Kentucky will be extremely familiar with its opening opponent in the SEC Baseball Tournament.
The 13-seed Wildcats will face 12-seed Oklahoma just days after they faced each other in the penultimate SEC series. UK swept the three-game series against the No. 14 Sooners on May 9-11 at Kentucky Proud Park.
This time, UK and OU will square off in Hoover, Ala., on Tuesday at approximately 2 p.m. ET in the second game of the SEC tourney. The winner will face 5-seed Georgia on Wednesday.
Kentucky (29-23, 13-17 SEC) is thought to be in good shape for an NCAA bid despite a brutal three-game sweep this past weekend at Vanderbilt, but the Cats could definitely use an additional win in Hoover to boost their resume.
Despite the sub-.500 league record, Nick Mingione's club has a No. 36 RPI against a Top 10 schedule.
Oklahoma (33-19, 14-16 SEC) is also projected in the NCAA field of 64. It's coming off a final series against top-seeded Texas in which the Longhorns took two out of three.
The Sooners enter the tourney 10th in the SEC in batting and ninth in pitching. The Cats are 12th in batting (although they have scored four more runs than OU) and eighth in pitching. Kentucky has a defensive advantage, ranking seventh, while the Sooners are 13th.
Oklahoma is led by one of the top right-handed starting pitchers in the country, Kyson Witherspoon. He is 9-4 this season with a 2.48 ERA with 120 strikeouts and only 20 walks in 83.1 innings pitched. Many scouts consider him to be a Top 10 pick in this summer's MLB Draft.
Whether or not he pitches in the opening game against UK remains to be seen. Both teams are keeping their starting plans under wraps going into the game. The Cats may elect to go with senior right-hander Scott Rouse (4-1, 5.22 ERA), who was strong in his last outing against Northern Kentucky.
Offensively, the Sooners are led by junior catcher/designated hitter Easton Carmichael, who enters with a .321 average and a .980 OPS. He has a team-high 14 home runs and 54 RBI on the season.
As a team, OU is known for its selective eye. Six regulars have an OPS of .900 or higher. They have drawn nearly 100 more walks than their opponent this season.
When the Bat Cats are at the plate, they'll lean heavily on senior outfielder Cole Hage (.322, 1.041 OPS, 12 HR, 39 RBI) and freshman shortstop Tyler Bell (.311, .942 OPS, 10 HR, 46 RBI), who was recently named a second-team All-SEC honoree.
Late in the season, UK saw James McCoy, Carson Hansen, and Ryan Schwartz surge at the plate. The Cats will need big contributions from all three to extend its stay in Hoover.
The format of the event has changed with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. It is now a single-elimination tournament throughout the bracket.
