Kentucky Baseball heads to Lone Star State for weekend series
After winning four of five games on its first homestand of the season, Kentucky travels to the Lone Star State this weekend for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Classic.
The three-day event, to be played at the home of the World Series champion Houston Astros, features five ranked teams.
The No. 7 Wildcats (8-1) will face No. 24 Houston on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Cougars are coming off a series in which they won two out of three against No. 13 Cal State Fullerton.
On Saturday, UK will face Sam Houston State at 1 ET. The Bearkats have won six of their last seven games.
Nick Mingione's squad wraps up the event on Sunday at noon ET against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns are 3-5 on the season but own a win over then-No. 14 Texas.
The chance to play at Minute Maid Park is something the UK players have been looking forward to ever since the schedule was announced.
"For our guys to play at the World Series champion ballpark, that’s a big deal," Mingione said. "It will be another experience. We play three really quality opponents, that’s another reason why I wanted to go. I want us to be tested."
Kentucky plans to start SEC Pitcher of the Year Sean Hjelle (2-0, 0.66 ERA) in the opener. He has struck out 16 batters in 13.2 innings pitched to start his junior campaign and took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his previous outing.
Sophomore lefty Zach Thompson (1-0, 9.35 ERA) is slated to pitch Saturday, followed by junior right-hander Justin Lewis (2-0, 3.00 ERA) on Sunday. UK features what is considered to be one of the top weekend rotations in the country for 2018.
Offensively, UK is led by sophomore designated hitter T.J. Collett, who is batting .333 with a team-high five home runs and 17 RBI. Junior outfielder Ryan Johnson, a new addition to this year's roster, is batting .370 batting with two home runs. First baseman/catcher Kole Cottam (.364, 2 HR) and senior third baseman Luke Heyer (.357, 4 HR) are also off to strong starts this season at the plate.
The Cats will have an opportunity to visit the patients at the Shriner Hospital in Houston during their trip, an outing for which Mingione is passionate.
"The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is why we are playing there for the Shriners Children’s Hospital," Mingione said. "I think you know how important it is for our guys to give back to this community. This fall, we held a baseball camp for the local Lexington Shriners Children’s Hospital and also we invited patients from the national one and they came up and we spent a day with them. I’m most excited about that."