5/18/2017 baseball Edit

UK baseball has shot at SEC crown this weekend

Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics (Photo by UK Athletics)

Derek Terry

Beat Writer

LEXINGTON, Ky. — UK can clinch an SEC regular season championship for just the second time in school history this weekend when the Wildcats, ranked sixth in the country, take on No. 5 Florida.

UK (37-16, 18-9 SEC) sits a game behind Florida (38-14, 19-8) in the SEC East. LSU, a team UK beat two out of three times in Lexington, is also 18-9 and will play Mississippi State this weekend.

Several factors remain in determining whether the Wildcats will be the overall champion. A sweep over Florida, assuming LSU doesn't sweep Mississippi State, will give UK the regular season championship. Two out of three wins will mean UK and Florida will share the SEC East crown. A series loss would give the SEC East crown to Florida while a three-game sweep will make the Gators the overall league champion.

Florida hasn’t swept UK since 2005. UK hasn't swept Florida in 24 years. The Wildcats have won the previous four series against Florida, but the Gators are 136-66-1 all-time against UK.

“The University of Florida has amazing coaches, they have amazing players, they are a great organization,” Head coach Nick Mingione said in a UK press release. “If you look at the job (Florida coach) Kevin O’Sullivan has done, what that guy’s been able to accomplish, come on. We’ll have our hands full, but you don’t want it any other way. Let’s have it this way. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

The series starts Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Wildcats send Sean Hjelle (8-2, 3.28 ERA) against projected first-rounder Alex Faedo (7-1, 2.33 ERA). On Friday, lefthanded pitcher Zach Logue (6-4, 4.50 ERA) faces Brady Singer (6-3, 2.58 ERA). Justin Lewis (6-2, 3.23 ERA) goes against Jackson Kowar (9-0, 3.92 ERA) in the series finale on Saturday.

“We’ve got five championships on the line right now,” Mingione said. “This weekend, we compete for an SEC championship. The following week, we compete for an SEC Tournament championship. The following week, a regional championship, the following week a super regional championship, and the following week, a national championship. There’s only a handful of teams who are trying to win all five championships. And they’re all still out there for us, and that’s fun.”