KSR Today: Kentucky Men's Tennis goes for first-ever national title
Good morning, folks! A busy weekend in UK Athletics comes to what will hopefully be a thrilling end on Sunday. To start the day off, Kentucky Softball will look to advance to the NCAA Super Regional for the fifth consecutive season. But later in the day is where the real excitement kicks in — Kentucky Men’s Tennis will play for the program’s first-ever national title.
It’s a big day around the university.
Let’s talk about those matches and everything else you need to know to get your Sunday rolling.
Men’s Tennis takes on Virginia in finals
The 8-seeded Wildcats continue to pull off upset after upset while making plenty of program history along the way. Kentucky swept DePaul 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament opener, smacked Northwestern 4-2 in the next round, snuck past 9-seed Wake Forest to make the first Elite 8 since 2011, shocked No. 1 TCU to make the school’s first-ever Final Four, and exacted sweet revenge on 4-seeded Ohio State to advance to the finals.
Today, Kentucky will have a chance to become the fourth program over the last decade to win a national title — Men’s Basketball, Rifle, and Volleyball have all accomplished this, so why not add another trophy to the case?
UK will face off against 7-seed Virginia in the national title, which is set for 4:00 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on the TennisONE app. UVA has actually beaten three consecutive SEC schools to make it this far, taking down South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee, in order, prior to today’s match. These two teams have already faced each other once this season, too, with the Cavaliers coming out on top 4-2 back in late March.
But don’t pay too much attention to past results. Kentucky was swept 4-0 by Ohio State earlier this season before taking down the Buckeyes in the Final Four. At this stage in the tournament, anything can happen…
KSR’s Troy Howell will be by with a full preview of the championship bout very shortly.
Softball ‘Cats one win from Super Regionals
Despite trailing 4-0 early against No. 3 Virginia Tech on Saturday, Kentucky mounted a wild comeback to seal a 5-4 victory over the Hokies, booking a spot in the Regional Finals. Now all the ‘Cats need is one more win on Sunday in the Blacksburg Regional and they’re on to the Super Regionals for the fifth season in a row and eighth time under head coach Rachel Lawson.
A four-run seventh inning from Kentucky, highlighted by a three-run bomb from Renee Abernathy, gave the ‘Cats the edge they needed to steal a win off the home team.
And who does UK get to play on Sunday with the Super Regionals on the line? The same Virginia Tech squad, of course. First pitch for that game is set for a noon EST start and will be streamed live on ESPN2. Since this round is double-elimination, Kentucky can afford to lose a game, but would obviously prefer to lock in its position sooner rather than later.
Bat ‘Cats just make SEC Tournament
It was a lot more nerve-racking than it should have been, but Kentucky Baseball secured its spot in the 2022 SEC Tournament with a series win over Auburn this weekend. It came down to the final game on Saturday actually, where the Bat ‘Cats mounted a comeback of its own, coming alive in the sixth inning to snag a 6-3 victory in the regular-season finale.
The Saturday win just narrowly moves Kentucky into the conference postseason, which will begin on Tuesday down in Hoover, AL. And perhaps in even more encouraging news, Kentucky will face the same team they just beat twice in three tries this weekend at Kentucky Proud Park.
UK and Auburn will play in the SEC Tournament opener on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.
Kentucky vs. UCLA at MSG
First reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, the CBS Sports Classic will be held at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17, where Kentucky will take on UCLA.
The annual event has been taking place since the 2014-15 season and has hosted premium non-conference matchups every year. For the first time in its short history, the event will be held in New York City after making multiple stops in Chicago and Las Vegas. Kentucky currently owns a 4-4 record in the series with three wins over North Carolina. The Wildcats will be meeting the Bruins in the event for the first time since the 2017-18 season when UCLA knocked off Kentucky in New Orleans.
Bam, Herro take 2-1 lead over Celtics
Bam Adebayo finally woke up on Saturday night.
The Miami Heat All-Star center hadn’t played up to his standards through the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals (or the entire postseason, realistically), but he showed up with force in Game 3 on Saturday. Adebayo popped off for 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks on 15-22 shooting from the floor as Miami cruised to a 109-103 victory up in Boston.
Tyler Herro wasn’t nearly as efficient, closing with eight points on 4-15 shooting, including an 0-6 mark from beyond the arc. But despite Jimmy Butler playing fewer than 20 minutes and missing the second half due to injury, Miami came together as a team to fend off a late comeback effort from the Celtics.
• Game 4: Miami vs. Boston | Monday, May 23 | 8:30 ET | ABC
• Game 5: Boston vs. Miami | Wednesday, May 25 | 8:30 ET | ESPN
• Game 6*: Miami vs. Boston | Friday, May 27 | 8:30 ET | ESPN
• Game 7*: Boston vs. Miami | Sunday, May 29 | 8:30 ET | ESPN
* if necessary
That’s all the news and notes I have for you this Sunday morning. Now prop yourself in front of a TV or laptop and cheer on the various Wildcats throughout the day.
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