. Sophomore Mason Moore also tossed 3.2 scoreless innings over two appearances.
OFFENSE COMES TO LIFE
This was one of the best series for Kentucky’s offense in several weeks. The Wildcats slashed .388/.504/.612 as a team with several standout performances. Hunter Gilliam, Jackson Gray, Emilien Pitre, Ryan Waldschmidt and James McCoy each started all three games and hit over .400.
McCoy, in particular, took advantage of his opportunity. On Friday night, McCoy hit a high flyball to centerfield that Brewer lost in the sun, leading to an inside-the-park homer. But McCoy wasn’t cheated on Saturday or Sunday. In Saturday’s game, McCoy delivered a three-run shot into the right-field bullpen to make the score 11-5 and effectively end the game. He added another homer in Sunday’s victory. McCoy slugged 1.167 this weekend, showing why he can be a valuable piece to an offense that has at times struggled to produce home runs and extra-base hits.
A bit under the radar, but McCoy’s homer in the 7th inning on Sunday scored Devin Burkes. Burkes reached base on a two-out double. Why is that notable? Burkes had not had an extra base knock in the SEC since April 1 against Missouri. Burkes hasn’t slugged as well as expected this year, but he’s still shown a willingness to take walks and have good at-bats. He got hot around this time last year, so perhaps Burkes has another May resurgence in him this season.