PREVIEW: Kentucky opens season on the road at Lipscomb

Kentucky Baseball opens its 2025 season on the road at Lipscomb this weekend.

Games were originally scheduled to be played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but Saturday’s game was moved to Friday due to forecasted rain in the area. Friday will now feature a doubleheader (both nine inning games), Saturday will be an off day, and Sunday will be the series finale.

Friday’s opener will mark Kentucky’s first game since its loss to Florida in the 2024 Men’s College World Series. Last season, the Wildcats won a program record 46 games and shared an SEC Regular Season Championship with eventual National Champions Tennessee.

The Wildcats will open the season on the road for the fourth consecutive season. In those three road season series openers, Kentucky is a combined 8-1 with a lone loss at Elon in 2023.

Lipscomb Bisons (0-0, 0-0)

The 2024 season was majorly disappointing for Lipscomb, which won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and made its third ever trip to the NCAA Tournament the season prior. The Bisons were just 22-34 last season, finishing with a 15-15 conference record.

However, the Bisons shocked the world on April 30 when they knocked off Tennessee 9-6 in Knoxville. That loss was just one of Tennessee’s 13 total losses en route to a Men’s College World Series victory, the first in program history.

Coach Jeff Forehand’s team traveled to Lexington last season (March 1-3) and were swept in three games. The Wildcats outscored them 32-6 in that span. This will mark Forehand’s 19th season as the head man at Lipscomb, where he’s compiled a 479-501 (234-214) record with two NCAA Tournament appearances. He’ll be inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this season. 

Redshirt senior third baseman David Coppege, who was Lipscomb’s leading hitter last season with a .313 batting average, was named to the All-ASUN Preseason team. Lipscomb was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun behind Austin Peay (third), Florida Gulf Coast (second), and Stetson (first).

Other than Coppege, this will mostly be a new look Bisons squad. According to D1Baseball, seven of Lipscomb’s nine starting hitters and four starting pitchers played for another college last season. Two of these names include junior first baseman Damien Kenealy Jr (transfer from Polk State College) and junior outfielder Keaton Mahan (Wabash Valley College).

On the mound, grad left-hander Rigo Ramos will lead the Bisons starting rotation. Ramos, who transferred in from Bowling Green State, pitched to a 7.11 ERA (3-1 record) in 49 1/3 innings last season. The left-hander, who will start in Friday’s opening game, is the 29th best pro prospect in the Atlantic Sun, according to D1Baseball.

Kentucky Wildcats (0-0, 0-0)

Well, here we go again. It’s time for yet another baseball season in the Bluegrass.

Friday will serve as the first *real look* at a new-look Wildcat squad. Seven of Kentucky’s nine offensive starters along with its entire starting rotation and four members of the bullpen are no longer on the team, leading to new opportunities from returners and transfers.

With 18 innings to be played on Friday, many Wildcats will likely see game action on Opening Day. Established returners such as redshirt fifth year catcher Devin Burkes, redshirt junior outfielder James McCoy, and senior third baseman Patrick Herrera will feature heavily, alongside exciting freshman prospects such as shortstop Tyler Bell and catcher/UTIL Ryan Schwartz.

Big Blue Nation will also get its first in depth look at a reloaded transfer class, led by likely first base starter Dylan Koontz (Campbell), likely outfield starter Shaun Montoya (San Diego State), and likely second base starter Luke Lawrence (Illinois State). Kentucky has knocked its portal additions out of the park over the past two seasons; we’ll quickly find out if they’ve done it once again this season.

On the other side of the ball, it was announced earlier this week that South Dakota State transfer senior right-hander Nic McCay, sophomore left-hander Ben Cleaver, and Longwood transfer junior left-hander Ethan Walker will open the season as Kentucky’s starting rotation.

McCay, who was named the 118th best starting pitcher in College Baseball by D1Baseball, will start Friday’s opening game. In 40 career appearances (32 starts), the right-hander boasts a career 5.05 ERA with 177 strikeouts and 79 walks in 173 innings pitched. His experience will be vital for a Kentucky pitching staff that returns just 125 1/3 innings pitched from last season’s team.

Ben Cleaver and Ethan Walker will round out the rotation. As a freshman last season, Cleaver pitched 6 1/3 innings to a 4.26 ERA with 11 strikeouts and three walks. He was a hero in Kentucky’s win over Florida on May 12, 2024, striking out a Gator batter on three pitches with the tying runs in scoring position to clinch the series for the Cats.

In 84 2/3 career innings pitched, Walker boasts a 4.25 ERA with a 5-4 record.

Look for this opening series to be a bit of a statement making opportunity for Nick Mingione’s Wildcats, as they were not ranked in the Preseason Top 25 (once again), were picked to finish 10th in the SEC, and were left out of D1Baseball’s Preseason Field of 64 projections.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Lipscomb leads 7-5

Friday, February 14, 2024 (Dugan Field – 1:00 p.m. EST) ESPN+
UK: RHP Nic McCay (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP) vs LIP: LHP Rigo Ramos (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Friday, February 14 2024 (Dugan Field – TBA) ESPN+
UK: LHP Ben Cleaver (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP) vs LIP: TBA
Sunday, February 16, 2024 (Dugan Field – 8:30 p.m. EST) ESPN+
UK: LHP Ethan Walker (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP) vs LIP: TBA

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