KSR Today: EYBL, Bat Cats and Preakness

Rise and shine, folks. Happy Sunday to you. The KSR crew is wrapping things up in Memphis after a successful Nike EYBL Session II with Mark Pope and his Kentucky assistants in attendance, watching all of the Wildcats’ top targets in 2027, 2028 and even 2029. It’s mass chaos with hundreds of coaches standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the same gym, but it’s fun chaos.

The consensus among coaches is that the ’27 group is underwhelming overall, but it has intriguing pieces and upside, with elite reclass talent potentially jumping from ’28, along with a superstar-in-the-making headlining things in ’29. Pope has found a few early favorites among rising seniors, namely No. 1 overall CJ Rosser — who has had at least Kentucky coaches sitting courtside for him in all three games this weekend — and No. 10 overall DeMarcus Henry.

KSR has boots on the ground with takeaways from day one and two, with day three underway as we speak. We’ll have all of the content you could ever imagine coming throughout the day, including interviews with all of Kentucky’s top targets and new names to keep a close eye on moving forward.

Oh, and intel. Lots and lots of intel. That will be dropping on KSR+ both today and throughout the week as we unload the chamber from Memphis. If there was ever a time to join us over there and KSBoard, it’s now. Do that here for just a dollar.

For now, though, let’s knock out a few morning notes before we shift our focus over to recruiting content overload.

Bat Cats face Vanderbilt in Hoover

The regular season is over for Nick Mingione and Kentucky baseball after taking a series loss to No. 10 Arkansas, despite the big-time victory on Thursday to likely solidify a spot in the Big Dance. The Bat Cats fell 5-4 on Friday, then again 16-12 in the finale on Saturday to enter postseason play with a 31-20 overall record and 13-17 in the SEC.

It was an electric rubber match that started out in disastrous fashion, falling behind 10-0 in the first inning — 16 batters came to the plate in the frame with 10 reaching safely — before slowly but surely chipping away at that massive deficit to tie it up in the fifth at 12-12. Nine of those runs came in the fifth, highlighted by a grand slam by Carson Hansen to officially slam the reset button and give UK a real chance.

To Arkansas’ credit, though, the Razorbacks responded exactly as a top-10 team should, closing things out with a two-run single in the sixth and a pair of solo shots in the ninth to earn the four-run victory.

“You guys know this, but as long as I’m the coach here, like, for 10 years, you’ve never seen one of our teams just stop fighting,” Mingione said. “That’s part of our DNA. That’s what we do. Obviously, that’s not good when you go down 11, a 10-run first… but, man, give our guys a ton of credit.”

Up next? Hoover, as Kentucky will begin its SEC Tournament journey against Vanderbilt on Tuesday with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. ET The Wildcats will be the No. 13 overall seed in the field.

Arkansas trolls Kentucky after earning series win

The Bat Cats canceled their game vs. NKU in a ‘mutual decision’ by both teams ahead of the final weekend of the regular season, protecting UK’s RPI as the program pushes for a ticket to the Big Dance. It was polarizing at the time, despite multiple teams doing the same for non-weather reasons, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

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That did not come without consequence, however, as Arkansas went out of its way to troll Kentucky after fighting off the Bat Cats’ comeback push.

“Statement: Our team faced multiple extended delays over the weekend, extensive travel days and challenging rest and recovery periods as there’s a drive into deep right field by Arkansas and that’ll be a home run. And so that’ll make it a 16-12 ballgame.”

Statement: Our team faced multiple extended delays over the weekend, extensive travel days and challenging rest and recovery periods as there's a drive into deep right field by Arkansas and that'll be a home run. And so that'll make it a 16-12 ballgame. pic.twitter.com/NlM6LXGl64
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 16, 2026

That’s not very nice, Hogs.

A big-time Game 7 in the NBA

It’s for all the marbles in Detroit, as the Pistons have fought back to even up the series and force a Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. That one is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video, with the home team entering as a 4.5-point favorite. The Pistons were up 2-0, followed by the Cavs winning three straight to put the No. 1 seed on the ropes facing elimination, only to respond and set up a win-or-go-home battle today. That’ll be a fun one, survivor moving on to face Karl-Anthony Towns and the No. 3 seed New York Knicks.

Elsewhere, No. 1 seed Oklahoma City begins its series vs. San Antonio on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, a battle between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace’s Thunder and Keldon Johnson’s Spurs.

Napoleon Solo wins Preakness

The 151st running of the Preakness Stakes was different than most expected, moved to Laurel Park in Maryland with a 4,800 capacity and no Derby winner to crush the Triple Crown dream for Golden Tempo.

How did things unfold? Napoleon Solo earned the win with a time of 1:58.69, followed by Iron Honor in second and Chip Honcho in third. A $2 win bet paid $17.80, followed by a $53.60 exact and $1 trifecta earning $597.10.

Take a look at the winning race.