Kentucky baseball adds WKU transfer outfielder Ty Crittenberger

After successfully working the transfer portal last offseason, Kentucky baseball head coach Nick Mingione is looking to do the same again this summer. So far, he’s off to a good start.

On Sunday night, Western Kentucky transfer outfielder Ty Crittenberger announced on social media that he has committed to play for the Wildcats in 2024 for the final season of his college baseball career. A native of Lighthouse Point, FL, Crittenberger spent the last three seasons at WKU before putting his name into the portal and making the in-state move to Lexington. He began his college career at Central Florida but redshirted his freshman campaign before heading to junior college for a season.

This past season, Crittenberger posted a .314 batting average across 57 games played for the Hilltoppers. He recorded 72 hits (second-most on the team) and four home runs while successfully stealing 20 bases out of 23 attempts. Crittenberger also recorded a slugging percentage of .400 and an on-base percentage of .454 this past season. He’ll join another former WKU player on the UK roster, centerfielder Jackson Gray, who transferred to the ‘Cats last offseason.

Super excited to announce I’ve decided to play my last year of college baseball at the University of Kentucky. Big blue nation let’s rideeee⚪️🔵⚪️🔵 pic.twitter.com/bHu93MftUN

— TY Crittenberger (@CrittenbergerTy) June 18, 2023

Crittenbeger is the second portal addition for Kentucky this year. He joined former Delaware State third baseman Trey Paige, who initially committed to Penn State in the portal before backing off that decision due to a coaching change with the Nittany Lions and later landing with the Wildcats in May. Paige, a rising fifth-year senior, slashed .372/.468/.691 for the Hornets and belted a career-high 14 home runs in 2023.

Kentucky has already lost a handful of players to the portal this offseason, although none were considered significant contributors in 2023.

Mingione aced the portal this time last year, bringing in several immediate impact transfers that became key pieces in Kentucky’s second-ever run to the Super Regionals earlier this month. Considering a handful of ‘Cats from this past could have the opportunity to begin their professional careers this summer, he might have to repeat with another batch of talented transfers this time around.