KSR Mother's Day: Bat Cats in Gainesville, Kerr Kriisa in blue, and Men's Tennis Elite 8
Good morning, folks! And a Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful mom, along with all the other moms spread across the Big Blue Nation and beyond. Which brunch spot are you and the family going to today? I hope you made reservations. If my time in the service industry taught me anything, it’s that Mother’s Day is the Super Bowl of working in a restaurant (Drew Franklin can attest). They will run out of breakfast potatoes — get in line while you can.
But while you’re out and about, make sure you’re keeping up to date with the fourth-ranked Bat Cats and today’s important series finale against Florida in Gainesville. Kentucky pulled off a thrilling comeback in Game 1 on Friday but was blasted 10-1 on Saturday to tie the series going into Sunday. First pitch for this afternoon’s rubber match is set for noon EST on the SEC Network.
As the SEC standings sit right now, Kentucky and Tennessee are tied for first with 19-7 conference records. Arkansans isn’t far behind with an 18-8 mark. With just one more SEC series remaining on the schedule after this weekend (home vs. Vanderbilt), a win today against Florida would go a long way in helping seed positioning for Hoover.
KSR’s Daniel Hager has been covering the series all weekend and will be back again today to do the same. Hopefully, the Bat Cats provide some life this time around. All the moms will understand why you’re checking KSBoard for updates.
Kerr Kriisa is in Lexington
The West Virginia transfer is visiting campus this weekend to get a feel for his new home. Of course, he had time to get in the traditional photo shoot while rocking the blue and white threads. Ignore the No. 3 jersey though — he’s whipping out No. 77, instead. Kriisa even got to attend the private John Legend concert at Central Bank Center on Friday night.
Not a bad first time in Lexington. Collin Chandler will be next to arrive for a visit, which starts on Monday.
Men’s Tennis is headed to the Elite 8
The fifth-seeded Kentucky men’s tennis team (27-2, 12-0 SEC) is off to play in the program’s third consecutive Elite 8 (and seventh in history). On Saturday at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, the Wildcats had to best 12-seeded Harvard to make it happen, but that was no problem for the SEC champs.
Kentucky took down the Crimson 4-2 and will head to Stillwater, OK for the Elite 8 on Thursday, May 16 against 4-seeded TCU.
“I’m really proud of the boys,” UK head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “Hardest workers in the country. They deserve this moment. But we don’t want to be done. We will go to Stillwater and try to keep it going.”
For more on the big postseason win, check out our full recap from KSR’s Troy Howell here.
Doubles
- No. 4 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) def. No. 19 Williams/Milavsky (Harv): 6-3
- Baadi/Loutit (UK) def. Jachuck/Delloye (Harv): 6-4
- Stephenson/Weekes (UK) vs. Schulenburg/Perera (Harv): 6-5
Singles
- No. 28 Taha Baadi (UK) def. No.15 Cooper Williams (Harv): 6-3,2-6, 6-3
- No. 66 Henry von der Schulenburg (Harv) def. No. 80 Joshua Lapadat (UK): 7-5, 6-4
- Daniel Milavsky (Harv) def. Jaden Weekes (UK): 6-0, 6-2
- Charlelie Cosnet (UK) def. Ronan Jachuck (Harv): 6-4, 7-6
- Jack Loutit (UK) vs Rohan Murali (Harv): 7-5, 3-6, 1-2
- Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Masato Perera (Harv): 6-1, 7-5
Order of Finish:
- Doubles— 2, 1
- Singles— 3, 6, 4, 2, 1*
Softball Selection Show
Tonight, Kentucky softball will learn of its postseason fate. The 2024 NCAA Softball Selection Show is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
The Wildcats were knocked out of the SEC Tournament Play-In Game by Ole Miss last week, but the belief is that Rachel Lawson’s team did enough in the regular season to make the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky is 30-22 overall with an 8-16 mark in league play. They’ll enter the postseason riding a five-game losing streak.
The entire team will be watching the unveiling of the field of 64 at John Cropp Stadium on the video board. Kentucky is projected by College Sports Madness to crack the Norman Regional, hosted by fourth-ranked Oklahoma — the two-time reigning national champion. We’ll find out Kentucky’s road to the Women’s College World Series soon enough.
Kentucky hosting WKU in 2024-25
The Kentucky Wildcats and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers have only met on the hardwood a grand total of seven times in the history of the respective programs. Mark Pope is set to bring that total to eight in his debut season as head coach in Lexington.
A deal is being finalized to bring the Hilltoppers to Rupp Arena in 2024-25 as part of a three-game multi-team event, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
“Mark Pope (and) UK officials want to have at least one intra-Kentucky matchup for the fans in Pope’s first season,” the report says.
The dates are not set, though the three-game MTE is expected to feature all matchups vs. mid-majors with another expected to be an HBCU program.
Also this coming season, Kentucky is set to take on Duke in the Champions Classic, Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic, Louisville at Rupp Arena, Gonzaga in Seattle, and an ACC program to be determined at a later date for the ACC/SEC Challenge.
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