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Start time for Kentucky-LSU game in Baton Rouge Super Regional delayed for third time

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•06/10/23
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(Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It’s been a day of non-stop lightning delays for Kentucky and LSU fans waiting on the Baton Rouge Regional matchup in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Kentucky baseball Twitter account passed along the information that the game would not be starting at 9:06 p.m. EST on Saturday night, as was previously thought. The updated game time on Saturday night was announced to be 10:06 p.m. EST. The game was originally shifted from 3 p.m. EST to 8 p.m. EST. Then earlier this evening, the NCAA decided to push the start time of the game back from 8 p.m. EST to 9:06 p.m. EST.

Check out the earlier announcement from the Kentucky Baseball Twitter page.

Unfortunately for LSU and Kentucky fans, this is the third delay they’ve dealt with in Baton Rouge on Saturday. It sounds like after all of the delays, the weather has apparently gotten even worse in the area. For more on the weather delays, check out this in-depth piece from On3’s Andrew Graham.

The NCAA already pushed back the start time of the game earlier

The skies dotted with cotton candy-esque cumulus clouds belied the possibility for foul weather in Baton Rouge on Saturday afternoon. And with some thunderstorm cells bearing down with the potential to disrupt Game 1 of the Super Regional between LSU and Kentucky, the NCAA opted to start the game shortly after 8 p.m. EST.

The game, originally scheduled for first pitch at 3 p.m. EST, seemingly could’ve started at the scheduled time. And many observers were left wondering why the NCAA didn’t elect to start the game and let the chips fall where they may, weather-wise.

Kentucky meteorologist and evident Wildcats partisan Chris Bailey chided the decision, quote-tweeting the announcement from LSU baseball.

“There isn’t a thunderstorm within 50 miles of you guys,” Bailey said. “If you’re using the ‘there’s a chance of storms’ excuse then you would never play a game since there’s almost a daily threat for storms in Louisiana this time of year.”

And it wasn’t solely Kentucky fans questioning whether the postponement made sense.

Jacques Doucet, a Louisiana-based sportscaster with WAFB9, noted the call to not play a game when the weather was completely fine for baseball was “unprecedented” as he shared a video showing what looked like ideal baseball weather about an hour after first pitch was scheduled.

The decision — again, was made by the NCAA —was likely made in efforts to have the game go off without any disruption. Forecasts for this afternoon from the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicated a current cluster of storm cells will dissipate as the day cools off.

“With storms containing lightning in the area, we will not start on time this afternoon. More info as it becomes available,” Kentucky baseball wrote in a statement on Twitter announcing the postponement. LSU mirrored their statement.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.