Travis Smith, Zack Lee Earn Weekly Awards for Kentucky Baseball

Weekly honors are appropriate after the Kentucky baseball team took care of business with an impressive sweep over South Carolina at Kentucky Proud Park. A pair of pitchers, Travis Smith and Zack Lee, received recognition from multiple outlets.

Lee, a senior from Effingham, Illinois, was honored by Collegiate Baseball as one of its national players of the week. The righty was dominant in Sunday’s 9-2 victory over the third-ranked team in America.

Lee threw a career-high 12 strikeouts on 105 pitches in 6.2 innings. He’s one of only four pitchers with a dozen or more strikeouts in a single game for Kentucky since Nick Mingione took over seven seasons ago. The only runs allowed were off one two-run home run by the Gamecocks.

The sweep all got started thanks to an impressive outing from Travis Smith. A native of Walton, Ky., the freshman went a career-best 6.0 innings in his first ever SEC start Friday night, a 7-3 win for the Wildcats.

Smith was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week, allowing only four hits, one run, three walks and dealing five strikeouts. He was the first freshman to start in an SEC game for the Bat Cats since 2021. He has one other start against a Power Five opponent this season. In those games he’s allowed a combined two runs, each solo home runs, in 11.0 innings. Not too shabby.

The sweep of No. 3 South Carolina snapped a four-game losing streak and propelled the Kentucky baseball team back into the Top 25. The Bat Cats are now ranked No. 17 by D1Baseball and No. 19 by Baseball America.

Kentucky all but solidified its spot in the NCAA Tournament. Now they have two weeks to build their resume to potentially host a regional. The Kentucky baseball team returns to KPP against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday before concluding the regular season at Tennessee, followed by a finale at home against the Florida Gators.