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Basetball: Cats collapse in Hoover, await selection Monday By Ryan Hoots Sports Director, UntdWeStnd.com Hoover, AL - Kentucky baseball now has to play the waiting game. A season that started with promise eventually became infamous with costly mistakes at awful times, an atrocious bullpen, missed opportunity after missed opportunity, and quite frankly...some bad luck. After Tuesday's 8-5 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament, Kentucky no longer controls its positioning heading into the NCAA Tournament Field of 64. At this point? The Bat Cats are essentially sitting around praying for mercy from the selection committee just to live to play together at least two more times. (The NCAA Regionals are double elimination.) That's the harsh reality of where this team now sits. Sure, Kentucky did enough over the course of the season to stay relevant. The Wildcats rank inside the top ten nationally in wins over RPI Top 30 opponents. Reaching a little bit for positives right now? Probably. But Nick Mingione himself mentioned it before Tuesday's game in Hoover on the SEC Network pregame show. Kentucky's schedule strength and quality wins are really the biggest thing keeping the Cats pulse beating...albeit on life support. For a while on Tuesday, it looked like Kentucky might stabilize things. The Cats commanded the lead for much of the afternoon. Jaxon Jelkin looked exactly like he has looked for the majority of the season: steady, composed, reliable. Kentucky had opportunities to create some separation. They just never found the knockout blow. That has kind of been the story of this baseball team for weeks now. Every year during the selection show, the committee rambles on about how late season baseball is evaluated "in context." Fair enough. But when you factor in the memo sent to Division I coaches regarding cancellations that could protect RPI rankings, then Kentucky deciding to cancel the Northern Kentucky game, it is hard not to wonder if the committee could use this as an opportunity to send a clear message. A season-ending one. I've been on record for a while now saying Kentucky probably needed at least one win in Hoover to feel comfortable about its postseason position. I've also said repeatedly that if the Cats failed to take care of business, they would leave the glass slippers sitting out for Cinderella to steal their spot. Automatic bids happen in baseball too. People forget that until bid week arrives and chaos starts unfolding across smaller conferences. That's where things become dangerous for Kentucky. The frustrating part about this season is that outside of the bullpen, which was horrendous for most of the year, Kentucky absolutely had a lineup capable of competing with anybody in the SEC. Tyler Bell will likely be a 1st Round MLB Draft pick next month.This wasn't some hopeless baseball team. Kentucky never got swept in conference play one time all season. That matters in a league that honestly feels closer to AA baseball every weekend than the rest of college baseball. That's what makes this collapse toward the finish line feel so frustrating. Kentucky had chances. Repeatedly. Chances to take series. Chances to stack momentum. Chances to put itself safely into the field without sweating through Selection Monday. Instead, the Wildcats compounded mistakes on top of mistakes and never fully capitalized when opportunities presented themselves. Now the regular season ends leaving a sour taste in the mouths of Big Blue Nation and an early exit from Hoover before most of the true contenders even arrive at The Met. Now, they wait. Just like the rest of BBN. Will Kentucky hear its name called on Selection Monday? Will the committee punish the Cats for a rough finish and controversial scheduling tactics? Will serious changes need to be made to the roster, or even the staff heading into 2027? Time will tell. This story was posted on 2026-05-20 11:22:19
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