Baseball Cats Face South Carolina in Crucial SEC Series
The Kentucky baseball team visits South Carolina this weekend in a series where both teams’ postseason hopes are on the line.
The Southeastern Conference Tournament includes only the top 12 teams in the league standings. With two weekends remaining in the regular season, Kentucky is battling both Alabama and South Carolina for the 12th spot in that field. The Cats and the Tide are currently tied for the final spot in the tournament, with South Carolina one game behind.
UK head coach Nick Mingione knows how important this weekend is for his team.
“Obviously, with six SEC games to go, our postseason fate is in our hands,” Mingione said on Tuesday. “We’re going to face a South Carolina team, and we need to prepare for them. Preparation starts right now for them.”
Mingione feels like his team is playing its best at exactly the right time.
“We’ve been playing really good baseball,” Mingione said. “There’s been an inning here and a pitch here that’s gotten us. We’ve played really good of late. I always said at the beginning of the year that we would learn, grow and improve and we need to play our best baseball at the end of the year, and I believe we’re doing that.”
After topping Indiana 5-2 on Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park, the Cats have beaten Top 25 teams in consecutive games for the first time this season.
Sophomore pitcher Jimmy Ramsey, who picked up his third win of the season on Tuesday against Indiana, is hoping the Cats can carry that momentum into the three-game series against the Gamecocks this weekend.
“South Carolina is a really cool place to play,” Ramsey said. “I know we’re both near the same in the standings in the SEC. So this weekend is big for Hoover. If we just go out there and compete, I think we can play with anybody.”
Sophomore Daniel Harper, who has given the Cats some valuable innings out of the bullpen this season, hopes a simple approach from the UK pitching staff will prove to be a winning formula.
“We just have to execute our pitches as a pitching staff,” Harper said. “And deny the biggie, don’t let them score three or more in an inning.”
Kentucky is led by junior left-hander Zack Thompson, who is 5-1 on the season with a 2.08 ERA. Thompson will pitch Sunday’s series finale, following Mason Hazelwood (Friday) and Dillon Marsh (Saturday) in the UK rotation.
At the plate, Ryan Johnson has been the story for the Cats lately. Since moving into a starting role and hitting leadoff, Johnson has been on fire. He’s hitting .357 over the last nine games and has an on-base percentage of .539. He has scored 10 runs and sparked the offense for the Cats, including on Tuesday night when he walked four times and scored three runs.
All three games will be broadcast on the SEC Network. Fans also can listen to Darren Headrick – The Voice of Kentucky Baseball – via the UK Sports Network or on 630 AM WLAP Lexington on the iHeart Radio app.
