Nate Harris cleared to rejoin Kentucky weekend rotation against Florida

Kentucky flipped the script and ended a long SEC series losing streak last week against Tennessee. The offense rolled, but strong starting pitching led the way. Now the Bat Cats are getting healthy before the final two regular season weekends.

The Bat Cats announced the expected weekend rotation for the upcoming road series against No. 21 Florida. Nick Mingione‘s squad will be a full strength in Gainesville.

Friday: Ben Cleaver (2-3, 3.72 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 38 K)
Saturday: Jaxon Jelkin (7-2, 3.77 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 71.2 IP, 80 K)
Sunday: Nate Harris (4-2, 5.08 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 39 IP, 36 K)

Ben Cleaver is coming off his best start of the season when he tossed seven shutout innings against Tennessee on Friday night. Kentucky is keeping him in the same spot. Jaxon Jelkin is fresh off one of his best performances of the season in a complete game against the Vols that included 11 strikeouts. Now Nate Harris will join them in the weekend rotation for the first time since a 5-4 win against Auburn on April 11. The sophomore has missed the last three weekends with a shoulder injury. Now he’s cleared to return to the rotation. UK has won Harris starts against Alabama, Missouri, and Auburn this season.

Kentucky has been battling injuries in recent weeks. The Bat Cats are now as healthy as they have been all season. That is good timing heading into a final push where some more wins are needed to secure a fourth consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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On Deck: Florida

Kentucky will not play a midweek game again this week. That means another mini-bye before another critical SEC series. The Bat Cats are hitting the road for the final time in the regular season to play No. 21 Florida in Gainesville.

The Gators just took a road series against Oklahoma but have lost three consecutive SEC series at home. Florida has 15 Quad 1 wins this season and is fighting to host as the season comes down the stretch. This will be one of Kentucky’s toughest tests of the season.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Time
May 8 (Friday)	No. 21 Florida	Condron Ballpark	6:30 p.m. ET
May 9 (Saturday)	No. 21 Florida	Condron Ballpark	4 p.m. ET
May 10 (Sunday)	No. 21 Florida	Condron Ballpark	Noon ET