Head Coach Nick Mingione has his Kentucky Baseball team on a tear after the weekend series at Missouri.
The Kentucky Baseball team enters the week at 25-12 on the year. That includes a 10-5 conference record and a 16-2 record at home. Head Coach,
Nick Mingione looks like he may have his team headed in the right direction as conference tournaments and the College World Series draws near. The Wildcats have worked their way up the SEC East standings and are currently sitting at the top looking down at the competition.
Offensive Notes
At the plate, Kentucky has managed to put runs on the board constantly. The offensive attack has been led by Evan White and Tristan Pompey.
Evan White is hitting a cool .389 on the season. White has battled some injuries early in the season causing him to miss some time, but the Junior first baseman has still managed to tally 35 hits in 90 total plate appearances. Widely regarded as one of the top first basemen in the country defensively, it comes as no surprise that White boasts a 1.000 fielding percentage on the season. Also, Evan White has managed to hammer out 5 home runs to go along with his 18 RBI’s.
Tristan Pompey is coming into his own as one of Kentucky Baseball’s biggest threats at the plate. Hitting .371 with six home runs and 27 RBI’s, Pompey has made a name for himself at this point in the season. According to WKYT, Pompey was 8-for-12 over the Missouri series with two home runs. While reaching base on 11 of 15 plate appearances, Pompey can be the man to help manufacture runs on a weekend basis. This is a huge tool for the Wildcats to use. The Kentucky Right Fielder is on a tear lately hitting safely in 24 of his past 26 games and is 17-of-27 in his past seven games.
Pitching Rotation
The weekend pitching rotation is a major reason that Kentucky has been successful. With the three headed monster of Sean Hjelle, Zach Logue and Justin Lewis, the Wildcats are competitive in each game. With a combined record of 15-7, the weekend rotation has led the Cats to the top of the East Division.
Closer Logan Salow has impressed as well. Boasting an earned run average of 0.32 along with 42 strikeouts, Salow has become dependable in late game closing situations.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats will take on Louisville on Tuesday in a rematch of top-10 teams. Louisville is currently ranked second overall according to the latest D1 Baseball rankings. The Kentucky Baseball program comes in ranked tenth in the same poll.
Next: Breaking Down the Kentucky Basketball Roster for the 2017-18 Season
As for the remaining conference series’ Kentucky will close the season with a Series at home agains SEC Power LSU. Following that, Kentucky will travel to South Carolina for a three game series. An eight game home stand with Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Northern Kentucky before traveling to The Swamp to take on the University of Florida to close out the regular season.