The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

and competes in the Eastern division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC). The current head coach of the Wildcats is Nick Mingione. Kentucky is the only member of the 14-team SEC never to reach the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, both of which joined the SEC in 1992, have made multiple trips to Omaha since coming aboard, with the Gamecocks claiming back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011. In 2013, the newest members,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, both made appearances as members of other conferences.

History

The baseball program, partly hampered by being the northernmost school in the heavily warm-weather SEC (until Missouri's arrival in 2013), has historically achieved only modest success at best. Under longtime coach

Keith Madison Keith Madison is a former head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team. He coached the Wildcats from 1979 to 2003, and remains the most winning baseball coach in the history of UK Baseball. Playing career Madison was born in Brownsville, K ...

(1979–2003), the Wildcats had some good teams. However, due to playing in the same league as national powers

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, LSU (which won five national championships under

Skip Bertman Stanley "Skip" Bertman (born May 23, 1938) is a former college baseball coach and athletic director at Louisiana State University (LSU). He led the LSU Tigers baseball team to five College World Series championships and seven Southeastern Confer ...

from 1991 through 2000),

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

, and

, regular-season success was rarely rewarded with a postseason berth. In 28 years, Madison was only able to lead the Wildcats to two NCAA Tournaments, in 1988 and 1993. The Wildcats won their first three regional games in 1988 to move to within one win of the CWS, but lost twice in the championship round to 1987 national champion

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

, which went on to successfully defend its title. Wildcats baseball hit bottom at the turn of the 21st century, with only one winning season from 1997 through 2004, and five straight last-place finishes in the SEC East from 2001 through 2005. In 2003, after Madison's retirement, Kentucky hired Florida assistant John Cohen as head coach. Cohen was able to lead the Cats to a winning overall season in 2005, despite another SEC cellar finish. Few could have expected the

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

season the Cats would have in 2006. They went from worst to first in the SEC, winning a regular-season conference title for the first time in three decades, and being ranked as high as fourth in the country by one major baseball poll during the season. However, the newly energized Kentucky baseball faithful saw the Cats crash out of the SEC tournament early and fail to make it out of the regionals of the NCAA tournament at home. There were high hopes for the 2007 team and for the most part they delivered. They started the season 19–0 before falling to

. They then fell into a tailspin but rebounded at the end of the year to just miss the SEC playoffs after a

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

win. They finished with a 37–19 record.

Jason Kipnis Jason Michael Kipnis (born April 3, 1987; nicknamed "Kip") is an American professional baseball second baseman who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. He attended Glenbrook N ...

, who was an outfielder for that team, is now a second baseman for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

. In 2008, Kentucky started off strong posting a 19–0 record and being ranked as high as #4 in the nation. The Wildcats rolled into conference play and began to struggle after being swept by eventual

runner-up

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

participant LSU. The Wildcats finished the season strong and made it into the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats would end up losing to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the regional final in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

. The Wildcats finished the season with a 44–19 record, the most wins in school history. They finished 25th in the final ESPN/USA Today poll. The Wildcats slumped back to the SEC's second division in 2009, though they finished two games over .500 overall. Cohen left for Mississippi State after the season, and pitching coach Gary Henderson was named his successor. In 2012, Kentucky garnered its most successful season ever in program history. Henderson was voted SEC Coach of the Year by the league coaches. Henderson directed the Wildcats to a school-record 45-win season, with UK completing its best finishes in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments in school annals. The 2012 season also marked the first time that UK had ever been ranked No. 1. UK finished the season with a No. 11 ranking by Baseball America. UK also achieved a program record by winning seven of ten series in SEC play. UK also ran up a school-record 22-game winning streak, which is the second longest in SEC history.

Stadium

The Wildcats played their home games on campus at

Cliff Hagan Stadium Cliff Hagan Stadium (Officially named Shively Field at Cliff Hagan Stadium) is a baseball stadium located in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Cliff Hagan Stadium or better known to Kentucky Wildcat baseball fans as “The Cliff” is on the So ...

from 1969 through

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. On October 21, 2016, Kentucky announced plans to build a new stadium, with fixed seating for 2,400, additional grass berm seating for a permanent capacity of 4,000, and the capability to add temporary seating to raise capacity to as much as 7,000. The new stadium,

Kentucky Proud Park Kentucky Proud Park is a baseball stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. It is the home field of the University of Kentucky Wildcats college baseball team. Opened in 2018, with the Wildcats playing their first season in the stadium in 2019, it has a pe ...

