Kentucky is up to No. 27 in RPI after huge Arkansas win
Kentucky entered the final series of the season needing one more SEC win to feel good about their at-large hopes for the NCAA Tournament. The Bat Cats went all-in to get that victory on Thursday night.
After Nate Harris, Tommy Skelding, and Jack Sams combined to throw seven innings of one-run ball against a dangerous Arkansas lineup, Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione got aggressive. UK called in ace Jaxon Jelkin two days ahead of his scheduled Saturday result. The final result was a six-out save and a huge Quad 2 victory that might have locked in a fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky moved up to No. 27 in RPI after the big win. The resume is in better shape after the victory.
The Bat Cats are now 4-2 in Quad 2 after the win over the Hogs. The Quad 1 record (7-8) remained the same as LSU stayed inside the top 60 despite dropping a home game to Florida on Thursday night. South Carolina did slip into Quad 3 territory after a road loss to Vanderbilt. The 11-5 Quad 3 record does not look great and the Quad 4 series loss to Missouri still stands out on the resume. Yet, the quality wins are stacking up and the non-conference RPI (No. 18) remains in terrific shape.
Kentucky probably isn’t an absolute stone cold lock for the NCAA Tournament yet but they are in terrific shape thanks to Thursday’s win.
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Current SEC standings
This is how the SEC Tournament would be seeded if it started today.
| Place | Team | Overall Record (Conference Record) |
| 1 | Georgia | 42-11 (22-6) |
| 2 | Texas | 38-12 (17-10) |
| 3 | Alabama | 36-17 (17-11) |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 35-17 (16-11) |
| 5 | Auburn | 35-17 (16-12) |
| 6 | Florida | 35-18 (16-12) |
| 7 | Mississippi State | 39-14 (16-12) |
| 8 | Arkansas | 34-19 (15-13) |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 35-19 (14-14) |
| 10 | Tennessee | 36-18 (14-14) |
| 11 | Kentucky | 31-18 (13-15) |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 31-19 (13-15) |
| 13 | Vanderbilt | 30-24 (12-16) |
| 14 | LSU | 29-25 (9-19) |
| 15 | South Carolina | 22-32 (7-21) |
| 16 | Missouri | 23-28 (6-22) |
Kentucky moves up to the No. 11 spot in the SEC standings after Thursday’s win. The Bat Cats are just one game back of the No. 9 seed.
On Deck
Kentucky had to get at least one this weekend. The Bat Cats accomplished the mission on Thursday night at Kentucky Proud Park. Now this baseball team will have two more chances to secure a third SEC series victory this season and bolster the NCAA Tournament resume.
What will the pitching plan be now that Jaxon Jelkin is likely out the rest of the weekend? That is to be determined. What we do know is that Ben Cleaver (2-3, 3.57 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 40.1 IP, 41 K) will get the ball for Kentucky on Friday night. The lefty and former All-SEC selection is coming off his best two starts of the season.
The Bat Cats will look to take the series on Friday.
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