Kentucky Baseball's NCAA Tournament opener in a weather delay [UPDATED]

First pitch of Kentucky Baseball’s NCAA Tournament opener vs. West Virginia was supposed to take place at 12 p.m. ET in Clemson. Mother Nature doesn’t want to play ball yet. We’re currently in a weather delay as storms roll through the area. There’s no estimated starting time, but looking at the radar, it seems the worst of it will be out of the area by 3:30 p.m. ET.

**UPDATE**: The tarp is off and first pitch is now scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET. It will air on ESPN+.

The tarp is coming off and currently we are aiming for an approximate start time of 2:45 p.m. ET.

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 30, 2025

The tarp is OFF.

Approx start time of 2:45 pm EST. pic.twitter.com/tQoWoQaIlH

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerOn3) May 30, 2025

Whenever play does begin, it will make the second time in three seasons that the Cats and the Mountaineers have played in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky won the first meeting 10-0 in the 2023 regional, which was played in Lexington. Hopefully, today’s game goes similarly, whenever it begins.

Kentucky is the No. 3 seed in the Clemson Regional and West Virginia is the No. 2 seed. The Mountaineers won the Big 12 regular season title with a 40-13 (19-9) record and lost to Arizona in the Big 12 conference tournament semifinals. Meanwhile, Kentucky brings a 29-24 (13-17 SEC) record to the NCAA Tournament, most recently losing to Oklahoma in the first round of the SEC Tournament as the No. 12 seed. The Cats have lost their last four games, a streak they’ll be looking to snap this afternoon.

Kentucky sophomore left-hander Ben Cleaver will get the start today. “The Slim Reaper” has a 6-3 record this season with a 3.39 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 77 innings. For more on today’s showdown, I’ll direct you to Daniel Hager’s preview from earlier today. I’ll also encourage you to follow the game thread on KSBoard. We’ll bring you updates as we know them.

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NCAA Tournament Clemson Regional Schedule

Here’s the schedule for the regional, which is a double-elimination format. Hopefully, Mother Nature is more cooperative as the weekend goes on.

Friday, May 30

• Game 1: Kentucky vs West Virginia – TBD (weather delay)
  • Watch (ESPNU)
• Game 2: USC Upstate vs Clemson – 6:00 p.m. (may be pushed back due to weather delay)
  • Watch (ACC Network)

Saturday, May 31

• Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs Game 2 Loser – 12:00 p.m.
• Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs Game 2 Winner – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, June 1

• Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Loser – 12:00 p.m.
• Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs Game 5 Winner – 6:00 p.m.

Monday, June 2 (if necessary)

• Game 7, if necessary – TBA

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