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Bat Cats Fail Season Sweep Over Louisville, Lose 14-10 on the Road

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Tyler Ruth | UK Athletics

With a beautiful evening present just down the road in Louisville, KY, the Kentucky Wildcats (26-13, 8-10 SEC) faced off against the Cardinals (23-18, 7-11 ACC) in a Tuesday evening matchup, resulting in a 14-10 win for the ugly red.

The last time we saw these two teams square up, the blue and white defended home field with a 4-2 win, led by none other than the dudes on the mound. Holding its rivals hitless through 6.1 innings and taking a three-run lead in the sixth inning, Kentucky sent Louisville back home and earned a feel-good dub for the Big Blue Nation.

Luke Lawrence and Jayce Tharnish would hit back-to-back singles to start this game, but their teammates would fail to bring them in with two outs to work with. Looking back, the Bat Cats would’ve liked to have some runs there, as Louisville would go up 2-0 in the same inning.

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Nick Mingione would step in after Will Marcy attempted to make a grab near the Louisville dugout, eventually reviewed for interference and ending a bases-loaded scenario.

Freshman Braxton Van Cleave would go yard for his second big blue bomb of the season and cut the lead in half, but Kentucky would cycle through two more pitchers after Ben Cleaver, allowing another run for the Cardinals in the same inning.

All momentum would shift Kentucky’s way quickly in the top of the third, due in part to a double from Lawrence that brought in Tyler Bell and a three-run homer from Ethan Hindle, giving the Wildcats a 5-3 lead.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they would commit two costly errors in the bottom of the third, allowing the Cardinals to score three more runs and retake the lead just like that. Louisville would tack on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth due to walk city on the mound, scoring five unanswered runs.

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Mingione would get hype for Tharnish, who doubled and balked his way in for a run in the fifth, then losing his mind even more when Ryan Schwartz hit a deep left-field laser.

Now trailing 8-7 in the top of the sixth, Bell would take a bump for his team with a HBP, advance to second on a wild pitch and eventually score on a groundout, tying the game at 8-8.

From that point on, it would be nothing but the Cards, as the hits, walks and runs kept pouring like a beer mug on a Saturday night. Kentucky would attempt a late surge, but the deficit would appear to be too overwhelming in enemy territory.

Up next, Kentucky will travel down to good ole Columbia, South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks (20-22, 5-13 SEC) from Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26. The first game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

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Kentucky Baseball Selected to Fourth Consecutive NCAA Tournament

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Sydney Yonker | UK Athletics

In the final bracket reveal on the ESPN selection show, Kentucky baseball was named as the No. 3 seed in the Morgantown Regional. This is the fourth year in a row that the Bat Cats have been selected to the NCAA tournament, extending the school record.

West Virginia is the No. 16 overall seed in the tournament and the one-seeded host of the regional. Also in the bracket is No. 2 Wake Forest, Kentucky’s first-round opponent, and No. 4 Binghamton.

On Friday, May 29, Kentucky (31-21, 13-17 SEC) will take on Wake Forest (38-19, 16-14 ACC) at 12:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on ESPN2.

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The similarities that led both teams to the tournament will likely lead to an entertaining first game of the double-elimination format. Both schools went one and done in their respective conference tournaments, as well as facing multiple ranked opponents during the season.

The difference in the schools’ season is Wake Forest was swept twice while Kentucky avoided being swept all season, but on the flip side, the Cats lost all but two of its conference series while the Demon Deacons only lost four.

A schedule only means so much when two teams from different conferences meet. Wake Forest has a high-powered offense, putting up nine games with 14 or more runs and scoring 22 or more runs on two separate occasions.

That can prove problematic for a Kentucky team that has made 55 errors this season. The Demon Deacons lack of depth in the bullpen could benefit the Wildcats. This is an area that Kentucky has had some problems with this season as well, but with 12 of their 22 listed pitchers having a sub 6.00 ERA, they certainly have the edge.

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UK is a team that pressures the infield with stolen bases, which will due part put much pressure on Wake Forest – they’ve made 59 errors on the season.

Overall, getting past round one is just the first step to getting out of Morgantown and driving the rest of the long road to Omaha.

Morgantown Regional (Morgantown, West Virginia)

Friday:

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Game 1: Kentucky vs. Wake Forest; 12:00 p.m ET on ESPN2
Game 2: No. 16 West Virginia vs. Binghampton; 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Saturday:

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Sunday:

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Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5

Monday:

Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6

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Kentucky Baseball Set to Face Vanderbilt in First Round of the SEC Tournament

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Eddie Justice | UK Athletics

The bracket is set. Kentucky Baseball, earning the No. 13 overall seed, will face No. 12 Vanderbilt (32-24, 14-16 SEC) in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday, May 19.

Nick Mingione’s squad finished the regular season with a 31-20 overall record and a 13-17 conference record, going 1-2 in the final series against the Arkansas Razorbacks, who ultimately earned the No. 7 overall seed in the tourney.

These two teams clashed back on April 17-19, where Vanderbilt came into Kentucky Proud Park and stole both game two and three from the Wildcats. Kentucky scored a total of 18 runs in the series, but it let up 23 runs of its own.

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In the series-opening win, pitcher Jaxon Jelkin tossed 105 total pitches through eight innings, only allowing two runs and six hits between the 31 batters he faced.

A time is yet to be announced, but it is confirmed that the Bat Cats and the Commodores will play in game two, taking place after game one between No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 16 Missouri at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Kentucky is currently on the “safe” part of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a win in Hoover, Alabama would have the Wildcats as locks to make yet another appearance in the big dance.

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BREAKING: Former Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins second consecutive NBA MVP Award

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Photo via Imagn Images

History has been made by former Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as he becomes the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards. Last season, he became the first Wildcat ever to hoist the trophy, a feat that he still holds with utter dominance.

The Toronto, Canada native averaged 31.1 points per game (second in the league) to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game. He did this all on 55.3/38.6/87.9 shooting splits and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the best record in the league with 64 wins.

How about this for a stat? Gilgeous-Alexander is now just the fifth guard in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards, joining Hall of Fame guards Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry and Steve Nash.

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News of the award will officially be announced tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA on Prime, with Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama as the other two finalists.

Gilgeous-Alexander will be back in action on Monday, May 18 to face off against Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, looking to lead his team to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

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