Kentucky is No. 3 Seed in SEC Tourney After Record 22 SEC Wins During Season

Ryan Nicholson (Vicky Graff Photo)

The postseason is here.

Second-ranked Kentucky, which clinched the Southeastern Conference regular season championship on Friday, capped its 2024 regular season with 39 victories, including a school-record 22 in league play.

It now will head to Hoover, Alabama as the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament (due to conference tiebreaker rules) and advance directly to the double elimination portion of the event. The Wildcats (39-11, 22-8) will play at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 local time on Wednesday.

A quick turnaround from Friday night’s historic moment did not go UK’s way as a proud Vanderbilt team perhaps playing for its own postseason life broke open a tie game late to score a 12-4 victory on Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park.

It was a blip on an otherwise successful weekend and record-breaking regular season.

Still, the bright spots on Saturday included Emilien Pitre reaching base safely for the 28th consecutive game and homering for the second time in as many days. Ryan Nicholson clubbed his 17th blast of the season, the third-most in a single-season in the Mingione era.

Ryan Waldschmidt finished a scorching weekend 7-for-12 with four extra base hits and a significant hand in both victories that gave UK its eighth series victory in 10 conference weekends.

TEAM LEADERS

    Batting Average – Nick Lopez, .380
    Runs – Ryan Waldschmidt, 59
    Hits – Nick Lopez, 70
    Doubles – Nick Lopez, 20
    Home Runs – Ryan Nicholson, 17
    RBI – Ryan Nicholson, 52
    BB – Emilien Pitre, 37
    HBP – Ryan Waldschmidt, 16
    Stolen Bases – Ryan Waldschmidt, 23
    Wins – Mason Moore, Dominic Niman, 8
    Innings – Mason Moore, 73.2
    Strikeouts – Mason Moore, 67
    Saves – Johnny Hummel, 6