Kentucky 2025 SEC Baseball Tournament Exit Interview
- Doug Kyle
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By Jake Mastroianni
SEC Tournament Results: L, 5-1 vs. Oklahoma
Record: 29-24
Coming off a magical run in 2024 that saw the Wildcats reach Omaha for the first time in school history, many knew the club might take a step back in 2025. That’s exactly what we saw, but they still managed to hold their own and remain competitive.
They breezed through their non-conference slate to begin the year and enter the back-half of the top 25 in most polls, but then they dropped four of their first five SEC series and were swept in two of their last three.
The pitching became the calling card for Kentucky in 2025 led by Ben Cleaver, Nic McCay and Nate Harris in the rotation.
As a staff, they finished the regular season ranked 8th in team ERA at 4.55. However, their 4.18 BB/9 was a little high and their 9.34 K/9 a little low compared to other SEC squads. What made the biggest difference, is they did a good job keeping the ball in the yard allowing the fourth fewest home runs in the conference.
Offensively, they did a lot of the things that made them so successful in 2024 as they led the conference in stolen bases with 120 (only one other team had over 100), sacrifice hits with 41, and sacrifice flies with 31.
They hit a solid .270 as a team with a .393 on-base percentage, but what really hurt them was the lack of home runs and walks. They finished tied with Missouri for the fewest home runs in the SEC, and they had the second-fewest walks.
Tyler Bell was as advertised being named to the All-SEC Freshman team, and he was on the short list to be named SEC Freshman of the Year batting .311 with 17 doubles, 10 home runs, and 11 stolen bases during the regular season.
Transfers Luke Lawrence and Cole Hage were big additions to the lineup.
Devin Burkes didn’t take the step forward as a senior many hoped he could, but provided steady leadership behind the plate.
What’s next
With the loss in the SEC Tournament, Kentucky will have to sweat it out on selection Monday with just 13 conference wins, an RPI in the upper 30s, and eight quad-one wins.
Should they get in, they have the pitching to give a regional host team fits. But whether or not they have the offensive firepower to work their way through the loser’s bracket of a regional is a real question.
Regardless, Nick Mingione has a great idea of what it takes to win at Kentucky and knows the right pieces to make it all fit together. If he can bring back a good portion of this 2025 team – namely Bell – they could make another big run in 2026.
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