Kentucky Baseball Set as an Eight Seed in SEC Tournament

Entering Saturday’s matchup with Florida, the ‘Cats sat as a six seed in the SEC Tournament bracket, projected to play at 9:30 a.m. CDT (10:30 a.m. EST) on Tuesday. After an exciting final day of regular season conference play, Kentucky falls all the way to the No. 8 seed and will play No. 9 Alabama at 4:30 p.m. CDT (5:30 p.m. EST) on Tuesday. Kentucky’s loss to Florida, Auburn’s win over Missouri, and Tennessee’s win over South Carolina shuffled the ‘Cats back two whole spots.

Alabama’s season has been riddled with controversy, as head coach Brad Bohannon (who was an assistant coach at Kentucky from 2004-2015) was fired earlier this year amid a cheating scandal, in which Bohannon was accused of aiding in wagering Alabama games. Since Bohannon’s firing, the Crimson Tide are 8-2 with series victories over Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss.

We will face Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/EKUkHZ3Xqs

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 21, 2023

The Wildcats entered last season’s SEC Tournament as a No. 12 seed and made a Cinderella run to the Semifinals before falling to Tennessee. They waited and waited as their names were not called on Selection Sunday, which was a massive letdown. No need to worry for the ‘Cats this season, as Nick Mingione’s squad is in prime position to host a Regional in Lexington for the first time since 2017.

The Wildcats finished the regular season at 36-17 (16-14) and sport their best conference winning percentage (.533) since 2017. Entering this season, many Kentucky fans were optimistic about Coach Nick Mingione’s future. But Mingione responded well this year, bringing Lexington postseason play for the first time in six years. After being picked to finish sixth in the SEC East, the ‘Cats finish tied with Tennessee for fourth in the East.

Onto Hoover. Here’s the complete schedule for next week’s SEC Tournament.

Tuesday, May 23rd

Game 1: No. 6 South Carolina vs No. 11 Georgia (9:30 a.m. CDT)

Game 2: No. 7 Tennessee vs No. 10 Texas A&M

Game 3: No. 8 Kentucky vs No. 9 Alabama (4:30 p.m. CDT)

Game 4: No. 5 Auburn vs No. 12 Missouri

Wednesday, May 24th

Game 5: No. 3 LSU vs Game 1 Winner (9:30 a.m. CDT)

Game 6: No. 2 Arkansas vs Game 2 Winner

Game 7: No. 1 Florida vs Game 3 Winner (4:30 p.m. CDT)

Game 8: No. 4 Vanderbilt vs Game 4 Winner

Thursday, May 25th

Game 9: Game 5 Loser vs Game 6 Loser (9:30 a.m. CDT)

Game 10: Game 7 Loser vs Game 8 Loser

Game 11: Game 5 Winner vs Game 6 Winner (4:30 p.m. CDT)

Game 12: Game 7 Winner vs Game 8 Winner

Friday, May 26th

Game 13: Game 9 Winner vs Game 11 Loser (3:00 p.m. CDT)

Game 14: Game 10 Winner vs Game 12 Loser

Saturday, May 27th

Game 15: Game 11 Winner vs Game 13 Winner (Noon CDT)

Game 16: Game 12 Winner vs Game 14 Winner

Sunday, May 28th

Game 17: Game 15 Winner vs Game 16 Winner (2:00 p.m. CDT)

Here’s the official SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket: pic.twitter.com/6vxnF72nVJ

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) May 21, 2023