Kentucky Baseball tied program record for wins in a season Sunday night

Lost in all the craziness of clinching a College World Series berth Sunday night, Kentucky won its 45th game of the season, which tied for most in a season in program history (2012).

The Cats likely would have surpassed this record already if three of their non-conference games weren’t rained out and were eventually made up (Louisville, Xavier, and Wright State).

22 of Kentucky’s 45 wins came against SEC teams in the regular season, which earned the Cats a share of their second ever SEC Regular Season Championship. They swept Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Auburn, and won series over Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, and Vanderbilt.

Kentucky’s two lone SEC series losses came on the road against South Carolina and at home against Tennessee. The Cats were never swept.

For the second consecutive season, Kentucky was nearly perfect against non-conference competition in the regular season. The Cats were 17-4, with their lone losses coming to Washington State (Karbach Round Rock Classic), Kennesaw State (twice), and Samford on the road.

“This is a perfect example of exactly what’s gone on in our program, a bunch of selfless guys that have just waited their turn and for their opportunity to help Kentucky,” Devin Burkes said postgame Sunday night. “These two guys on the end [Robert Hogan and Cam O’Brien], literally when you asked them in the portal what are you looking for, I want a place I can win and develop. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they wanted. Now here they are. They’ve won and they’ve developed and they’re better than they’ve ever been.”

Including Kentucky’s nine NCAA Tournament wins over the last two seasons, the Cats are 46-8 against non-SEC teams.

Kentucky is 5-0 through its first five NCAA Tournament games, and are outscoring teams 34-11. Western Michigan scored eight of those 11 runs in the opening game of the Lexington Regional.

The Cats opened the season 22-0 in 2012, but were just 23-18 in their final 41 games of the season. With one win in the College World Series, which would be the first in program history, Kentucky would set the program record for wins in a season (46).