As the Kentucky baseball team begins postseason play Tuesday at the SEC Tournament, the formula is simple.
“We need to win.”
That’s how head coach Gary Henderson phrased it as he previewed Tuesday’s opening contest. The eight-seeded Wildcats (30-24, 14-15) open with a first-round game vs. No. 9-seeded Auburn at 5:30 p.m. ET at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala.
With its NCAA Tournament hopes undecided, Kentucky likely needs a win, if not several, to secure back-to-back tournament berths for the second time in program history.
The Wildcats head to Hoover knowing they can win away from the friendly confines of Cliff Hagan Stadium. They have posted three series wins in SEC play on the road, at No. 1 LSU, No. 5 Florida and Missouri.
UK’s wins over the then-No. 1-ranked Tigers in Baton Rouge, La., marked LSU’s only series loss of the season.
Those wins are a boost to Kentucky’s confidence, which will only help in the neutral-site SEC Tournament that’s just over 100 miles from Auburn’s campus.
“Anytime you win a series on the road in our league, especially against somebody in the upper part of it, I think you get confident, because it’s hard,” Henderson said. “I think any coach in the league will tell you it’s hard to win on the road. To be able to get two [at LSU], and two at Florida and obviously we got two on the weekend at Missouri, that’s something we haven’t done over the years. And not a lot of teams are able to do that. But you leave confident.”
The confidence certainly comes from the wins, including an 11-0 run in late February and early March, but it also comes from who Henderson is coaching.
It’s something he said at the beginning of the season, but Henderson coaches a fun team. A group that likes to show up to the park every day and work hard, have fun and get better.
Henderson believes the attitude and makeup has played a role in the team’s confidence.
“I’ve said it all year, I told you in February when we talked, our guys like to play, they really do,” Henderson said. “We’ve got a spirit about us, it’s fun to be around. Clearly at times we didn’t play as well as we’d like, that just makes us normal. That’s not uncommon in our game. It’s a fun group, they are confident in a three-game set right now. We’re pretty confident.”
Confidence also comes from the way UK has improved over the course of the season. The Wildcats’ 11-game winning streak was snapped at the start of SEC play when they got swept at No. 7 South Carolina. Kentucky then lost to Ohio before winning two of three at home over No. 20 Mississippi State.
After a splitting a pair of midweek games, it was a 2-1 road trip at top-ranked LSU before UK went 1-6 in its next seven games. That’s when the tides started to turn in Kentucky’s favor though. The Wildcats swept Tennessee, and back-to-back wins at No. 5 Florida gave UK a six-game winning streak.
“We’re a group that has gotten better as the season has progressed,” Henderson said. “When we left [LSU] in late March, we didn’t look very good defensively at all. We’ve played dramatically better, infield defense since we left Baton Rouge.
“We’re in a spot now with Kyle [Cody], throwing on the weekends, where we’re a much better team. He’s gotten into a rhythm the last three outings. Kyle has been outstanding, and we’ve got three solid starters. We’ve gotten better offensively. We’re still a group that relies tremendously on the top half of our order.”
Cody, a junior righthander, has gone at least seven innings in each of his last two starts and earned the win in UK’s series-clincher over Missouri on May 16. His spot in the rotation comes after Zack Brown and Dustin Beggs, who have combined for 15 quality starts on the season as Kentucky’s top two arms in the rotation.
Even if Henderson hasn’t revealed UK’s first round starter, a strong rotation of Brown, Beggs and Cody is another reason to be confident.
Tuesday, a day before the tournament’s double-elimination round begins, the Wildcats will look to eliminate an Auburn team trying to do the exact same thing to them. However, on Kentucky’s side will be some confidence, from its success on the road and solid starting pitching. Not to mention a fun attitude.
