T.J. Collett Named National and SEC Co-Player of the Week
LEXINGTON, Ky. – T.J. Collett has been named the Southeastern Conference co-Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday, while also earning co-National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball.
It is the third time Collett has won the SEC’s weekly award during his Kentucky career, including once in each of the past three seasons. He also has been named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week three times, including in 2018 and 2020.
Collett made a powerful point – literally – last week with four home runs in the Wildcats’ critically important series win over Alabama that included a sweep of Sunday’s doubleheader. The senior first baseman home runs in three consecutive at bats in the second game, giving him 14 on the season to go along with a team-high 45 RBI.
For the week, Collett batted .333 with five runs, seven RBI, four home runs and an OPS of 1.486. He drove in a career-high five RBI vs. Alabama on Sunday as the Cats slammed seven home runs in the second game, tying for the most in a game since the 2005 season.
Collett’s three homers on Sunday saw him rocket up UK’s career home run list into a tie for second place with AJ Reed, the 2014 Golden Spikes Award winner and fellow Terre Haute, Indiana native. Collett now has 40 career blasts and also entered the school’s top 10 list for career RBI with 142.
For the season, Collett ranks second in the SEC in home runs, third in RBI and sixth in batting average in all games. In SEC-only contests he leads the conference in RBI, is second in slugging percentage and third in home runs. His 14 multi-RBI games is tied with Auburn’s Tyler Miller for the most in the league.
The Wildcats Host Eastern Kentucky in Midweek Affair
Kentucky returns to the diamond on Tuesday night when Eastern Kentucky makes its second trip to Lexington this season. The Cats then will travel to No. 4 Tennessee for a series that begins on Thursday evening in Knoxville.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed live on the SEC Network Plus and the WatchESPN app. The UK Sports Network will broadcast the game via radio on 630 AM (WLAP) Lexington and on UKAthletics.com, with Darren Headrick on the call. Dick Gabriel and Doug Flynn have the live stream call.
The Cats won the first meeting, 6-3, on March 2 at Kentucky Proud Park. In that game, John Rhodes hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning. Rhodes and senior first baseman T.J. Collett each drove in a pair of runs, while junior utilityman Austin Schultz reached base three times, twice igniting scoring rallies.
The Cats got on the board early for the fifth straight game when Schultz tripled and scored on Collett’s single. Freshman infielder Reuben Church then slammed the second triple of the inning – and his sixth extra-base hit of the season – to drive in another run and make it 2-0 after an inning.
Eastern Kentucky (13-25) at Kentucky (24-13)
Tuesday, April 27 vs. Eastern Kentucky
6:30 p.m. ET; Kentucky Proud Park (Lexington, Ky.)
TV: SEC Network Plus; Radio: UK Sports Network (630 AM WLAP, Lexington)
