Saturday was a tough day for Kentucky baseball.
NC State used a three-run inning to survive a late Kentucky surge and now the Cats are one game away from elimination.
CatsIllustrated.com was also first to report on two significant football recruiting visits that took place over the weekend. Read all about those things and other topics in the CatsIllustrated.com Newsstand.
SEASON ON THE ROPES
"Kentucky’s season is on the ropes. After losing to NC State 5-4 in the winner’s bracket on Saturday night, the Wildcats must now win three straight games to advance to their first ever super regional.
UK’s journey out of the loser's bracket starts with Indiana at 1 p.m. on Sunday."
CATS LOSE TO NC STATE
"If Kentucky is to reach its first super regional in school history, it’ll have to do so from the losers’ bracket. NC State defeated UK 5-4 on Saturday night in front of a Cliff Hagan Stadium record 4,472 fans.
The Wildcats rallied late after Evan White hit a solo home run in the 9th inning to trim the lead to 5-4, but NC State closer Austin Staley recorded the final two outs to end the game."
Here are the main storylines.
LINK: UK falls to NC State 5-4; to play Indiana in elimination game on Sunday
REPORT: GAME ADDED
"On Saturday, Jon Rothstein tweeted, "Kentucky will host East Tennessee State as part of its 2017-18 non-conference schedule, per a source."
The Cats are in the process of filling out their non-conference schedule. Kentucky's SEC opponents were announced late in the week.
East Tennessee State finished last season 27-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament under second-year head coach Steve Forbes."
LINK: UK will host ETSU in basketball this year, report says
UPSHAW'S VISIT
"On Friday, Kentucky played host to four-star tight end commitment Brenden Bates.
On Saturday, the Cats hosted another Class of 2018 tight end. Today it was uncommitted heralded three-star prospect Keaton Upshaw, also of Ohio.
Upshaw spoke with CatsIllustrated.com about how that trip went shortly after finishing up in Lexington."
LINK: TE Keaton Upshaw talks about Saturday trip to UK, what's next
BATES SEES UK AGAIN
"Right when I got down there I went on a tour around the campus with my mom and dad and I was amazed by how beautiful the campus was," Bates said. "We saw Memorial Stadium where my grandpa used to play basketball and that was a touching experience. I talked to Coach (Vince) Marrow a lot and he talked about where I would fit in the offense and that I would play pretty early which is great news for me. I'm really excited about that."
LINK: Four-star TE commit Brenden Bates recaps his weekend trip to Kentucky
KNICKS EYEING FOX
"Barring the unforeseen, the Knicks won’t get a chance to draft De’Aaron Fox. But they did watch him work out on Saturday.
Phil Jackson was among the Knicks contingent at a Pro Day workout in L.A., where Fox and other prospects showcased their skills in front of a long list of NBA executives. Another Knicks representative photographed at the workout by DraftExpress was associate head coach Kurt Rambis."
LINK: Knicks, Phil Jackson continue to focus on De'Aaron Fox
PASSING ON BALL?
"Lonzo Ball is a 6’6″ point guard who has incredible court vision and passing skills, whose ability to play in transition transformed UCLA this past season into one of the better teams in the nation.
However, he has some weaknesses — he isn’t strong as a pick-and-roll point guard, and his funky shooting stroke doesn’t work as well off the dribble — that have teams being hesitant."
