Before the Tennessee series, the Bat Cats sat at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record, one that indicated that the back half of the season would need to look a little different for Kentucky to keep climbing the ladder and host a third consecutive Regional.

Kentucky spent the first half of SEC play competing in nothing but close series and often came up short, resulting in its RPI to take a fall.

Now, winning a series in Knoxville for the first time since 2016 and shredding the rival Louisville Cardinals in a midweek game, the Wildcats have won three straight ranked matchups and have jumped up nearly 11 spots.

This scrappy Kentucky team is currently projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will host the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend.

For a team that is 3-9 on the road and barely sitting on the bubble for the big dance, it’s safe to say this is Kentucky’s series and the Cats should dominate at Kentucky Proud Park.

Not only is the Kentucky offense coming off of a run-rule win where it scored 17 runs, the starting rotation has established itself as one of the best in the conference.

Nic McCay, the SEC Pitcher of the Week, has the best opponent batting average in the SEC (.177) and Ben Cleaver has been dealing lately with one of the best ERAs in the conference.

It’ll be fun to see the Wildcats potentially play in another rainy series in Lexington, looking to stay red hot and sweep an underwhelming Gamecocks team.

Make sure to follow our Twitter (X) (@KyInsider) for all weather updates this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight and will air live on SEC Network+.

The Wildcats remaining confrence schedule consists of:

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina 

May 2-4 @ Mississippi State 

May 9-11 vs. No. 11 Oklahoma 

May 15-17 @ No. 8 Vanderbilt 

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

Despite playing during different eras in their time wearing the blue and white, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have come together on the next level to create a powerful duo for the Miami Heat. Their performance in the first round of this year’s play-in is further proof of their effectiveness together.

The nine-seeded Heat traveled to Chicago to fight for a spot in the playoffs, and from the jump, the aforementioned pair of Kentucky alumni took control in what became a complete blowout.

Throughout the convincing 109-90 road win, Herro, now in his fifth year in the NBA, led the offensive charge. He finished the night with a stat-stuffing 38 points, five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of game time. Chicago simply didn’t have an answer for Miami’s flame-throwing shooter out of Lexington.

In the paint, Bam Adebayo held things down and led the team in rebounds, nabbing 12 boards, and tallying 15 points to boot in just one less minute than Herro. Together, the duo buried the Bulls on their own floor and kept the Heat’s head above water going forward.

While both players came up ultimately short during their time with Kentucky, albeit after two incredibly memorable seasons and Elite Eight runs, their ongoing success in the NBA is both a testament to their talent and the program’s legacy. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

The Kentucky Heat (Miami Wildcats?) will be back in action tonight against the Atlanta Hawks to determine their seeding fate in the NBA Playoffs. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. on TNT, truTV, or Max to cheer on some seriously special former ‘Cats.

Sitting at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record with just under 20 games remaining in the regular season, it’s fair to say that Kentucky baseball must play every remaining game on its schedule like a playoff game; a must win.

Through 34 games this season, the Bat Cats have already played in 17 games that have been decided by two or less runs or went into extra innings.

You can look at the recent series’ against No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas as examples. Kentucky went toe-to-toe with both of these squads, and frankly, should have left each of those series with more than one win to its name.

As the Wildcats hover around the top 40 mark in multiple rankings, it’s assumed that if they win a little more than half of their games, they’re almost an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. We’ve seen several SEC teams make the tournament before with just 13 confrence wins.

Kentucky has exactly 18 games remaining, 15 of those being conference matchups. This weekend, the Wildcats travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 2 team in the nation, the Tennessee Volunteers.

Knocking off the defending National Champions at least once would be huge for Nick Mingione and company, earning Kentucky’s fifth victory of the season against a top 15 opponent.

“For us, it just keeps coming back to our ability to execute, said Mingione after the Wildcats walk-off win on April 15. “I just keep harping on these guys about is when we execute, and we do what we’re trained to do, we’ve had a lot of success…I have the belief in this team.”

Tonight, the first pitch against the Volunteers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats remaining conference schedule consists of:

April 18-20 @ No. 2 Tennessee

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina

May 2-4 @ Mississippi State

May 9-11 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma

May 15-17 @ No. 19 Vanderbilt

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.