Kentucky Wildcats faced a challenging start to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Tournament, suffering an 11-0 loss to LSU at the Hoover Met on Wednesday. Despite being presented with the SEC regular season championship trophy prior to the game, the Wildcats struggled throughout the morning.
The game was a close 2-0 battle until the seventh inning when LSU’s offense erupted with two grand slams over the next two innings, pushing Kentucky into the elimination bracket. The Wildcats (39-13) could not find momentum against LSU ace Luke Holman, who delivered six no-hit innings. Mitchell Daly eventually broke the no-hit bid with a single off reliever Gavin Guidry in the seventh.
LSU, one of the hottest teams in Division I over the past month, took an early lead with a leadoff home run by Michael Braswell III off Travis Smith. A leadoff double in the second inning led to another run before the Kentucky pitchers settled into a groove, retiring 13 straight batters. However, a sequence of walks led to a two-strike grand slam by Jared Jones in the seventh inning, followed by another grand slam from Tommy White in the eighth.
Game Notes
- Current Record: Kentucky is now 39-13 in 2024.
- Day Game Performance: Kentucky holds a 23-10 record in day games.
- May Performance: Kentucky is 6-4 in May.
- Performance vs. Ranked Teams: Kentucky is 13-5 against ranked teams and 21-7 against Quad 1 opponents, boasting the most Quad 1 wins in Division I.
- Coaching Milestones:
- Nick Mingione: In his eighth season, Mingione has a career record of 255-163.
- Wins Needed: Mingione needs four more victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
- May Record: UK is 46-45 in May under Coach Mingione.
- Record vs. LSU: Mingione is now 4-11 against LSU.
Player Highlights
- Emilien Pitre: Junior INF extended his streak of games reaching base safely to 29.
- Robert Hogan: Junior RHP pitched 3.0 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five.
- Johnny Hummel: Senior RHP pitched 2.0 hitless innings with two strikeouts.
Looking Ahead
Kentucky will now focus on the elimination bracket, needing to regroup and refocus to continue their run in the SEC Tournament. Despite the tough loss, the Wildcats have shown resilience throughout the season and will look to bounce back in their upcoming games.
