Kentucky baseball is coming off of a series win on the road against Texas A&M, and now, will play a “must win” series against the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday, April 4 (doubleheader) and Saturday, April 5. 

Last weekend, the Wildcats averaged over 10 runs a game against the Aggies, led by Tyler Bell, who won SEC Freshman of the Week. He went 8-13 with seven RBIs.

At this point of the season, the Bat Cats have got to ride their momentum and not fall any further down in the SEC rankings. They currently hold a 17-9 season record and a 4-5 conference record. 

The Rebels are only three spots ahead of Kentucky with a 6-3 conference record, making this series a good time to take a jump and dish out a statement that the Wildcats are a team to fear when you see them on your schedule. 

Ole Miss is a team that lacks identity, and is still separated from the best teams in the conference. With a rainy weekend in Lexington, a type of environment Kentucky typically thrives in, the pitching and fielding will have to be on point for the Wildcats to secure this series. 

As a whole, the pitching staff allowed 24 runs on 27 hits against Texas A&M, walking 20 batters as well. In the SEC, it’s hard to play a game of back-and-forth, but hey, it worked in College Station right? 

Obviously it’s one game at a time for Nick Mingione and his team, but the upcoming schedule is daunting, so the wins have got to come now. 

On Tuesday, April 8, the Wildcats will face the No. 14 Lousiville Cardinals on the road, followed by a weekend series against No. 3 Texas in Lexington.

After that, they play a very winnable game against a 15-13 Miami Redhawks team on Tuesday, April 15, but then will face the No. 1 team in the nation, the Tennesee Volunteers in enemy territory the following weekend. 

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

On Friday, when the first pitch is thrown at 3 p.m. ET, it will be a muggy 70 degrees with the rain sprinkling down on Kentucky Proud Park. No matter what, rain or shine, you can bet the Wildcats are gonna come to play.

On the morning of April 3, wishing for the rain to go away, Kentucky Sports Video dropped a weekend recap video from the Texas A&M series.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had her own say on the Bat Cats taking the field on April 3 for the first game of the series, causing the team to schedule a doubleheader for Friday.

Make sure to follow our Twitter (X) (@KyInsider) for all weather updates this weekend.

This past weekend, Kentucky women’s guard, Cassidy Rowe, announced that she was retiring from basketball after three years with the program. This news came as a surprise to many due to Cassidy’s outspoken love and passion for the program, leading many to question what happened.

Shortly after the announcement, Rise Up Sports Media reported that Rowe was told that her scholarship would not be renewed for a senior season and was told, “You no longer have a spot on the team.”

On Monday, Cassidy’s father, Lonnie Rowe, spoke in detail about the situation on Alan Cutler’s show “No Filter.”

“Cassidy has been there three years,” Rowe said. “She has given blood, sweat, tears, and everything to the University of Kentucky and to that program. If he wanted to cut her last year, so be it. Now that she’s a senior and she’s ready to enter PT school, for this to take place, I think it’s classless.”

Rowe explained that his daughter did not have the opportunity to transfer as the application process for Physical Therapy school takes place in the fall semester. With the late notice of her scholarship status, she would not have been able to start until Fall 2026 elsewhere with the application process.

What she wanted was to finish her career at Kentucky, “she didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

“She was 100 percent devastated,” Rowe said of his daughter. “She said, ‘I didn’t want to go out like this. I don’t want bad memories of the University of Kentucky, but this makes it tough. I just wanted to have my Senior Night and go through the process of my four years.’”

Kenny Brooks prides his program on a family atmosphere, but Rowe said he believes that is ‘100 percent’ bologna. As for a message for Brooks, “I’ll be praying for you and that you change. That everything changes inside your heart because at this moment, I don’t think you have one,” Rowe said.

Please listen below.

Kentucky’s Cassidy Rowe grew up just over 100 miles away, southeast of Lexington. Recruited by former Head Coach Matthew Mitchell, Rowe, like any kid’s dream near Lexington, committed to Kentucky as a freshman in high school. 

Battling countless injuries before her college career and coming to Lexington under another new head coach, this time Kyra Elzy, Rowe’s journey was far from easy.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end for Rowe, as she battled through two underwhelming seasons with the Wildcats, where they only won 12 games in both years. 

Every single player from the 2023-24 team, besides Rowe and Saniah Tyler, either entered the portal or graduated. 

However, when Rowe said, “I’m a Kentucky girl through and through,” she meant it.

When Kenny Brooks arrived on campus last spring, he said that Rowe cried “blue tears” when meeting with her. “When she started talking about her experiences here, I swore when she started crying, it was blue tears,” he told Phoenix Stevens. “I’m like, man, this kid had me — she had me at hello just because she knew how much she loved Kentucky.”

She decided to return to Kentucky for her junior season under Head Coach Kenny Brooks, and needless to say, Rowe was a part of a historic season. They ranked as high as No.8 in the AP women’s basketball poll, finished fourth in the SEC with a 23-8 record, and broke 11 school records.

Even though Rowe’s playing time decreased drastically this season, only eclipsing ten or more minutes one time once conference play started, she became a resembling fan favorite that many saw as “one of the ones to stick it out” and truly bleed Kentucky blue. 

It shocked many when Rowe took to her Instagram to post news that she would be transferring on March 29th.

“Wow…I wasn’t expecting this to be a goodbye post,” Rowe said. “While I still have a year of eligibility left, I will not be entering the transfer portal. I will be pursuing my new dream of becoming a physical therapist through UK’s DPT program.”

Tonia Witt of Rise Up Sports Media broke the news of Rowe’s decision, which correlated with the Kentucky native’s Instagram post. 

However, as passionate as Kentucky fans are, many took to social media to question the shocking news as Rowe’s love for the program was clear, and she had just one year remaining.

Witt ended the debate on the morning of March 30th, stating that Rowe was told her scholarship would not be available for the 2025-26 season, not that she was told to transfer. 

Rowe’s father, Lonnie Rowe, would repost these to his personal social media, while also reposting a post from Alyx White stating that the fans stating Rowe didn’t deserve a roster spot clearly hadn’t seen Rowe play.

Rise Up Sports has offered an opportunity for fans to send Rowe mail and flood her with positive vibes.