, opened on February 26, 2019 with a 7-3 win over Eastern Kentucky in front of 4,074 fans.

Head coaches

*G.L. Byroade (1903) *A.A. Gordon (1904) *W.C. Kelly (1905) *H.E. Reed (1906) *F.C. Paullin (1907) *C.M. Leaphart (1908) *Frank Engel (1911–1913) * Alpha Brummage (1914–1915) *Bill Tuttle (1916) *J.B. Fledge (1917) * Andrew Gill (1920–1921) * Jim Park (1922) *C.E. Barger (1923–1924) * Fred J. Murphy (1925–1926) *John Devereauux (1927, 1929–1931) *Fred Major (1928) * Frank Moseley (1939–1941, 1946, 1948–1950) *

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...

(1942) * Harry Lancaster (1947, 1951–1965) *Abe Shannon (1966–1969) * Dick Parsons (1970–1972) *Jordan "Tuffy" Horne (1973–1978) *

(1979–2003) * John Cohen (2004–2008) * Gary Henderson (2009–2016) * Nick Mingione (2017– )

Former players

Jeff Abbott Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has degrees in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. Before writing full-time, he was a creative director at an advertising agency. His early novels were trad ...

Joe Blanton Joseph Matthew Blanton (born December 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, Pi ...

Collin Cowgill Collin Brannen Cowgill (born May 22, 1986) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current major league coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Los Angeles ...

* Scott Downs *

Doug Flynn Robert Douglas Flynn, Jr. (born April 18, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1975 to 1985 as an infielder for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos ...

* Marv Foley * Andy Green * Rod Henderson *

Sean Hjelle Sean Anthony Hjelle ( ; born May 7, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the University of Kentucky. The Giants selected Hjelle in the ...

Paul Kilgus Paul Nelson Kilgus (born February 2, 1962) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals. Early li ...

Jim Leyritz James Joseph Leyritz (born December 27, 1963) is an American former professional baseball catcher and infielder. In his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Leyritz played for the New York Yankees, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers, Boston ...

* Larry Luebbers *

Luke Maile Luke Richard Maile (born February 6, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers and Cleve ...

* Alex Meyer *

Cotton Nash Charles Francis "Cotton" Nash (born July 24, 1942) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and National Basketball Association (NBA) forward. Basketball career Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Nash played collegiately for ...

Jeff Parrett Jeffrey Dale Parrett (born August 26, 1961) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Montreal Expos (1986–88), Philadelphia Phillies (1989–90 and 1996), Atlanta Braves (1990–91), Oakland Athletics ( ...

* James Paxton * Tristan Pompey * Frank Ramsey * AJ Reed * Chris Rusin *

Jack Savage John Joseph Savage is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1987 and the Minnesota Twins in 1990. He was born on April 22, 1964 in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended St. Xavier High School (Louisville), S ...

* Terry Shumpert *

Ryan Strieby Ryan Kristoffer Strieby (born August 9, 1985) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Strieby played baseball and basketball at Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. He attended Edmonds Community Colle ...

Mark Thompson Mark Thompson may refer to: Sports * Mark Thompson (American football) (born 1994), American football player * Mark Thompson (baseball) (born 1971), baseball player * Mark Thompson (footballer) (born 1963), former Australian rules football prem ...

* William Van Landingham *

Brandon Webb Brandon Tyler Webb (born May 9, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Webb pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2003 through 2009, and, after multiple shoulder surgeries, signed with but ...

* Evan White

Player awards

National awards

Dick Howser Trophy Golden Spikes Award"Golden Spikes Award by USA Baseball on Baseball Almanac." Golden Spikes Award by USA Baseball on Baseball Almanac. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 September 2016. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_goldenspikes.shtml * Baseball America College Player of the Year Award :

A. J. Reed Andrew Joseph Reed (born May 10, 1993) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox. He played college baseball at Kentucky. He was drafted b ...

(2014) * Collegiate Baseball Newspaper College Player of the Year Award :

(2014) *

John Olerud Award The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (known colloquially as the John Olerud Award) is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player of the season. The award is named after former Washington State Cougars All-American pitc ...

(2014)

SEC Awards

Player of the Year Award Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is h ...

(2006) :

(2014)

All-Americans

The following is a list of Kentucky's All-Americans:

NCAA Tournament record

Wildcats in MLB

Several Wildcats players have gone on to play in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kentucky Wildcats Baseball