Previewing Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass rivalry game at Louisville

DrewFranklinKSR

Two days of inclement weather prevented Kentucky Baseball from hosting rival Louisville at Kentucky Proud Park earlier this month. The April 2 version of the Battle of the Bluegrass in Lexington was rescheduled for the following day and then postponed again to a makeup date to be named later.

The teams are scheduled to play the other game in the home-and-home series today in Louisville, setting up their first meeting in 2024. Jim Patterson Stadium will play host, with the first pitch at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

Before UK (30-5, 14-1) and UofL (21-14, 7-8) meet on the diamond, get ready with these things to know about the matchup. And, as always, go Cats.

Series History

Kentucky has a significant lead in its all-time series with Louisville, historically holding a 64-49-1 record against the Cards. However, Louisville has been the better team lately, winning three of four since the 2020 season was canceled, including the last three in a row. The teams played only once in 2022 and 2023. Louisville won last year’s meeting in Lexington, 7-0.

Recent Results

— Louisville lost its weekend series at ninth-ranked Virginia, losing games on Friday (Virginia 21, Louisville 3) and Sunday (Virginia 16, Louisville 7). The Cards won Saturday’s game, 14-10.

— Kentucky swept Auburn at Auburn last weekend, needing a massive comeback on Saturday to complete another road sweep. UK scored 13 unanswered runs in the last five innings to win the third game on the Plains.

— Last week, both teams lost midweek games: Kentucky at Samford and Louisville at Western Kentucky. So, Tuesday night is a bounce-back opportunity for each dugout.

Émilien Pitre celebrates after scoring run — Photo by Morgan Simmons (UK Athletics)

Players To Watch

LOUISVILLE

— Louisville’s Zion Rose, a freshman, has reached base in 15 consecutive games. The catcher from Chicago leads the Cards with a .374 batting average.

— Keep a close eye on JT Benson. The Cards’ senior outfielder from South Oldham High School leads the ACC and ranks eighth nationally with 23 stolen bases.

— Last year’s leader in home runs, Ryan McCoy, has a hot bat for Louisville. The senior first baseman hit three home runs last weekend alone, bringing his total to nine in 2024. At Virginia, McCoy hit two out on Saturday and another on Sunday. Louisville’s website notes that McCoy’s first home run of the weekend traveled 482 feet, marking the longest since 2019 when Trackman began recording player data.

KENTUCKY

— Nick Lopez, a transfer graduate student from Southern California, is batting a team-best .396 in his only season as a Wildcat. In Kentucky’s most recent game last Saturday, Lopez hit the 150th home run of his career to break a 7-7 tie at Auburn, then hit a second home run two innings later. Lopez drove in five runs in the come-from-behind win on the Plains.

— Second baseman Émilien Pitre ranks second in the SEC in stolen bases with 18 to lead the Wildcats. At the plate, Pitre is third league-wide in doubles (13), trailing one of his teammates, Lopez, in second (14). As a fielder, Pitre is first in the SEC in assists (89).

— Lead-off hitter Ryan Waldschmidt has 76 starts in left field for the Wildcats. At the plate, he leads UK with a .489 on-base percentage, the eighth-best in the SEC. Walschmidt also ranks eighth in the SEC in stolen bases (13), the third-best mark on his own team.

On The Mound

It is unclear who will take the mound for Louisville to start the game, but if they go with last week’s midweek starter, expect Colton Hartman, a lefty, to get the nod. Hartman gave up two runs in the first inning to the Hilltoppers, then settled in to pitch scoreless innings in the second and third.

Drew Lafferty is expected to start for Kentucky. The last time we saw the redshirt freshman right-hander, he was pulled after 0.2 innings in the midweek loss at Samford last Tuesday night, giving up five runs in an instant to start the game. Lafferty is 1-1 in seven career starts.

Other Things To Know About The Cats

— The Wildcats are the SEC’s first-place team with a 14-1 record through five SEC series, all of which were series wins, obviously. Kentucky holds a two-game lead over the entire conference halfway through the schedule.

— Kentucky is on a 10-game winning streak in the SEC, a new school record for consecutive wins in conference play.

— Kentucky has been great on the road, winning the second-most SEC away games in school history with two road trips still to make. The Cats have won eight of nine SEC road games in 2024. Louisville is not in the SEC, but Jim Patterson Stadium is on the road.

— UK’s pitching staff is third in the SEC and seventh in the country with a 3.65 team ERA.

— Kentucky leads the SEC in steal attempts by 17. The Wildcats have 97 attempts, more than second-best Vanderbilt’s 72.

— On Monday, Kentucky earned a No. 3 ranking in the updated D1Baseball.com rankings, climbing five spots from No. 8 in the Top 25.