Kentucky Opens SEC Play at Home for First Time Since 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time since 2012, a span of eight seasons, the Kentucky baseball team is set to open Southeastern Conference play at home when Missouri arrives in Lexington for this weekend’s series at Kentucky Proud Park.
Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, while Saturday is a 2 p.m. start. Both of those games will be live streamed on SECN+/WatchESPN and available on radio on 630-AM WLAP (Lexington) and 1080-AM WKJK (Louisville). Sunday’s game will be a national television broadcast on the SEC Network and air on 98.5 FM in Lexington.
The opportunity to open conference play at home is a welcome change for the Wildcats (11-3), who have had to navigate the difficulty of a SEC road series each of the past eight seasons, although the 2020 league campaign was cancelled just a day before it began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2012, the Cats swept No. 2 South Carolina on the way to one of its best seasons in school history.
The Cats intend to stick with the same weekend rotation of sophomore right-hander Cole Stupp, senior left-hander Mason Hazelwood and sophomore righty Zack Lee, who all three pitched well each of the first three weekends. Hazelwood turned in the best effort of his career last weekend vs. Georgia State, striking out 12 in six scoreless innings and is the only one of the three who has experienced league play.
In the box, senior first baseman T.J. Collett enters the weekend on a tear, having homered five times in the past four games, including the second multi-homer game of his career on Tuesday night vs. Murray State. The Cats blasted five home runs in that game but fell to the Racers, who scored 11 two-out runs in the 13-8 affair.
A limited number of tickets remain for the weekend and can be purchased through the UK Ticket Office at UKathletics.com.
SERIES DETAILS
Friday, March 19 vs. Missouri
6:30 p.m. ET; Kentucky Proud Park (Lexington, Ky.)
TV: SEC Network+; Radio: UK Sports Network (630 AM, Lexington; 1080 AM Louisville)
Tickets: UKathletics.com
Pitchers: UK – RHP Cole Stupp (2-0, 1.62); Missouri – RHP Spencer Miles (1-2, 3.97)
Saturday, March 20 vs. Missouri
2 p.m. ET; Kentucky Proud Park (Lexington, Ky.)
TV: SEC Network+; Radio: UK Sports Network (630 AM, Lexington; 1080 AM Louisville)
Tickets: UKathletics.com
Pitchers: UK – LHP Mason Hazelwood (3-0, 1.04); Missouri – RHP Seth Halvorsen (2-0, 6.32)
Sunday, March 21 vs. Missouri
Noon ET; Kentucky Proud Park (Lexington, Ky.)
TV: SEC Network; Radio: UK Sports Network (98.5 FM Lexington)
Tickets: UKathletics.com
Pitchers: UK – RHP Zack Lee (1-1, 4.20); Missouri – RHP Zach Hise (0-3, 7.15)
