Kentucky baseball finishes Top 20 in final national rankings

The 2023 college baseball season is officially in the books. LSU polished off Florida on Monday night to capture the program’s seventh national championship. The Tigers are the fourth consecutive SEC school to win the national title and the fifth in a matter of six years. When it comes to the diamond, it certainly does Mean More.

Although the Kentucky Wildcats were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Super Regional, it was one of the program’s most successful overall seasons in its history. Head coach Nick Mingione led the Bat ‘Cats to just its second-ever Super Regional appearance after finishing the season with a 40-21 overall record that included a 16-14 mark in conference play. It was actually the same LSU squad that bumped Kentucky out of the postseason earlier this month.

Despite the tournament exit, the Wildcats still finished among the top 20 in the country across the final national polls. Both D1Baseball (No. 17) and Baseball America (No. 19) slotted Kentucky as a nationally-ranked team to end the 2023 season. D1Baseball, which did not have UK ranked at the beginning of the season, moved the ‘Cats from outside the top 25 entering the postseason all the way up to 17th to close out the year.

Only the beginning. 📈 pic.twitter.com/1Ld2n86qbi

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) June 27, 2023

With Mingione on the hot seat coming into 2023, Kentucky needed some positive momentum following multiple seasons in a row filled with disappointment. The Bat ‘Cats more than answered the call, winning 23 of 24 games early in the season — including 17 in a row — and reaching as high as No. 10 in the national polls.

Conference play would trip up the ‘Cats a bit (not too shocking when considering 10 teams from the SEC wound up making the NCAA Tournament), but a timely sweep of then-No. 3 ranked South Carolina down the stretch of the schedule helped UK lock up the opportunity to host a Regional. Kentucky would have to fight its way out of the loser’s bracket in the Lexington Regional but managed to advance in the tournament for a showdown against the eventual champion LSU Tigers in the Baton Rouge Super Regional. LSU would sweep UK 2-0.

But if a team is going to lose in the postseason, it’s best to lose against an opponent that would go on to win it all. As a whole, it was a successful season for Mingione and company. Kentucky Proud Park was consistently packed all spring long and the hype around the program was at an all-time high. Closing the book on this chapter with a top 20 ranking should be considered a massive win. Now it’s time to build and improve heading into 2024.