Kentucky Baseball is struggling mightily in late-game situations

In each of its last four games (three against No. 6 Ole Miss and one against No. 14 Louisville), Kentucky entered the ninth inning in a tie-game. The ‘Cats are now just 1-3 in such games (three of which went to extra innings), with one walk-off win over the Rebels in their series opener.

They aren’t just losing these games in the same matter however. The first two losses were due to a lack of execution on the offensive side, but Tuesday night’s loss boiled down to their relief pitching. This Kentucky team, which is just 5-10 in its last 15 games, is struggling mightily in late-game situations and its schedule doesn’t get any easier.

In the April 4 loss to Ole Miss, Kentucky jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning but was held scoreless over the final seven innings by a Rebel pitching staff that entered the series with an ERA of 7.78 (70 ER in 81 IP) in SEC play. The ‘Cats were even held hitless over the final 5 2/3 frames, with their final 16 batters retired in order.

Their box score looked much better on April 5, as the ‘Cats out-hit the Rebels 10-8 but still fell 5-4 in 12 innings. They actually responded to an Ole Miss score in the top of the 10th with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, but they got greedy and Devin Burkes (the game-winning run) was thrown out easily at home to send the game to the 11th.

A Luke Hill two-run shot propelled the Rebels to a two run lead, which was good enough to win the game by one after Kentucky’s Cole Hage hit a solo home run. If Burkes was held at third, Hage was next to bat and his home run may have been of walk-off fashion.

Finally, it looked like Nick Mingione’s team would pull off the win in the Battle of the Bluegrass Tuesday night but they once again crumbled late. A Cole Hage RBI-single in the top of the 11th gave the ‘Cats a 3-2 lead, and all they needed was a scoreless inning of relief to end the game.

Louisville (who had scored just two runs over the first nine innings) however got a favorable matchup with a struggling Robert Hogan and hit back-to-back RBI-singles to walk-off the ‘Cats. That’s three, high profile, top-15 ranked, NCAA Tournament resume boosting games that fell right through their hands in just the last week.

Now, Kentucky has lost 12 games before April 9th for the first time since 2022 (missed NCAAT) and has No. 2 Texas and No. 5 Tennessee coming up next in SEC play. After being tabbed as a member of the “Last Four In” group in D1Baseball’s Midseason Field of 64 Projections, this inability to finish games may have them on the wrong side of the bubble.

Over the past two seasons, Kentucky was 20-13 (10-7 in 2023, 10-6 in 2024) in games decided by two or less runs or games that went to extra innings. This season, Kentucky is just 4-8 in such games.