Earlier this week tragedy took place in Corbin (KY), as 8-year-old, Eli Hill, passed away playing basketball at his home. In a freak accident, the backboard of a basketball goal came off the pole and fell on him, succumbing to the injuries.

Following the tragedy, the community of Corbin has come together in remembrance of Eli and in support of his family and friends. On Wednesday, a vigil was held at the city’s rotary baseball park, which over a hundred people attended to honor Eli and show love for his family.

“He was a joy to be around, the amount of love, excitement. You know, the care that he had for others,” high school athlete Jacob Baker said.

On Thursday, the Kentucky baseball team made the hour-and-a-half trip to Corbin to show support to the baseball team of Corbin primary, the baseball team which Eli played for.

In a time of tragedy, it is heartwarming to see people from around the state rally around the family and friends of young Eli, who made an impact on many and will be missed.

The Hill family has also warned others to be cautious of a fake GoFundMe making its way around social media.

Also published on a Sea of Blue.

Despite their Opening Day loss to Elon on February 17th, the Kentucky baseball team has strung together a successful start to the season with a 19-2 overall record. As of March 21st, Kentucky is on a 15-game winning streak, the longest active win streak in all of D1 baseball.

The last time the Bat Cats lost was on February 25th to Wright State, dropping a single game of the three-game series. Since, they have beaten Morehead State, Murray State, Ohio, Indiana, and Eastern Kentucky and picked up three, three-game series sweeps over Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and SEC opponent Mississippi State.

Kentucky’s success has largely been due to its explosive offense. In the most recent weekend series, the Bat Cats outscored Mississippi State 35-11 over the course of three games. Of their 19 wins, Kentucky has scored 10+ runs six times, including a season-high 21 runs on Southern Illinois.

In the most recent AP poll, Kentucky broke into the top-25 at #23. Their most recent win came on Tuesday, a 9-3 win over Eastern Kentucky. This weekend, they are heading to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama for another three-game series of conference play.

The Cats will look to extend their win streak and maintain a level of play to get them back into the NCAA tournament. Kentucky has not made the tournament since Coach Nick Mingione’s first season in 2017.

The Kentucky women’s basketball team has had an underwhelming season. With an 11-18 record, their only shot for a bid into the NCAA Tournament is to win the SEC Tournament, something they did just a year ago. However, this time around the Wildcats do not have former first-team All-American, Rhyne Howard on the roster.

Ranked last in the SEC standings, Kentucky received the 14-seed and faced off against an 11-seeded Florida Gators team in the opening round. Given the stakes for both teams, tensions were bound to get high and they did.

With 5:26 remaining in the second quarter, Kentucky’s Ajae Petty pushed the ball at Florida’s Tatyana Wyche and rolled it up her face after a Wildcat basket. In retaliation, Wyche grabbed the ball and threw it in Petty’s direction, however, the ball did not hit anyone and Wyche ran toward Petty.

Multiple players then engaged in a brief scrum in front of Kentucky’s bench. In total, four technical fouls were called and eight players were ejected (one player was inactive).

Florida

• Zippy Broughton (inactive), Ejected (leaving the bench)
• Faith Dut, Ejected
• Ra Shaya Kyle, Ejected
• Taliyah Wyche, Ejected (leaving the bench)
• Tatyana Wyche, Technical Foul, Ejected (fighting)

Kentucky

• Robyn Benton, Technical Foul
• Myka Perry, Technical Foul
• Ajae Petty, Technical Foul
• Cassidy Rowe, Ejected (leaving the bench)
• Eniya Russell, Ejected (leaving the bench)
• Zennia Thomas, Ejected (leaving the bench)
• Saniah Tyler, Ejected (leaving the bench)

During the altercation, Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy, was briefly knocked over when both teams flooded toward the Wildcats’ bench. When asked about the situation by the media, Elzy called it “a learning experience.”

“Things happen,” Elzy said after the game. “This is two teams battling for wins. The intensity was high. The emotions were high. Obviously, myself or Coach Finley (Florida), that’s not how we want to play out, and we’ll both address our teams.”

Kentucky will next face No. 6 seed Alabama in the second round of the SEC tournament on Thursday.