#2 Kentucky Baseball Clinches SEC Regular Season Championship with Dominant Win Over Vanderbilt

With fireworks lighting up the sky, No. 2 Kentucky clinched its second Southeastern Conference regular season championship with a commanding 17-7 run-rule victory over Vanderbilt at Kentucky Proud Park on Friday night.

Kentucky (39-11, 22-7) dominated from the start, with its first two batters hitting home runs. The team drew seven walks, was hit by eight pitches, and stole three bases, making Saturday’s game mostly about securing the outright league title.

Coach Nick Mingione, in his eighth season, has now been part of both title-winning teams and two squads that advanced to a Super Regional.

NOTES

• Kentucky is the 2024 SEC regular season champion, its second title in school history (first in 2006).
• The Wildcats set a school record with 22 SEC wins, surpassing the previous record of 20 set in 2006.
• UK is 39-11 overall and 22-7 in SEC play in 2024.
• The Wildcats are 16-3 in night games, 6-2 in May, and 11-3 in SEC home games.
• Kentucky is 12-5 against ranked teams and 19-6 against Quad 1 opponents, the most Quad 1 wins in Division I.
• Coach Nick Mingione has a career record of 255-161 and needs four more victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
• UK is 46-43 in May under Mingione and 7-14 against Vanderbilt.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Kentucky scored three or more runs in three innings, totaling 67 times this season.
• The team has 104 stolen bases on the season.
• Kentucky drew seven walks and was hit by eight pitches.

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior INF Emilien Pitre extended his on-base streak to 27 games with a first-inning home run.
• Junior OF Ryan Waldschmidt went 4-for-4 with four runs, two RBIs, a double, a home run, a hit-by-pitch, and two stolen bases. In the series, he’s 7-for-8 with two doubles, two home runs, seven runs, five RBIs, and three stolen bases.
• Senior INF Nick Lopez went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs, a double, a home run, and a sacrifice fly. He hit his 19th double of the season, ranking fourth-highest in a single season in the Mingione era, and added a solo home run in the 8th inning.