Kentucky Welcomes Florida to Town for Final Home Series of Season

A long, winding regular season comes to an end this weekend when No. 19 Kentucky hosts No. 4 Florida at Kentucky Proud Park in their final series before postseason play. This series is extremely important, as the ‘Cats could possibly jump into the top four with a weekend sweep, which would automatically put them into the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Coach Nick Mingione put an emphasis on how huge it would be for Kentucky to grab a double-bye, saying “Obviously, if you don’t have to play on Tuesday, that’s another less arm that you have to use and you’re guaranteed to play a couple of games.” Mingione continued, saying “…so, to be in that top four is what every team in our league would want to do and it’s extremely important, especially from the pitching side.”

Standing in Kentucky’s way will be the red-hot Florida Gators, winners of nine of their last 11 games including a dominant series sweep of No. 12 Vanderbilt last weekend. With just one win this weekend, Florida can secure a double-bye in Hoover. They currently sit as the number two overall seed. Kentucky currently sits at the number six overall seed, projected to play Missouri in a tournament-opening matchup next Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. EST.

Buckle up, because it’s going to be a wild weekend.

Florida Impact Players

The Gators are led by College Baseball’s version of Shohei Ohtani, Jac Caglianone. Caglianone has been nothing short of a phenom this season, leading all of college baseball in home runs hit (27) while boasting a 5-2 record on the mound with a 4.47 ERA. Cags is a shoo-in future number-one overall draft pick, but he makes up just a sliver of Florida’s promising talent pool. The Gators feature two players projected to go in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft in OF Wyatt Langford and RHP Hurston Waldrep. Waldrep is expected to start on the mound Thursday night, with Caglianone getting the Saturday night start.

The Gators will be chasing history this weekend, as a series victory over the ‘Cats would mark the program’s second-best regular season record of all time. History is on their side, as Florida is 146-71-1 against Kentucky all-time, with 62 of their wins coming in Lexington (62-38-1). If the Gators can sweep Kentucky and Vanderbilt wins the weekend series against Arkansas, Florida can clinch their first SEC Championship since 2018.

The aforementioned Waldrep and Caglianone will both start on the mound this weekend for the Gators, with RHP Brandon Sproat (who is one of the most underrated pitchers in the conference) getting the start on Friday. Sproat was named SEC Pitcher of the Week twice this season, sporting a 7-2 record with a 4.44 ERA. Florida is currently projected as a national No. 3 seed in D1Baseball’s Latest Field of 64 Projections.

Kentucky Impact Players

Jackson Gray continued his late-season surge against the Volunteers, going 5-12 from the plate. Gray’s batting average has skyrocketed to .375, as he now leads the team in batting average, hits (66), triples (six), and SLG% (.608). The WKU transfer has been a slam dunk this season for Nick Mingione and company. He was ranked as the 11th-best outfielder in all of college baseball by D1Baseball last week. Kentucky lives and dies by small ball, but they uncharacteristically knocked five home runs in last Sunday’s 10-0 victory over No. 18 Tennessee. The top of the Wildcat lineup must continue to deliver this weekend to end things on a high note.

Travis Smith and Zack Lee are slated to start the first two games of the weekend, with Saturday’s starter TBD. It is likely to be Logan Martin, however, who hasn’t started since April 22nd.

“I’m super thankful because (Seth) Chavez and Logan Martin threw this week and they’re back healthy,” Coach Mingione said earlier this week. “I feel like we’re to a spot now where we have all of our pieces.” Travis Smith struggled against the Vols last week, but Zack Lee cruised through his first two frames before exiting after an hour delay. Look for the ‘Cats to try and conserve all of the arms they can heading into postseason play next week, so expect a shorter leash for Kentucky’s starters this weekend.

Kentucky is currently projected as a national No. 10 seed in D1Baseball’s Latest Field of 64 Projections, hosting a Lexington Regional consisting of Indiana State, Iowa, and Wright State. The ‘Cats can put themselves in great position to host with a series victory this weekend or a great showing in Hoover. First pitch is currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST Thursday night at KPP.

Game 1: Thursday, May 18th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 6:30 PM) SEC Network+
UK: RHP Travis Smith (4-1, 3.62 ERA, 37.1 IP) vs UF: RHP Hurston Waldrep (6-3, 4.99 ERA, 66.2 IP)
Game 2: Friday, May 19th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 6:30 PM) SEC Network+
UK: LHP Tyler Bosma (4-4, 5.61 ERA, 51.1 IP) vs UF: RHP Brandon Sproat (7-2, 4.44 ERA, 73.0 IP)
Game 3: Saturday, May 20th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 2:00 PM) SEC Network+
UK: TBD vs UF: LHP Jac Caglianone (5-2, 4.47 ERA, 54.1 IP)

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— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 17, 2023